As a graduating class, we decided to have Rebecca Brown as the master of ceremony during our commencement. During my time at Goddard College I never spent much time getting to know Rebecca, but over the course the program I became a bit of a wallflower groupie. What’s a wallflowerContinue Reading
When I was in my 20s, I still thought I could change the world. Aren’t we all predisposed to such thinking at that age? I worked for the Boy Scouts, mostly because I believed in it, but part of the reason was that the Boy Scouts provided me with roamContinue Reading
So, we’ve sat through some great topics: the novel descriptions and plot and that sort of thing. I would venture to guess that a few inspirational statements would go a long way after the interlude last week. I’m sure. But my biggest inspirational statement is: go and do it, youContinue Reading
Janice and I made our way out of the woods and headed downtown to see Corrie and Tor. They are good friends from Denver, and an outing is an outing. And it’s good to be with good friends. I felt inclined to introduce them to Anna Banana’s. I still loveContinue Reading
And then?Then.And then?This.And then?That. I don’t know how to continue this conversation and keep from pulling out my hair. Plot. Have we beat this point to death? We talked about it in the Jumpstart. We came back to it at least once in the Short Story for the Editor. Yeah?Continue Reading
While walking around the old neighborhood, I found myself grateful for the lack of rain. As always the case when walking, right? To be honest, I don’t really mind the rain. I think Portland, at least the old northwest neighborhood is beautiful no matter the weather. But don’t things lookContinue Reading
The first post in this series brought one pertinent statement to the table: you can write a novel.There are any number of ways to do it, as we know: write one in a month, or write it in a year.We concluded last week with an entreaty to begin the wholeContinue Reading
I was in a bar in Manitou Springs, Colorado. I was mindlessly drinking gin martinis when I met the white, hockey player, teacher from the south. He was, at that time anyway, a local. I was the tourist from Denver squatting in a summertime cabin. It was not the touristContinue Reading
It’s a great a scene. It’s not uncommon, no, rather, you’ve probably been cast in this scene too. It’s a holiday party. People are everywhere. They all have ugly holiday sweaters and wearing them proudly. If this scene should take place elsewhere in the English speaking world it’s exactly theContinue Reading
We’ve just spent eight weeks on this topic of writing the short story for the editor. I can’t guarantee anyone can become a writer, write a short story and get it published in just eight weeks. If I could guarantee that, well, I’d be selling my advice and program toContinue Reading