Alexander M. Zoltai's Blog, page 55
June 3, 2017
Seven things you need to know about writing short stories
As with all “this is how to do it” articles about writing, today’s re-blog is meant as guidance, not “Rules”…
{ By the way, there are two collections of short stories on this blog—Friday Fantasy & Friday Story Bazaar— with a total, as of my writing these words, of 77 stories :-) }
By writer Julie Fairweather
The approach to creating a short story is primarily governed by an individual’s writing process. Some writers begin with a single word or phrase and mind-map from th...
June 2, 2017
Friday Story Bazaar ~ Tale Forty-Six
Utopia?
by
Alexander M Zoltai
~~~~~~~~~
It was no place; and, Margie was about to create it.
She entered the observation bubble on deck three, sat down across from Evangeline, and said:
“I’m going to no place.”
“What?”
“Utopia—it means ‘no place’.”
“I thought it meant something like the ideal or best place…”
“Folks do use it to mean ideal, the word history says no place.”
“O.K., how ya gonna do it?”
“I’ve created a virtual reality game—wanna play it?”
“Sure!”
They left the third deck of the s...
June 1, 2017
Anne Lamott Is Right
So much of today’s re-blog is “about” me — echoes where I’m at…
Ellen Shriner
By Ellen Shriner
Whenever I tell people I’m a writer, they always ask, “Are you published?” For years, being published was my primary writing goal. So when I first saw Anne Lamott’s advice in Bird by Bird, my reaction was, “Yeah, right”—
I still encourage anyone who feels at all compelled to write to do so. I just try to warn people who hope to get published that publication is not all it...
May 31, 2017
Sailing the Sea of Story ~~~ Ursula K. Le Guin
I am a writer; but, I’ve rarely read books about “how” to write.
[image error]Image Courtesy of Arjan Yspeert ~ http://www.freeimages.com/photographer/Yspeert-53311
I’m from the school of read omnivorously, absorb grammar and syntax usage, rub up against all kinds of storytelling; then, write my own…
However, I did recently read Ursula K. Le Guin‘s, Steering the Craft: A Twenty-First-Century Guide to Sailing the Sea of Story.
The book has Exercises (from workshops she did); Examples, from accomplished au...
May 30, 2017
THE MYTH OF THE RELUCTANT READER by Aaron Becker
Wonderful re-blog today — a solution, a Real one, a Simple one, for those kids who have trouble reading words but love stories…
I have a confession. I did not read books when I was a kid. Of course, there was the time in 5th grade that I conspicuously placed A Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson on my desk, but that brief brush with literature was meant only to impress the two bookish girls in my class that I liked (one of whom is now a children’s writer but I’m not tel...
May 29, 2017
Little Free Libraries All over the World
The other day, my Best Friend told me about something new to her in her hometown of Melbourne, Australia—Street Library. [image error]
She was quite surprised when I told her I’d blogged about them; in fact the first time was back in 2012, in the article, Little Libraries Spreading All Over :-)
An excerpt:
Fairly small, up on a pole, books inside, and saying, “Take A Book – Leave A Book”.
This phenomenon began in Hudson, Wisconsin, USA and has already spread to Europe and Africa.
From USA Today: “Todd Bo...
May 28, 2017
Short and Sweet Advice for Writers: Remember. The World Runs on Stories.
Even though pointed directly at writers, today’s re-blog can enlighten readers and publishers, too :-)
I have yet to meet a writer who doesn’t routinely doubt the sanity of writing. Despite realizing that writing is an inextricable part of our identity, we can’t help but question its usefulness and value. We feel guilty and self-indulgent. We worry (and sometimes believe) that there are other, more Important Things we should be doing with our time.
Rubbish.
No m...
May 27, 2017
On Being Human and a Writer Plus Shareworthy Reading and Writing Links
Ponderable article for todays’ re-blog and the extras are nice :-)
[image error]Being human is complicated. And, being a human who writes adds a whole other layer of complexity to your existence.
Unlike animals who live simple lives that inhabit a single identity, we humans must constantly shapeshift between myriad roles, sometimes changing who we are multiple times over the course of a single day. In any given twenty-four hour span, I am mother, lover, daughter, sister, neig...
May 26, 2017
Friday Story Bazaar ~ Tale Forty-Five
Who’s Your Guru?
by
Alexander M Zoltai
~~~~~~~~~
Adam was mind-blastingly excited—he’d been granted an audience with an up-and-coming Guru, potentially leading to a viral Internet article that would firmly establish him as Important.
He had to use every bit of his journalistic experience to corral his thoughts into the proper bounds—away from his potential fame and toward the job ahead…
Not many folks knew about the Guru, who insisted on being called Joe; but, certain sources Adam knew (sourc...
May 25, 2017
Writing is Centering, Like Prayer
Today’s re-blog is, in so many ways, what I’ve lived through…
Humans are, in fact, more alike than different…
By Marcia Krause Bilyk
The day after Trump’s inauguration, when Sean Spicer stood at the White House podium and declared the crowd the largest in Inaugural history, instead of scoffing at him, instead of declaring him as nuts as his boss, I was transported to my childhood feelings of rage, fear, and despair.
I grew up with a narcissistic father. Our home was...
