This is non-fiction

This is a bit different from most of the work I've been putting on here, but hopefully you will still enjoy it.

ADVICE TO HOPEFUL WRITERS

            You may have read this title and thought to yourself Yeah, right. Who is he to give advice? He’s never even been published, that’s why he has a blog.  If you thought this about most bloggers you may well be right to be skeptical. This time however, you’re wrong. Ha ha ha ha ha! (Note to readers: that is not my imitation of The Shadow, everyone knows that the best amount of times to laugh through text is five :D. Unless you are writing “lol” then it’s a totally different story.)

            For your information I have been published. I have been published in my college newspaper twice, in two different college literary magazines and in a community newspaper. I admit it is not the most impressive resume, but it’s better than nothing.  I also dream of being an author (best-selling if possible), so I have read and heard numerous tips on writing, In this I will just be imparting some very basic tips.  I can’t imagine that I will be able to impart all of my knowledge within one blog.  There may be several installments of this.  (If you enjoy this and want some more in depth tips I strongly suggest The Craft by Stephen King. It is his own advice on writing.)

            First you have to decide what you want to write about.  Some people tell you to write what you know. I disagree. I say if you enjoy writing it then it will show through. If you have some facts wrong, big deal.  Each time you write your skills will increase. Do you have a topic? If not choose one, I’ll wait . . . . Got one? Good! Okay how do wish to write about this topic, through poetry, a short story or are you ambitious and you want to write a full-length book? For novice writers I would not suggest a full length book.  If you attempt a full-length book on your first try you are likely to get frustrated because it is not long enough or it’s taking too long.  If choosing poetry, what kind of poetry?  Free form and rhyming couplets are the most popular, but not necessarily the easiest.  I find pantoums to be quite easy because you only need two new rhyming couplets for each stanza (Google it), but there are also sestinas, sonnets, villanelles, etc. The possibilities are endless. (Caution: villanelles are not the easiest to write, but once again, if you are feeling ambitious more power to you.)

            Maybe you want to write a short story.  I have found that, for me, it’s the easiest to write a short story if you already the beginning and end mapped out, in your mind if nowhere else.   If you have the middle mapped out as well even better, but that has only happened to me once.  I can’t really offer a lot of advice on short stories.  A lot of it depends on your style of writing. Do you like to outline your stories on paper before actually writing them? Do you like to write out the whole thing and then edit and revise? (That’s what I do.) Do you like to write down a lot of random words and then see if you can form a story out of them?  If that last choice is your style then writing may not be the best choice for you ;).

            Some of the biggest advice I can offer is do what works for you.  Don’t let people tell you that you are doing it wrong.  If it works for you, why change?

 One more minor piece of advice, don’t try to be funny (unless you are compiling a joke book), if you are funny it should come naturally. If you force humor into your work it won’t work.  I’ve done it once before and, looking back, I realize that it wasn’t all that funny.  So humor is fine, but let it come naturally, if at all.  When I first heard that you shouldn’t try to be funny it confused me. I have often heard that the humor is part of the best things in my writing. It took me a while to understand what the man was truly trying to say

            And that about does it for my first installment of: Advice for Hopeful Writers.

My Favorite Blue

Just another story about John's favorite Blue.

MY FAVORITE BLUE

            This really was John’s favorite Blue.  He would always capitalize this type of Blue. There were many Blue’s in the world but this one had to be John’s favorite.  Whenever he looked at this Blue it just made John so happy. He was always so glad to have found this Blue.

            Most of John’s waking hours were focused on this Blue and when he went to sleep he often dreamt of this Blue.  That’s how much he loved this Blue. There were some Blues that were close to this Blue that he loved so much, but none exactly the same.  Ever since discovering this Blue John tried to make sure to incorporate this Blue into many of his activities. Playing Frisbee, painting a room, or even just shopping.  He never wanted to be without this Blue, if it was at all avoidable. 

            Now sometimes John understood he would have to be without this Blue. For example he couldn’t have it at his work all the time.  He wasn’t sure if he would be able to focus on his work if this Blue was constantly around.  And it took a while before this Blue was part of his shower.  He talked to this Blue incessantly and people began to notice a bounce in his step after he discovered this Blue. 

            Sometimes John had had a rough day, but this Blue always seemed to make things ok again.  One day John made a decision and he went to store, made a few purchases and that night he took this Blue out to dinner with him.  The next few months were a whirlwind and John didn’t see as much of this Blue as normally did, he was so busy. Then after a few short months John Meltzer and Emma Blue got married. 

I don’t want to give you the wrong idea, they didn’t always get along, but if I revealed that too early it might give away, what I hope was, a surprise ending.  But, they never regretted their decision to get married.  They discussed it carefully with their family and friends beforehand and felt really good about the decision. They have now been married for quite some time and are still going strong.

THE END.

I thought of this story last night and I had to write it down before I forgot it. For those of you who have read my novella (I don't plan on publishing it), you may recognize Alex's voice telling this story, though it's a bit grimmer than most stories he would tell.

FOR THE SAKE OF A TITLE.

Two men (not really friends, more acquaintances) were spending some time together one day.  For the sake of this story we shall call one of them Mark and the other one Ben.  Mark was built like a quarterback with broad shoulders, big frame and strong muscles, the works. This was a bit remarkable because Mark had never really played much football, he stayed in shape by frequently exercising at the local gym.  Ben was Mark’s opposite in almost every way (except for the fact that he was not female).  Ben was short, wore glasses and not too strong, he looked like the stereotypical geek/nerd. 

            For their activity they had decided to go to the shooting range.  Two men just shooting targets just basically having a good time.  Mark was better than Ben, but Ben wasn’t bad either.  As they were finishing their last round Ben turned his gun on Mark. 

            “For the longest time I thought I was the best shooter around here, but you proved me wrong.” Ben told him.  “My dream, ever since I remember, was to be the better than everyone else with a gun, to surpass everyone else’s skill. I wanted the title of Best Gunslinger.  I have trained endlessly to achieve this, but today you have proved that you are even better than me.”

            “It’s not that big a deal, Ben” Mark replied. “I can help you become just as good as I am, there are only a few modifications you would need to make.  Who is a better shot with a gun is nothing to kill someone else over.  Come on, set the gun down.”

            “Mark it may not be a big deal to you, but you have nearly crushed my dream,” Ben explained. “I don’t want to be as good as someone else, I want to be better.  The only way I can regain my status of being the fasted draw, the best shot, the best with a gun all around is to kill you.”

            Before Mark could say another word Ben shot him. Mark lay there on the ground dying and Ben walked away, content. Ben was, once again, the best with a gun . . . for now.

             

           The Moral of the story is: Don’t let anyone or anything stand in the way of your dreams. :D