Writing Excellence

A work of fiction is made up of an infinite number of elements including plot, sub-plots, characters, setting, narrative structure, and so on. Some parts seem less significant than others, but each element contributes to the whole.  Subtle elements include character personality traits that make them multi-dimensional. The plot is delivered at a measured pace.

Carefully study the phrases and passages of authors that resonate within you. The best elements of good writing are learned over time through practice and the study of well-crafted work.
This is where practice comes in. As you read and explore, your mind fills with ideas and phrases that you put onto paper. The more you do this, the easier it becomes to decide which elements work together to create a finished piece. After you master the basics, keep pushing the boundaries of your creativity. There is no limit to what you can learn if you are dedicated and always strive to do a little bit better each time.

What Do You Really Think?

In a recent conversation while lambasting faith, television, spectator sports, gender assignment, flu shots, the patriarchy, decaffeinated coffee, and other such nonsensical and/or useless conventions and inventions, my audience of one interrupted my soliloquy with the seemingly comedic interjected question; "So, what do you really think?" Fair enough. I am, and have been abrupt on many an occasion in my reactions to piety and other institutions of mindlessness – but in defense of my social skills, I most often only rail against that which has been shoved in my face, or otherwise been made unavoidable and it is never my intent to hurt someone’s feelings.

To me, whether it is Heaven or Hell, no mantra, dogma, or their associated ‘ism’ is too sacred for humor.  A humorous twist can be made on almost any topic – heinous acts of cruelty or anything harming children notwithstanding of course (and perhaps a few others, but you get the point I’m sure).

Anyway, trivializing serious shit is the American way of covering up or otherwise euphemizing ugly stuff that we don’t want to see, or otherwise feel.  And if it can’t be trivialized then you can probably get a prescription for it.

Yeah, I know - just tell you what I really think . . .

Well I think that a really good cheesecake is better with Champagne. And I think that Champagne is best when shared, though I dare say, it can be pretty damned good self-served and alone. I think the earth is an imperfect spheroid in orbit around a dying star. I am finally convinced that there is at least a good chance that I may die some day, which consequently makes all of this seem so unimportant, and yet dramatically important at the same time, and that bodes well with my belief in all that really matters is what is happening right now.  Consequently it is my personal charge to make the best of it.  I celebrate the present, because in a very real sense, it is all that we have. 

“Life moves pretty fast.  If you don’t stop and look around sometime, you could miss it.”

– Ferris Bueller