It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost a year since I started entering flash fiction competitions but I’ve learned a lot in that year: the most important lesson I think is to trust your instincts and don’t get too hung up on the judging: focus on the story. Sure, winning is great (and addictive) […]
Read More Flash Fiction – a Matter of OpinionA lot of writing workshops and classes will talk about style and voice. These are the spices that flavor your writing and make them yours. Finding your voice as a writer is very important: it helps you establish a rapport with your reader and gives them a connection that will, hopefully, draw them into your […]
Read More A few thoughts on voice and cover letters.Here I am, up way too early. So what do I do? I write about it… It’s weird. since I’ve started judging flash fiction, I’ve been less inclined to write it. The thing is, it’s not some secret ‘I’ve seen behind the curtain’ kind of thing. It’s more a case of being too judgmental of […]
Read More AwakeAs stated in the overview, emotion, rhythm and meaning are building blocks of poetry. In Part 1 we discussed them in relationship to words, now it’s time to think about their relationship to each other. One of the best examples of this relationship is music. Strip out the lyrics and you are left with rhythm […]
Read More Poetry: Part 2 InterrelationshipsThis time, rather than reverse engineer my story’s progress and comment after the fact, I decided to write down the entire process. As you may or may not know, FlashFriday is a flash fiction (short story/micro fiction) contest that is, oddly enough, run every Friday. I’ve been participating for a little less than a […]
Read More FlashFriday – Vol 2-6 – Anatomy of a story1/10/2014 – Stay up until Midnight to see the picture and see if anything strikes me as interesting. – I have a few ideas, but a long day ahead of me so I go to bed. I have a few ideas for a story, but since most of them are fact not fiction I decide […]
Read More Flash Friday Vol.2 -5 Adventures in Judging part 2This week, FlashFriday (FlashFriday@wordpress.com) is doing something different – a special celebration of their first annivesary, their flashversary… 350 words (exactly ) and the prompt was posted on Monday. I thought this would be so much easier: one story, 350 words and 5 days to write it. The only problem was… I ended up […]
Read More FlashFriday Flash-VersaryWith furloughs in place, the trickle-down effect is being felt down the line. Tomorrow I find out where I stand. I’m not a government employee, or even a contractor. I’m a software developer in a small shop that makes software for government contractors– and since they aren’t getting paid: we aren’t getting paid. While people […]
Read More My 2 cents: The Shutdown and my take on Congress at this point.This last Friday, I once again entered FlashFriday @ http://flashfriday.wordpress.com/2013/09/13/flash-friday-41/#comments. The prompt: Word count target: 350 words, give or take 10 words. When I first looked at the picture, my eyes were drawn of course to the dust storm. I was very tired when I looked at the picture, but the lines that came to me […]
Read More FlashFriday #41 – Anatomy of an editTwo Wal*Marts, both alike in dignity. In the four state area where we lay our scene… Okay, technically it’s more like four Super*Walmarts and one regular one with a refrigerator section and a SAM’s club but it sounds better when you’re paraphrasing great works of literature. Seriously though, I live in an area dubbed ‘the four […]
Read More A Tale of Two Wal*Marts