If you can take the song out and it doesn’t leave a hole, then the song’s not necessary.”
— Stephen Sondheim, a”h
Tag: craft
The “writing” part of Writing.
Meetin’ and Greetin’
MY PUBLISHER ADVISES ME THUS: “…[W]rite a blog post that you’ve published an in-depth Q&A interview … and invite your blog readers to comment on your blog and suggest additional questions they’d like to see answered in your interview (and…
Our Meaningful Century
THIS PAST WEEK SAW A couple of personal milestones: the completion of my 100th Prosatio Silban story, and my e-book‘s first review. (Pop the confetti and cue the corks.) To celebrate, here are synopses for all the Cook For Any…
5 (Well, 6) Thoughts: How I Write
(THE FOLLOWING IS A BRIEF account of how the Prosatio Silban tales are conceived and written. It’s mostly meant for fans of those works, but if you’re interested in the writing process in general, read on — if not, I…
1 Hour Daily x 16 Years = Book
PROSATIO SILBAN ONCE MINISTERED TO the souls of the Uulian Commonwell’s faithful. But now, his heartfelt devotion is to tend the palates and gullets he encounters on his journeys as a mercenary cook. Inspired by J.A. Brillat-Savarin’s The Physiology of…
We Interrupt This Blog …
… FOR THE FOLLOWING PUBLIC-SERVICE AGGRANDIZEMENT: The current plan (and behind-the-scenes task) involves formatting all 90+ Prosatio Silban stories for an independently published paperback and e-book titled Across the Rimless Sea; as a size comparison, the collection so far (‘prox.…
My reason for writing stories is to give myself the satisfaction of visualising more clearly and detailedly and stably the vague, elusive, fragmentary impressions of wonder, beauty, and adventurous expectancy which are conveyed to me by certain sights (scenic, architectural, atmospheric, etc.), ideas, occurrences, and images encountered in art and literature.
— H.P. Lovecraft, “Notes on Writing Weird Fiction”
Humoronomics (Pithyism #3=1)
A JOKE, ANECDOTE, OR SHAGGY-DOG story should be no longer than necessitated by the redemptive power of its punch line.
Metaphoraging Roundup 2020
AS THE EARTH RETURNS IN its orbit to where it was last year, here is a look at the top ten posts The Metaphorager’s readers enjoyed (I hope) during the past twelve months: My Favorite Jewish Joke – 80 Views…
5 Thoughts: The Grand Old Process
1. THERE IS A CERTAIN COMPULSION to the act of writing: an unscratchable itch that won’t let the fingers refrain from their fruitless but busy task, whether on paper or keyboard. 2. To ask writers “Why do you write?” is…
I AM A FANTASY WRITER; that is to say, I fantasize about people reading my writings.”
–Your author, in a truth-pensive mood
5 Thoughts: Seminal v. Derivative
1. ONE OF THE CHICKEN-OR-egg challenges of modern media (social and traditional) is their pervasive sense of nonlinear immediacy, by which I mean the everything-at-once flattening of the artistic landscape.