Delight

" Read, read, read. Read everything - trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You'll absorb it. Then write. If it's good, you'll find out. If it's not, throw it out of the window."                                                                         -William Faulkner              Her entire body burned on the operating table. Her arms and legs twitched under the bonds that prevented her from flailing. The room spun with voices and the only solace Mary found was the ever present hum. She focused on it and allowed everything else to fade away.            "We're loosing her!" A voice reached Mary's ears, followed by the suspended wine ...

Hello readers and writers! Quick heads up about the following post, it comes in two parts. The second half of the story will be posted next week, so stay tuned! Exercise time: Practice writing believable dialogue. How many times have you been reading a book or watching a movie and you find yourself rolling your eyes, because no one talks like that?! One way to practice this is to consider a scenario where an individual is leaving a message to RSVP for a party. Come up with several characters who may or may not be going to the party and then write messages that fit their personalities and are believable. _____________________________________________________________________ N ot a single whimper or whine was heard from the children. There were not enough cots or mats to go around, but it was as though, for the first time in their short lives, a blanket of security had come around them and lulled them to sleep. Mary felt the hush of their small, slumbering outfit and looked o...

   My challenge for you this upcoming week is just to read or write. Immerse yourself in the process and jump into a new world. I have found that usually when I cannot write, I am just putting too much pressure on myself. I want to write something AMAZING and I will not be happy with anything less. I have to remind myself, and so should you, that writing is like milking a cow. If you squeeze too hard, nothing will come out.    On a different note, NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is about to start, which is a great accountability challenge for anyone wanting to get a work going. I am not going to attempt it this year because of classes, but next year it's on!  Write By the end of my freshman year of college, I was carrying a sizeable burden on my shoulders, and every now and again it would lean in and whisper, Write . I didn’t want to write. I had resigned myself to only having sub-par writing skills and I certainly did not have anything to...

Last week I posted one line, "I've lost a lot of memories because I wrote them down." It was my hope that I could expand this into a full piece, but that has not happened. The good news is the following post came from an offshoot of it and I now have at least two other stories I can use for the upcoming weeks! Maybe, the original idea is just not fully cooked yet.  It needs more time to simmer. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the following story.     My challenge for you this upcoming week is just to read or write. Expand your thoughts and jump into a new world. NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is about to start, which is a great accountability challenge for anyone wanting to get a work going. I am not going to attempt it this year because of classes, but next year it's on!  Write By the end of my freshman year of college, I was carrying a sizeable burden on my shoulders, and every now and again it would lean in and whisper, Write . I didn’t want...