Tag: literature
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The Shortest Best Story Ever
This post originally appeared in Old Road Apples’ very first week of existence. No one noticed it. No one even read it. So, I’m giving it a chance at new life, as I will be doing with other, carefully selected posts in the coming weeks. Among the students voted “best…” and “most likely to…” for…
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Henry Miller’s 11 Writing Commandments
I’m offering a rare repost, but this one is irresistible–not only for the racy photo of Henry Miller, but his rules for writing. I’ve broken all of them within recent memory–my shortcomings and failures are no longer inexplicable. Check out “Journelle Frivolous”–it’s well worth the time.
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Two Poems Stuck In My Head
Forgive me, it’s been over 6 weeks since i sat down and tried to think in verse. Forget about the actual work of putting it on paper and tinkering. I could blame all the obligations–work, kid’s stuff, chores, a wedding, a vacation, fiction, and this damned blog–but I don’t do excuses with writing. It’s like…
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Excerpt: Novel in Progress
Someone asked me about the novel in progress…here’s some: It took both of them to drag me up from the hole, and from their grunts and curses it wasn’t easy for them. I had stopped struggling weeks before, and was paid for it with harder currency than when I’d fought back, but there wasn’t a…
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The Automatic Poetry Generator
I’m not making this up. http://www.languageisavirus.com/automatic_poetry_generator.html Finally, a poem I write–er–create makes sense. All electric before the air Dark and musty against the fire I condemn heavy tentacles beyond the rain Be transparent. The bastard will vanish So dark over the gods I poke colorful brains behind the trees Damn! The end is done All…
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Micro/Psuedo-Intellectualism
I took a free online course on Coursera recently–read some good old books. For each selection, students were required to write a brief, 350-word essay that was then distributed to five random classmates for peer review. The following dreck was my first offering, which was modestly reviewed–two of my five peers, one English and another…
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