Congratulations Everyone

Hello everyone and congratulations,

To be sure you understand that this is from both Adrianna and I, we will both post it.  That’s okay, you can go read her version of the post, I won’t mind, she is a hell-of-a-lot cuter than me.

I have seen a couple of posts around G+ that implied disappointment over the results of some entries; I have seen posts with communal praise tinged with wounded dignity.  I don’t want anyone to feel anything less than a bristling pride.  In this type of contest, there has to be a winner, but then everyone else is still a runner-up and deserving of everyone’s congratulatory praise.  I am sincerely proud and inspired by each and every one of you, and honored to be among your number.

Now, here is some really great news that you can be proud of, too.  Since we needed a place to display your works and a central place for voting, this Challenge spurred Adrianna and me to build the Writer’s Gallery.  Without your submissions and without your asking, prodding, urging, begging, and maybe bribing your friends, family, followers, and the riff raff you dragged in off the street to read your work and vote for you, the Gallery could not have been born.

The Writer’s Gallery is not only our site.

This site is for you and every other writer everywhere.  (Okay, it is not our site, but she and I are going to moderate and edit.  Plus if anyone goes near Adrianna’s “baby,” I cannot ensure your safety or even your survival.)  With that caveat, we want everyone’s continued participation.  If you have a learning tool, some well-written advice or teaching instruction, email it.  If you have a suggestion for content, email it.  If you have a prompt you would like to share, email it.  If you have written something good and the process by which it was written is instructive, inspiring, or innovative, put that in writing and email it.  If you have an idea for a competition, a showing, or a feature, email it.  If everyone contributes, and everyone promotes, and everyone participates, this Writer’s Gallery will become THE one place to go for everything writer’s need.  The PITA and I have a pretty good foundation of knowledge and experience, but that pales in comparison to the collective minds of this vast and varied community of writers.  We need all of you, and we want all of you, your friends, your teachers, mentors, coaches and their friends, too, to come be a part of something truly magnificent.  We intend on expanding this beyond the boundaries of our meager talent and experience, and bring in contributors for business writing, technical, medical, scientific, newspaper and magazine, travel writers, bloggers, children’s literature, and community activism.  One site that will benefit (and in some cases even replace) every group, club, community, and gathering of writers everywhere.

BIG NEWS COMING!

We have a lot of exciting irons in the fire, with a big announcement coming tomorrow (if the PITA stops pinging me on the messenger long enough for me to get the job done).  There will be numerous opportunities to show your work, compete with other writers, promote yourself as an author, and hone your skills as a craftsman.

The word is being spread through the halls of the publishing world of what we are doing.  Real (paper) publishers, journal editors, magazine staff, and literary agents will be among the visitors and readers at the site.  As content grows, and the Gallery of featured writings expands, the opportunity to springboard into bigger more exciting opportunities will exist for all of us.  This is going to be big, thanks for coming along for the ride.

Did you say Proofreader or Editor?

Adrianna and I thought we might like to address something that almost all writers know something about, but a topic of which few emerging writers have a competent knowledge.  In fact, two distinctly different job titles that I perform work under on a daily basis, my

Subtext: Writing a Story Within a Story by: Dyane Forde

Subtext: Writing a Story Within a Story

Writers write for different reasons, but usually it’s because, well, we have something to say. Sometimes, just what that might be isn’t known at the moment we sit down at the computer. Then there are times we know exactly what the message is and we set to writing it with purpose and effort. Then how come, even then, we end up with luke-warm responses or with something that isn’t as memorable as we’d thought?

Cuneiform Prompt

After a big Nor’easter, walking along the Atlantic beach playing with the driftwood and storm debris, you find a stone encased in very old wood.  Turning the stone over you find three lines of cuneiform symbols and a rough map like area…..?

Prompts can be the beginning or the end

Shit Happens By Adrianna Joleigh

Click here to see how I developed my story

Shit Happens

‘’My name is Iwan Atahere, reporting in person from outside the gates of Hell.  I bring you today an exclusive interview with the man himself, Trent Greywater. He disappeared on October 20, 2013 after purchasing a lottery ticket from the local A&P. It was just an ordinary night, or so he thought. After his wife reported him missing twelve hours later, the police search began only to fail. But you don’t have to take my word for it. Here, with me today is the man himself.’’

‘’Hello Mr. Greywater.’’

How the Poopy Tutu Developed

How I developed my story

Shit Happens (formerly titled The Poopy Tutu)

Adrianna Joleigh

This originally was my homework assignment and I pussy-footed my way around it for a few weeks, because the story itself just didn’t seem to come out ‘’normal.’’ Lol But then again, with me nothing ever does. David wanted me to approach the main character through an interview. Not like what you’re going to see in this story, but by tapping into the character and allowing him to tell me what happened. Some of you may have seen the interview a few weeks ago, but for those of you who haven’t, the interview had me in stitches.

How Mad Mac developed

How I developed my story

Mad Mac

The approach I took to create Mad Mac wasn’t much different than what I have used since I started writing as a kid: I got an idea, sat down at the computer and wrote. In this piece, which was also written to compare the end results of a detailed, researched and lengthier story versus one that is written ‘on the fly’ and borders on flash fiction, I purposely did very little planning and left the piece as close to its original version as possible by only editing it once.

 

The actual writing was guided by the feelings, guesses and conclusions, and simple curiosity inspired by the prompt as I wrote. Though there are many ways to get to the heart of this story, I was only interested in one thing: What was this man’s possible emotional/mental state? My goal was to build the story from the inside out, from his unique perspective. I ended up using simple narration, second-hand information and inner dialog to do this. The only other clear piece of information guiding me was the picture in my head of two men sitting on a porch, talking and smoking, which influenced my decision for location and speech. Everything else, from deciding to break the story into the three different ‘chapters’, details of Mac’s life, challenges, background, relationships, etc. came to me as I wrote.

 

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy Mad Mac.

How “You Can’t Lose” Developed

How I developed my story

You Can’t Lose What You Never Had

Most writers look at this story as a mystery to be solved: Where did the mysterious winner go?  Why?  Is he dead?   That’s the normal way, but as those who know me have already figured out, there is not a normal bone in my body.  I wanted to know how the other people in his life were affected by his disappearance.

I mentally outlined the main characters, used Google Maps to find a workable location, and then traveled via my very warped imagination to the Arkansas side of the Louisiana-Arkansas border to meet the people and get to know their attitudes and lifestyles.

My first encounter was an oldtimer sitting on a bench near a small square. This story is the result of my interview; I am glad I stopped to talk with him.

What To Expect From A Critique & Book Reviews

What is a critique?

Critique is a of disciplined, systematic analysis of a written or oral discourse. Critique is commonly understood as fault-finding and negative judgement, but it can also involve merit recognition, and in the philosophical tradition it also means a methodical practice of doubt. —Babylon dictionary.

***

My little ranting…

Ever since I saw someone throw a fit about reviews they received by a reader, I’ve been dying to write about it.  So that I may stop banging my head against my desk when reading about this oh-so-common problem, I am going to vent here.

The Dangers of Writing In Passive When an Active Voice Is Demanded.

This post is aimed towards genres such as  horror, thriller, suspense and action ( pretty much any genre where the need to grip the audience’s attention is necessary!)

Keep in mind, while reading this post, I am not expert writer. However, I have had more than my share of rough critiques, and I’m grateful for them. Without them I would not have been sought after by publicists for Nadia, and commended on my vigorous technique. My hope in writing this post is to help some of you learn a bit of what I’ve learned. 

Write in an active voice!! Do not attempt to write these genre’s in a passive voice. It will not sit well with your audience. We choose to read these genres with an expectation that we will be blown away, not put to sleep.

Writer’s Challenges

From time to time, Adrianna and I will be hosting challenges of all sorts where we will set some parameter, theme, topic, or genre and ask writer’s everywhere to submit for public viewing and voting.  We will offer some “prize” as we can.

If anyone has a suggestion for a challenge, please submit it to the email address on the Home / About Us page with the reference line: CHALLENGE TOPIC.

David Kent

Please click on the links below for the entries to previous challenges.

October 2013 Entries

Oct ’13 Non-Qualifying
for entertainment only

Inspiration by: Steven D. Malone

Inspiration

Being world-weary and feeling all dried up I went looking for a reboot – for some inspiration. Yeats is good for that. He, to me, is among the writers’ poets and carries the spark of what the Celts term ‘awen’, the gift of the ‘breeze’ causing poetry to flow from their mouths. This ‘breeze’ or breath is given from the gods. So, Yeats is a good place to start when looking for that breeze – to have prose flow on to the paper.

Writing Tips and Advice

This section is to share knowledge and offer advice on all forms of writing.  I will be contributing substantially to this section and will serve as moderator and editor.  If you have a well-written dissertation or advice piece that you feel would be beneficial to other writers in your genre, please submit it to the email address on the Home / About Us page with the reference line: WRITING TIPS.

If there is a particular genre you would like included, or if you would like to solicit specific advice, let me know.  Like everywhere in the Writer’s Gallery, I encourage you to respond in the comment section and engage in conversation with writers who Both SHARE and DIFFER in their opinions.  We are all on this path together.

David Kent

Choose a Genre Below

General   Fiction   Memoir    Poetry      Plays and ScreenPlays

Travel Writing   Non-Fiction   Academic   Periodical / Theme

Comparative Interpretations

In this section we will be inviting multiple writers to take the same writing prompt or idea and develop their stories.  Then we will showcase them together and invite everyone to compare the interpretations and conduct open discussions with the writers as to their approach.  It should be fun.  If you would like to participate in one of these exercises, please send your information to the email on the Home / About Us page with the reference line: COMPARATIVE INTERPRETATIONS.

Be sure to click the links to read the author’s description of how they developed their story from the common prompt.

David Kent

Please Pick a the Title of the Comparison you would like to Read

The Missing Lottery Winner

Sex on the tracks turns tragic

NEWS ACCOUNT: Two lovers who officials said had “failed to overcome their natural passion” were hit by a train in Ukraine while they had sex on the railroad tracks, Russian news outlet RIA Novosti reported.
The unidentified 30-something woman died, and her 41-year-old partner lost both his legs in the Saturday morning incident in the city of Zaporozhye.

Writing Prompts at the Writer’s Gallery

In this section, we are going to be exploring prompts and their interpretations.  This category will be bifurcated; one part with interpreted prompts and their stories intended to open your mind to a new way of thinking, and the other a listing of suggested prompts to be shared and explored.

If you have a prompt you’ve been sitting on, waiting for inspiration, or one that was the genesis of your work, or if one pops up in your observation, please email me at the address on the Home “About Us” page with the reference line “PROMPT.”
If you have a really good story that was prompted by something ordinary in life, and you took a different verve, submit it by email with the reference line “PROMPT STORY.”

As the stories and prompts appear, please use the comment section to engage your fellow writers in conversation, idea sharing and the growing process.  Remember this entire site is for you!

David Kent

Select the Category Below

Writing Prompts                Stories from Prompts

A. Joleigh Saying Hi

Just wanted to say hi to the voters and participants!

Check out the Writer’s Challenge and vote!!

Black Hole By: Dyane Forde

So, a little explanation before getting to the story. Maybe it can help someone facing a creative block, I dunno, but a few words of intro seem fitting.

This piece was never supposed to be. I had participated in a flash fiction contest and chose the second of the two prompts on which to build my entry. I thought I was done, only I kept thinking about the unused prompt. It seemed pretty generic at first, basically a creative twist on ‘It was a dark and stormy night…’ I wasn’t inspired by it, but I also couldn’t leave it alone. It’s easy to write when we feel inspired, but what about when we don’t? As easy as it is to write reams when the ideas are swirling and the juices are pumping, it’s just as easy to walk away from the computer when we come up empty.

FIRE REAPER By: Dyane Forde

This story was inspired by a prompt on a friend’s blog, and I liked it so much I had to post it. The rules were that it had to be less than 500 words and be inspired by one of two prompts. This is also my first work of fan fiction, based on the Darker Than Black anime series. What fun! If you haven’t tried it, do! It’s fantastic to put your spin on something you really love.

FIRE REAPER

”The pain surprised her, she had thought it would hurt less this time.  Looking down, a tear fell from her cheek and disappeared into the pool of warm blood.  She knew she would have to find somewhere to wash…”

Revelation By: Adrianna Joleigh

Sleet pinging against dark glass behind her, wind whipped leaves stampeding past her feet on an unlit path, an eerie howl screaming through the treetops; she knew she had trespassed against all reason and common sense, yet she walked further, bent against the storm, forward to meet face-to-face her means to an end. Tick-tock, the pendulum swings; increasing its pentameter as she approaches.

Burdened with a heavy heart she watched her past play before her; aspirations die in its wake. Footsteps creeping down the hallways interrupting the nights. An impending open door and foul alcoholic breathe in her face; shouting commences, followed by a raised hand ending with a degrading wallop. The only hope was to have her mother love her as she did once; the time when only the sounds of a lullaby surrounded them both, but unlikely for a child that is broken.

A POST-MORTEM BATH By: David Kent

Okay, you can blame +kim hodges for this.  No, I cannot enter into the Writer’s Challenge, but I did have a take on prompt 1. I acquiesced to posting it so that people could comment.  Kim decided that I should address prompt 2 also.  This is TOTALLY her fault. (And no, I didn’t make the 500 word limit.  I told you, I can’t sign my name in 500 words or less.)

The pain surprised her, she had thought it would hurt less this time. Looking down, a tear fell from her cheek and disappeared into the pool of warm blood. She knew she would have to start the bath.

untitled By: Dallas Adams

The pain surprised her. She thought it would hurt less this time. Looking down, a tear fell from her cheek and disappeared into the pool of warm blood. She knew she would have to find somewhere to wash. This fight wasn’t like the other ones she had to do as a ninja. Ninjas never cried for their murders. When past memories come back though, it never was pretty. When a sibling comes back from the grave and attacks, that just adds to the pain. The person was not a zombie. It was an actual, normal, perfectly functioning human,  ignoring the fact there was a monster inside.

Life sublime By: Matt Ewens

There had been no choice but to escape them; escape that false, fabricated life.  Escape the rules, the fake smiles and that unreal world he’d now left behind him.

It had all started when he’d found a secret camera lodged inside the broken video player. Initially he’d thought nothing of it, but curiosity had led him to recover the footage, discovering that his life was nothing more than a fabricated experiment. Of course his memory was erased, but eventually his dreams had told him the truth.

The Song of the Siren By: David Kent

Sleet pinging against dark glass behind him, wind whipped leaves stampeding past his feet on the unlit path, an eerie howl screaming through the treetops; he knew he had trespassed against all reason and common sense, yet he walked further, bent against the storm, forward to meet his nightmare face-to-face.

A glance up at the protective glass set high in the stone wall revealed no sign of movement or light.  Assured that the progenitors of his former captor were unaware of his presence, he crept closer to the dilapidated outbuilding, the shelter of Lilith.

WRITER’S CHALLENGE RULES (Oct 2013)

Welcome everyone to the Writer’s Challenge Voting Room

From October 26th to October 30th, voting will be open to the public. All participants make sure to share with your Facebook, twitter, LinkedIn, etc, to bring in as many votes as possible. Short link is: http://wp.me/p3ZJi0-3A

After midnight on the last day, I will close voting and the results will be posted the following day. 

Voting Rules: Each voter may choose up to three stories that they like the most. Authors may not vote on their own entries.

To vote: Click on the ”LIke” button below the post or use the stars.

In the event of a tie: The hosts David Kent and Adrianna Joleigh will choose the winner.

***The winner will have the choice of his/her work that will be featured on Adrianna Joleigh’s site for an entire month. If you do not have a book or site that you wish to feature, she will be more than happy to feature some of your writing during the month for the world to see.

***The winning entry will also be showcased on this site.

Laston Kirkland–Untitled

Sleet pinging against dark glass behind him, wind whipped leaves stampeding past his feet on the unlit path, an eerie howl screaming through the treetops; he knew he had trespassed against all reason and common sense, yet he walked further, bent against the storm, forward to meet his nightmare face-to-face.

He was going to have to go through the town of Gotham if he wanted to make it to lodging before the storm hit.  Damn fools. And they would expect him to save

Drew Satterwhite–Untitled

“You sure you want to do this?” Kevin asks.

Eric, head lowered, raises his eyes. “I’ve never been as sure.”

The car idles quietly, heat barely able to keep the brothers warm against an unexpectedly harsh winter.

“Are you going to be able to handle him? He’s a big guy.”

“Does it matter?” Eric asks rhetorically. “I don’t care if he’s armed. This is what I need to… I have to do.”

Matthew Eaton– Eternal Lover

Sleet pinging against dark glass behind him
Wind whipped leaves stampeding past his feet on the unlit path
An eerie howl screaming through the treetops
He knew he had trespassed against all reason and common sense
Yet he walked further, bent against the storm, forward to meet his nightmare face-to-face

A. Long — Chimera Self

My face was beat by wind and sleet,
Forest floor set traps to trip my feet.
My cloak wrapped tight about my neck,
In rain, I embarked on forest trek.
The creature wailed up in the tree,
Fought to keep his life from me.

My creation howled, woed, moaned,
Invoking God, each groan

Yolanda Marin–A Crumpled Body

The pain surprised her, she had thought it would hurt less this time, that she would be numb to it.  Looking down, a tear fell from her cheek and disappeared into the pool of warm blood.  She knew she would have to go and wash up.  He hated to see her dishevelled, she must look her best or it may set him off again.  Her body ached and she knew that in a little while it would be covered in bruises.

This time had been worse than the others. She had lost consciousness, coming to only when she felt Coco licking the blood off