Somewhere in here is a trove of stories about seekers of truth, and travelers through time and space, and dinosaurs, and sentient robots, and robots without a clue, and puppies whose only superpower is love, and all of it itching to be told. Somewhere in here is a determined storyteller who yearns to sit downContinue reading “Mining me”
Category Archives: Creativity
Punch line
“Let’s just get on with it,” said the storyteller. “I’m game,” said the told. “Go ahead.” “Well,” the storyteller began, and then paused. “Very deep, very good,” the told said. “Is there more?” “You’re very impatient,” said the storyteller. “Oh, no, I’m very patient,” replied the told. “I have traveled far and wide, and IContinue reading “Punch line”
W.B.’s Book Report: Storyteller
Storyteller: Writing Lessons and More from 27 Years of the Clarion Writer’s Workshop by Kate Wilhelm has been in my possession since shortly after it was published in 2005. It spent much of its existence in storage — but I think it’s earned a spot on my shelf. I put it on my “to-read” shelfContinue reading “W.B.’s Book Report: Storyteller”
Fly along, fingers, tell me a story
Fly along, fingers, tell me a story about warriors discovering their enemies are not their enemies. Tell me a story about princesses trained to slay dragons who discover that dragons have souls. Tell me a story about conflicts exposed as concoctions manufactured by the real villains, the get-rich-quick charlatans with their smarmy smiles and emptyContinue reading “Fly along, fingers, tell me a story”
On existence and the universe
I picked up a book called A Treasury of Favorite Poems somewhere along the way — it’s a big book with, oddly, no indication who selected or edited the poetry — and last weekend I read Stephen Crane’s “War is Kind,” which turned out to be not a single 15-page poem but most of anContinue reading “On existence and the universe”
Get me rewrite — not
There are ways to approach art, and there are ways. One is to meticulously polish until it’s as flawless as your can make it. It’s interesting to look at a Beatles Anthology or a Beach Boys/Brian Wilson compilation and see an alternate take labeled “(Take 24)” or “(Take 87)” — and then there’s Roy Acuff’sContinue reading “Get me rewrite — not”
but you don’t know what
“I want to write something but I don’t know what.” I was browsing Joanna Penn’s How to Write a Novel and found that line in a list of “common reasons writers quit.” I know that feeling. Very often it’s when I sit down to compose something for this web log. I made this commitment toContinue reading “but you don’t know what”