Alexander M. Zoltai's Blog, page 67
February 3, 2017
Friday Story Bazaar ~ Tale Twenty-Nine
Can I Give Up Now?
by
Alexander M Zoltai
~~~~~~~~~
He’d found the poem on some blog—written by an unknown—full of meaning for him…
He began, slowly, to read it yet again, out loud:
“Creeping up aHill of life from a
Valley too well-known;
This time, this
Time reach some
Height not leading
Back to have-to;
This time, this
Time free enough to
See beyond these
Patterns locked in
Self so locked in
Dust.”
He took note, yet again, of the “Back to have-to“—rolled it around in his mind—knowing what...
February 2, 2017
How “Girl Books” Could Save the World (Or At Least Help Out!) by Jen Malone
Valuable re-blog today…
I doubt it will surprise any Nerds that a recent study offered definitive proof that readers of fiction tend to score higher on tests measuring empathy and interpersonal sensitivity, and are better equipped to interpret emotional cues. In short, fiction readers are superior at “human-ing.”
These findings make so much sense to me, because when we read a book about someone who’s “other” from the way we self-identify, and have the opportunity to live in...
February 1, 2017
Flash Fiction Is Alive and Well
How long is a novel? [image error]
Some say at least 50,000 words; but, there are well-accepted novels that are shorter.
How long is a novella?
Longer than a short story but shorter than a novel.
How long is a short story?
Somewhere from about 1,500 words to upwards of (some say) 30,000 words.
So, somewhere under 1,500 words is “Flash” (though, some folks say under 2,000…).
One definition goes like this:
“Flash fiction is an umbrella term used to describe any fictional work of extreme brevity, including t...
January 31, 2017
How Long Does It Take to Write A Novel?
I’d done a re-blog today from Roz Morris about “writing at speed”; so, I thought it would be proper to share a video of Roz talking (rather poetically…) about the Long and Short of novel writing…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you don’t see a way to comment (or, “reply”) after this post, try up there at the top right…
Read Some Strange Fantasies
Grab A Free Novel…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Google Author Page
For Private Comments or Questions, Email: amzolt {at} gmail {dot} com
Tag...
Avoid this plotting pitfall when writing drafts at speed
Again, Roz Morris gives solid advice to writers in today’s re-blog :-)
Husband Dave and I have recently been watching the Showtime series Ray Donovan. And sometimes, we’re finding the storytelling is rather uneven.
Interesting developments pop up that seem to promise a new and unexpected direction for the plot. Instead, though, they’re defused and then the main story trots along again, pretty much unaffected.
Here’s an example. Ray is a hired troubleshooter for the rich and fa...
January 30, 2017
“World Wide Words” for Folks Who Are REALLY into Words…
World Wide Words is a WebSite/Service that, ironically, only deals with English words.
[image error]Image Courtesy of Brenton Nicholls ~ http://www.freeimages.com/photographer/BJN-31210
Though, the Site’s subtitle is, Investigating the English language across the globe.
I’d linked to World Wide Words in a post back in March of last year called, Some Very Cool WebSites for #Readers & #Writers, which also linked to five other wonderful word-sites…
In that post, I included these words from the World Wide Wor...
January 29, 2017
Ten Books About Climate Change by Nancy Castaldo
Any Climate-Change deniers out there?
One of the most important issues our world faces today is climate change. Scientists across the globe agree that our planet is in the throes of a dramatic change. As our Earth warms, every organism on the planet from insects to plants, from polar bears to humans are impacted. Here is a list of books that will inform and empower young readers about this headlining issue.
The Down-to-Earth Guide to Global Warming
Laurie David and Cambria G...
January 28, 2017
A Sense of Proportion . . .
No re-blog today—I’ve known about something and seen a rational article about it—there needs to be a heightened awareness from Readers, Writers, and Publishers (it also needs action, though most of us, individually, couldn’t muster what’s necessary…). [image error]
There are three organizations that are vital for my country’s future (I’m hoping that folks not from the U. S. A. will leave a comment if they’re aware of parallel organizations in their own countries...).
These organizations are in danger of h...
January 27, 2017
Friday Story Bazaar ~ Tale Twenty-Eight
The Creator and The Destroyer
by
Alexander M Zoltai
~~~~~~~~~
The boy moved closer to the fire and said, “Grandfather, tell me again of the Great War.”
The Grandfather said, “It seems as if the Battle has raged Forever… The Creator building up—The Destroyer tearing down.”
“This is what makes a pain in my heart, Grandfather. Our Great Creator seems unable to ever win the Great War—we will always suffer…”
“Dearest Grandson, if you were to carefully consult all the records, you would see that Th...
January 26, 2017
Benefits of Reading, Fiction and Empathy
A quote from the author of today’s re-blog:
“I will hang my hat on fiction and literature as the foundation to teach the most important things in life, beginning with empathy.”
There is a reason I begin every school year by reading aloudCharlotte’s Web. Besides being a terrific story that children love year after year, the underlying message goes far deeper than the friendship between Charlotte the spider and Wilbur the pig. Charlotte risks her life for Wilbur; she ac...
