Dirk Flinthart's Blog, page 7

On Short Stories (Part 1)

This is the first part in what will be a moderately long series. It will eventually be compiled into a PDF for free release. It’s not as though I imagine my perspective on writing short stories is unique, or even unusually valuable… but it can’t hurt to lay out some very simple ideas on the […]

Kiss

Kiss I could not kiss you lightly Brush cheek with cheek and vanish Hummingbird swift to another blossom. Deeper nectars demand the patience of desire I could not kiss you softly. Sweetness comes to summer fruit bruised by tongue and lip and tooth. Fierce kisses delight as they devour. I could not kiss you quickly. […]

Short Story: “Flogging A Dead Irishman.”

Flogging A Dead Irishman Dirk Flinthart 2015 Another rejection. Thank you for this opportunity, regret to say not suitable blah blah blah. Try another publication. Jesus, doesn’t anybody read proper stories any more? I thought I’d cracked it this time. Wrote about the time I smuggled a bunch of Mexican workers into the USA. Good […]

Research: Some People Just Don’t Wanna Be Helpful

I recently got ‘friended’ on FaceBook by somebody who I very quickly pegged as a scammer. Eh, not to worry. Why not? So — here’s the exchange of messages that followed once I accepted the ‘Friend’ request. I have reduced the scammer’s ID to a set of initials because — well, even scammers have feelings, […]

Make It Bleed: The Third Dimension of Storytelling

This is the third and final piece of musing on the art of the storytelling — at least, for now. (I’m a writer. No doubt I’ll be back here sometime, marvelling at my past arrogance and stupidity. Sufficient unto the day…) So far, I’ve discussed what I call two dimensions of storytelling. The first — […]

Keys

She stood in the shadow of a pylon, trembling with something more than cold. A vagrant moonbeam turned her breath into a silver halo. I didn’t want to frighten her, so I cleared my throat. She turned, her eyes wide. “Sorry,” I said. “You wouldn’t have a light?” She stared, then shook her head. “I’m […]

A Story With A Story

VIGIL Their eyes turn away as they pass this willow, sheltering your grave. Men who could not look elsewhere while you lived will not spare a glance for your tomb. And I – when I was your Prince Charming, women gazed at me under their lashes and dropped their kerchiefs by my feet. Now I […]

The Fading Memory Of Music

The Fading Memory of Music Dirk Flinthart         “Ev’ry time, just like the last On the ship, tied to the mast…” She came out of the twilight like a shadow, appearing at my shoulder before I knew it, speaking words I couldn’t hear. Tossing the stub of my cigarette into the sea, I […]

The Dimensions Of Storytelling. Part The Second: The Nifty Idea

Last time I talked about this I posited that stories – novels too, but here I’m generally talking about short stories because I’ve got a collection coming out very soon – are built along multiple dimensions of engagement. That is, there are multiple ways to gain and hold a reader’s attention. The first dimension, for […]

…And Another

While I was talking about dimensions of storytelling a few days back, I did mention that I have a collection of my own coming out. Soon. I even included a wee bitty link to Fablecroft, the publishers. Promotion! Go me! Seriously? I’m really not good at spruiking my own material. I need to get better […]