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The Mystery of Misplaceable Modifiers
According to numerous sources, J.R.R. Tolkien offered this memory of his first story — not the plot, not (really) the characters, not the setting, but the language: I first tried to write a story when I was about seven. It was about a dragon. I remember nothing about it except a philological fact. My mother [...]
Stories in the Trees
[The artwork above comes from a fantastic -- fantastically rich, but also just literally fantastic -- Web site called The Hermitage, from the mind and imagination of artist Rima Staines. She and her companion Tui seem to have a life straight out of fiction, as you can see from her blog. Check out their "wandering [...]
The Ill-Behaved Hat
I don’t often like to quote at length from another work. This is almost too good, though — too apt for Running After My Hat. It’s from “The Tramp’s Tale,” one of Czech author Karel Capek‘s Nine Tales for Children. The man who’s telling this story has interrupted a court proceeding (which is where “the [...]
July 4th: (Momentary) Freedom from Self-Consciousness
So there’s this new writerly-blogging trend — not really a dangerous one, but it sure feels like one to a cautious soul like Yours Truly. Which is: throw caution to the winds. Post online something you’ve written, and… ask for feedback. I think I’m going to try that, and I’ll get to that in a [...]
Sudden, Radiant Magic
From whiskey river: In the morning I mused It won’t return, the magic of life it won’t return Suddenly in my house the sun became alive for me and the table with bread on it gold and the flower on the table and the glasses gold And what happened to the sadness In the sadness [...]
Breaking WIP News: We Have a Title
A couple weeks ago, I posted on the importance of selecting a good title for your work. Here’s what I said then, in part: I’ve struggled for years, off and on, with the title of the WIP. When I tell you I’ve been calling it Grail, I know that instantly summons up certain… certain somethings [...]
