Writing

Disability month lured me to have a thorough look at a classic from my childhood. It’s greatness, and unfortunate flaws

A dark, fantastical tale that is intended to unfold a paragraph, or thereabouts, at a time.

On Publish0x:

https://www.publish0x.com/storytelling-in-paragraph-proportions/fragment-109-xeoydzy?a=X7axkJW3ey

On Wattpad:

https://www.wattpad.com/1554752587-storytelling-in-paragraph-proportions-fragment-109

Storytelling, in Paragraph Proportions - Fragment 108

A dark, fantastical tale that is intended to unfold a paragraph, or thereabouts, at a time.

On Publish0x:

https://www.publish0x.com/storytelling-in-paragraph-proportions/fragment-108-xvpeyne?a=X7axkJW3ey

On Wattpad:

https://www.wattpad.com/1549036947-storytelling-in-paragraph-proportions-fragment-108

Broke my almost year long writters block, and wrote a piece (small but a start). Minecraft movie review from a perspective of someone who worked on Minecraft stuff

A dark, fantastical tale that is intended to unfold a paragraph, or thereabouts, at a time.

On Publish0x:

https://www.publish0x.com/storytelling-in-paragraph-proportions/fragment-107-xyqgzew?a=X7axkJW3ey

On Wattpad:

https://www.wattpad.com/1542289943-storytelling-in-paragraph-proportions-fragment-107

A dark, fantastical tale that is intended to unfold a paragraph, or thereabouts, at a time.

On Publish0x:

https://www.publish0x.com/storytelling-in-paragraph-proportions/fragment-106-xdkolgg?a=X7axkJW3ey

On Wattpad:

https://www.wattpad.com/1540531744-storytelling-in-paragraph-proportions-fragment-106

A dark, fantastical tale that is intended to unfold a paragraph, or thereabouts, at a time.

On Publish0x:

https://www.publish0x.com/storytelling-in-paragraph-proportions/fragment-105-xgvxqjk?a=X7axkJW3ey

On Wattpad:

https://www.wattpad.com/1538913850-storytelling-in-paragraph-proportions-fragment-105

A dark, fantastical tale that is intended to unfold a paragraph, or thereabouts, at a time.

https://www.publish0x.com/storytelling-in-paragraph-proportions/fragment-102-xwvxgyg?a=X7axkJW3ey

(I find parts of the fanfic bit by bit and copy/paste what I can find)

Remember that all they’re doing are kissing, these are minors. They are 15, I was 15 and therefore this story isn’t sexual.

—————————————————————————

the butterflies were back, but this time, not with excitement. steve anticipated what snot was going to do. make out with him? right here, right now?

snot grabbed his shoulder, his eyes intensifying, but then quickly pulled it away, thrusting his hand in the air.

"mr. brink!" said snot.

mr. brink didn't seem too busy and went right over to their table. "what is it?"

"i need to go to the bathroom."

he nodded in approval. "you may go."

steve waited for a little while as snot remained in the bathroom. he knew if he went right alongside snot, everyone would know something was up.

he started bouncing his leg up and down impatiently. ugh. i really have to ask him so i can see what snot wanted.

so he too raised his hand, and mr. brink came over.

"i need to go as well," whispered steve.

"okay. be quick. maybe you can check on snot."

why didn't i think of that instead of saying i needed to go to the bathroom? "will do, mr. brink."

...

steve opened the door to find no one besides snot, standing alone.

"oh, good," sighed snot. "we're alone. and i can finally give you more... attention."

steve felt his stomach drop to his knees. "wh--what does that MEAN?!"

"come by the wall." his voice was more intense and commanding than usual. "i'll show you."

steve cautiously backed up against the wall and snot followed, cornering him.

"are you MAD at me? going to ATTACK me? what's going--"

snot put a finger to steve's lips. "shut up."

steve felt the color come back to his cheeks and his heart started to flutter. somehow he knew he wasn't in danger.

snot grabbed his shoulders, pinning him to the wall, so steve and snot looked at each other. right. in. the eyes.

"close your eyes," snot demanded, in a quiet and breathy voice. steve did. "i have a surprise."

steve wondered what the "surprise" was, but when he felt something wet and soft on his lips, he knew.

steve's body went tense. he certainly wasn't expecting THIS.

after snot's lips were on his for a while, though, steve started to relax, and was really feeling the mood.

steve felt a rush of courage and placed his hands on snot’s waist, gladly kissing back.

the confession

steve sat at his desk in english class, thinking about asking snot to the upcoming dance. his heart beat fast and his face turned hot at the thought of snot in his handsome dance clothes. he'll probably look just like a prince, he thought, but even if he likes girls, will he be my prince char-- no. it was too much. he couldn't even finish the thought before he felt like he was going to explode. his face was HOT. 

english class went by like a blur as the bell rang, since he wasn't exactly paying attention, which was quite unusual for him of all people.

then, as he went by his locker to get his math textbook, he saw HIM. snot, the prettiest boy in the ninth grade. his heart felt like it was pounding out of his chest and into his throat, just like his head. 

"snot!"

snot looked directly into steve's eyes with a look of curiosity. "what is it?"

"will you..." steve looked down at the floor, barely able to be in snot's presence, a tingle in his chest. "will you..." he shut his eyes tightly. "...gotothedancewithme?" 

somehow, snot seemed to be able to understand what he said. he blinked, then responded with a smile, having something of a red face himself. "i'd love to, steve."

he reached for steve's hand and managed to grab it. steve took a deep breath, shut his eyes tightly, then opened them again. i'll just go with it, i won't even question it. this... feels nice.

his embarrassment faded, sheer happiness replacing it, as the two boys walked to math class together.

the math teacher, mr. brink, seemed to be in a good mood, since he let the students sit wherever they wanted for that day. steve, of course, wanted to sit next to snot, but couldn't muster up the courage. the thought sent butterflies in his stomach. snot stood up, hesitated, then sat down in the empty chair next to steve. snot seemed to have been thinking the exact same thing but with more courage. 

the classroom was pretty quiet, and not a lot of people arrived yet. snot gave steve a warm smile as he sat down. right after, more people arrived and the class was much louder. 

"another nice moment ruined," steve grumbled to himself. with so many people in the room, steve and snot couldn't even look at each other in a specific way anyway, as not only would they be pearl bailey high school's nerds, but the school's homos too. although, to be fair, nobody exactly thought steve or snot were straight. especially not steve.

"okay, quiet down, class," announced mr. brink in a powerful, yet understanding voice. "today, you've all finished your math packets, so today is a study hall. you can catch up on homework from other classes and can also talk amongst yourselves..." he paused, "IF you talk in a quiet voice. i shouldn't be able to hear you from the back of the class." his eyes went to jacob and conan, the two troublemakers of the ninth grade.

jacob smiled awkwardly, his eyes widening, and conan stifled a laugh.

and it's those two hooligans who will ruin the moment.

"anyway, now it's time to quietly work, get focused!"

the class went quiet. so quiet, that only the soft clacking of keyboards and the light scratching of pencils against paper could be heard, along with a few whispers.

steve didn't want to work just yet, so he stared at the floor again, making sure not to make eye contact with his best friend.

we can go to the dance as friends, right? that doesn't make me gay. having a crush on a dude? he did a mixture of a laugh and a scoff. that'd be ridiculous. i like women, just like dad raised me. snot's my best friend, i should be comfortable enough to dance with him. i have before at his house but...

he raised his head to look at snot, staring intently at a workbook. this feels different somehow.

steve could hear the light scratching of the pencil against the paper again, and this time the sound felt oddly relaxing. steve took his glasses off and put his head down, closing his eyes for a little while as the sound filled his brain and eardrums. after a while, he no longer heard the pencil scratching, just silence from snot. he turned his head, his face mere inches from snot and blushed. 

wow, he's really focused. it really looks like he's not aware of anything. just the book he's reading.

of course, the book happened to be "harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban", a book both boys have already read dozens of times. he put his head down again and felt a smile creep up on his face as he listened to the soft, occasional sound of the pages rustling.

...

steve raised his head slowly, warmth and a bit of sweat pressed against his hand. snot was holding his hand while he slept. 

steve actually wasn't sure if he fell asleep or not. all he focused on was the sound of the pages, and when he heard them no more, he either zoned out or fell asleep.

"class is almost over, steve." he leaned in closer. "and i can give all my undivided attention to you."

My first proper blog post. Ill hopefully write new stuff soon

I think stealing is highly underrated in the writing community. Everyone loves a good thief but the bad thieves get all the attention, spoiling the reputation of all. I honestly think that being a good thief makes for a better writer and encourage everyone to steal prodigiously but tactfully.

Bad thieves belong in literary jail. Aside from the obvious consequence of potentially getting sued for copyright infringement, the far worse crime of bad thievery is against art itself. Bad thieves steal without even understanding the value of what it is they stole, so their attempt to fence it for their own profit is fraud and often makes the reader feel defrauded. No one likes a cheap counterfeit of something they actually value. Worse still, the inferior knockoff could become more popular than the original, diluting and perverting it into a commodity to be kicked around rather than an honest expression of humanity that it was originally. Stealing incompetently is harmful to the writer, the reader, and to literature. A good thief, on the other hand, gets away clean and is even lauded for their efforts.

There are two ways to get away with stealing ideas for your story:

1. The reader couldn’t know you stole the idea unless you told them.
2. The reader suspects or knows that you stole the idea and are pleased that you did.

The key to getting away with ideas you don’t want people to know you stole is to launder them. A dirty idea sticks out like a sore thumb in a different story. It’s jarring to read about a character or event which was written for another story and airdropped into yours. A whole dirty story just sucks because it can only ever be an inferior counterfeit of the original.

To launder stolen ideas, you have to make it look like you came up with it yourself and it was something you would have come up with. If you want to steal an idea for your story in the first place, it probably actually is something you would have come up with but didn’t. You have to strip away everything that attaches that idea to its original source and replace it with your own context.

Let’s say I wanted to steal Jack Sparrow for my story. That’s a pretty high stakes gambit, being one of the most recognizable characters in pop fiction and also owned by one of the most litigious companies in the world. I could drop a thinly veiled Jack Sparrow in my story and get my shit wrecked legally and critically, or I could keep what I need from the idea and get rid of the hard evidence. I want a character like Jack Sparrow in my story to serve a similar purpose that he served in the movies. I don’t need his name, his appearance, his gender, his profession, his style of dress, his dialect, any of his actions, or other dead weight. What I need of this character for my story is a swaggering liar who appears fully incompetent but is oddly successful. The reason I want a character like this in my story is because I believe he would make a good foil for my characters and could take my story in interesting directions because of the kinds of decisions I think he would make.

For the sake of this example, I’m taking him for my high fantasy setting. My Jaithe Arrow is an elven woman working as a mercenary captain who behaves a lot like Jack Sparrow. I don’t know what the movie writers were thinking about why Jack did what he did, but I do know why my Jaithe behaves the way she does. My interpretation of that character, as all audience interpretations of that character, is unique to my experience and personality and I can build on what appealed to me about the character. My story is not The Pirates of the Caribbean, so my Jaithe Arrow is going to be involved in and reacting to an entirely different set of circumstances. Ultimately, the character may remind the reader of Jack Sparrow, but the character is clearly not Jack Sparrow just inserted into a story he wasn’t made for.

This could bleed over into the second category. I’ve often heard “Firefly” referred to as “The Han Solo Show” with total fondness. There is probably a lot of Han Solo in the character of Malcolm Reynolds, and fans of one character are likely fans of the other. When fans make this connection, it’s because they liked that someone made a show about a character like Han Solo even if it wasn’t produced by Lucasfilm. Anything that may have been stolen is totally clean. Firefly is not like Star Wars and although the two characters are similar in many ways they each fit uniquely into their own respective stories.

The thing that I like most about the second way to get away with stealing is that most ideas you can steal are actually free. Anything that actually happened we have record of is free from earliest history to current events. Anything you experienced or heard about happening is free. Science is free. Philosophy is free. Esoterica is free. Any creative works in the public domain are free. With some possible stipulations, much open source content is free for you to use. The thing about taking all these free ideas is that readers often like learning about real things. I don’t think a single person was upset that much of what occurred in the Song of Ice and Fire series was stolen from actual history. I do know many people who really appreciate that he stole those events from the pages of history books, in fact. Even if you cobble your whole story together with these kinds of stolen ideas, it will probably read as more deep than cheap.

There is nothing ethically wrong about adapting ideas of other people to your own work. In fact, it’s basically impossible to create anything completely original. Even if you did, it would be at best an interesting novelty rather than something readers would find relatable. The originality of a given writer is how their mind processes their experience and presents it to readers. The same idea presented by two different people in completely different ways can appeal to vastly different audiences. Oftentimes, an idea will never reach an audience unless a writer uses their creativity to bridge the gap from a different audience to the next, and that’s almost always a good thing.

Many writers would not consider what I advocated for here to be stealing. I wrote this for anyone who might have. Writers appropriate ideas like this constantly whether consciously or not because we are human creatures in communication with one another. If you come across any idea that you would like in your writing, you can actually have it. Take it and make it yours. By the time you’re done adjusting it for your own purposes it’ll be as original as anything else. Get stealing!

My mortal enemy: Names!

@writing

Outlining a book with four chosen-one type protags. I don't like the names I came up with. I need better ideas, if you'd be so kind?

1. Harrison "Harry" Bach: Destined to become the Attorney Supreme. Terry's BFF
2. Tiresias "Terry" Garanhir: Chosen by the Drover's Crook. He talks to critters.
3. Minthe "Minty" Garanhir: Future Dragonslayer. She's Terry's twin.
4. Adulphine "Alfie" Mordred: Carries the Curse of Cadmus (she's becomng a dragon)
   @writingcommunity

They've got a few different things going on, including discussion groups, a journal, and a publishing house.

They're also running a fundraiser with the main aim of getting people paid, which seems laudable!

It's fictional, of course. I hope you can give me a critique about my writing. The style, what's wrong with it, plot holes, sentences that doesn't make sense, the lot.

This was published a while ago by a zine that's now shut down, so I just republished it on my blog. Has a tone I guess half way between Nick Hornby and Chuck Palahniuk, if that makes any sense (I doubt it).

Once upon a time there was a magician with knowledge divine,

that lived through ages, met kings, fought wars and put his life on the line.

He was very well versed in the surrounding lands,

where his lonesome tower always stands.

---

There was a knock on his gate,

a sudden traveller visiting his tower.

Shook The Magician indeed was

at the sight of an unknown flower.

---

The Traveller spoke in a calm voice,

asking The Magician about the flower's origin.

The Magician looked on in disbelief,

and The Traveller showed a shadowy grin.

---

You call yourself a holder of divine knowledge,

yet you seem to be quite on the edge.

Have you not been beyond the borders of your kingdom,

never seeking the outside freedom?

---

The world outside the kingdom is vast,

though you have never left in the past.

You could have left but you did not,

have they, perhaps, tied you to this spot?

---

The Traveller left without another word,

leaving behind the questions stabbing like a sword.

The Magician suddenly longed to see the freedom,

so he ventured to the heart of the kingdom.

---

Unbeknownst to him,

the future was looking grim.

The people were living in poverty,

while wealthy nobles treated them like property.

---

On The Magician's adventure,

he felt his heart rupture.

What he saw,

was his kingdom's fatal flaw.

---

A broken mother's sad weeps,

as her young son eternally sleeps.

A hanged father's wish for his daughter,

who was taken like a lamb for slaughter.

---

The Magician was taken over by grief,

looking at what the kingdom has become in disbelief.

This kingdom he no longer understood,

when in front of a mountain of corpses he stood.

---

In front of the corpses where he stands, he saw blood on his hands.

A chill froze him to the core,

was there nothing he could have done?

---

Perhaps if he didn't stay in his tower,

the daughter would have grown into a beautiful flower.

The son would be a good father,

and with the old parents at the table gather.

---

Burning with blazing rage,

it was time for the final stage.

On this stage The King would appear,

confronted by The Magician full of fear.

---

As he confronted the King,

the birds started to sing.

They sang a song full of sorrow,

because The Magician would never see the tomorrow.

---

Once upon a time there was a magician with knowledge divine,

that lived through ages, met kings, fought wars and put his life on the line.

He was shackled under the kingdom,

for The Magician longed to see freedom.

An interview with Sefton Eisenhart, author of the new crime story The Chaos of Heat I asked him about what he enjoys reading, his writing setup, fanzines, and the authors who inspire him.

My daughter is studying Creative Writing and English Literature at Birmingham (UK) University. She's put together some pieces on Substack. Most of them are over my head, but this one hits right in the feels. Apart from a couple of technical inaccuracies, it's spot on. Hope you like it ;-)

Sorry if it's too off-topic 😅

The farming post Issue num 2357 Date10/28/2030

Flu like illness reported A outbreak of a “Flu like illness” is being reported in Evans City. The reported cases are between 10-15 all infected persons are being held in the quatraine ward of the Samples of the Disease are being delivered to the CDC and are expected to arrive tomorrow.

Greg Jones arrested Greg Jones attacked sheriff Kenneth Hall and severely injured him Sunday. It was reported the sheriff received several bites and scratches on his body. Greg Jones was tased and subdued by deputies who Received no injuries. Sheriff hall was raced to (insert later) hospital where he was placed in the ICU he is expected to make a full recovery.

Local obituaries

Harry Cooper 2/15/2000-10/25/2030

Henry Rhodes 4/10/1998-10/25/2030

The farming post Issue num 2356 Date10/212030

Top news Tragic death in community

Greg Jones Son whose name is being withheld was shot dead during the search for him. He was reported as being aggressive and unresponsive by the volunteer (name withheld) and sheriff deputy Harry Cooper. Both received several bites and lacerations all over their body before their attacker was shot dead. Mr Jones has threatened to sue the department for the botched search claiming his son was only dazed and confused and should have been subdued and not killed.

Mayor Paul Kaufman under fire A major Scandal is underway as Mayor Paul Kaufman has been accused of taking bribes from the PFA (Poultry Farmers of America) both parties deny these claims but opponent Riley Denbo there is “an overwhelming amount of evidence” with the election only a month away the race for mayor becomes heated.

Dr. Matthew Logan under fire With the rise in attacks by cows farmers and some scientists are accusing Dr Logan and his team’s cure of back firing and causing an increased aggression of cattle. Dr Logan has denied all claims and accused local farmers of overreacting to normal behavior of their cattle.