Prose

A Writer's Journal

Once Upon a New Year's Day

Acquiring habits:

Well, the first habit to acquire is the habit of writing. To follow Steven’s command at the outset of this journal and write it all – the real and the imaginary. Write descriptions, conversations, character sketches, imagination, ruminations. Find the means of expression. Perhaps my first and foremost resolution, then, is to become a writer.

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What Makes a Short Story a Fairy Tale?

I’ve been writing a series of short stories, each of which is subtitled, “A Fairy Tale.” A couple of them do have bits of magical elements. Three of them are more or less down to earth. People in my writing group have asked me: In what way are these stories fairy tales?

I responded to one of them as follows, referencing my latest story that I call "Saturday Night in the Big City." Read more about What Makes a Short Story a Fairy Tale?

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T Ruth

Another bit from THM (I'm calling his segments The Heintzelman Maneuver), my old writing buddy from the Blue Moon, gone now, but I still have a few of his papers that he gave me. I think he had a book in mind, celebrating the folks he knew from the bar. I do much the same thing in "A Dream of Houses." I didn't know T Ruth (before my time?), but I think I recognize "Molly." Read more about T Ruth

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Writing Myself

I recently did a podcast interview and one of the questions was, “Do you put yourself in any of your stories?”

I said yes, I did, all three of my novels have some version of me and make use of people I know or have known.

That’s true, but I wish I had been able to expand on that. The way it is, it sounds as if my novels are autobiographical, and they are not. Read more about Writing Myself

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