I COME IN PRAISE OF SHORT FICTION
Realized I haven’t given proper billing to the issue as a whole of Issue #4 of Twelve Stories. I must say there are some cool stories by some excellent writers to check out, besides the humble short story by yours truly. Don’t sell short fiction…short. One thousand words can pack a serious punch. The thing about short stories is that you don’t have any room for extra stuff. It must be edited super tight. READ, WRITE, AND LOVE THE SHORT FICTION!
one-flew-over-the-tardis asked: when you have writer's block, what do you do to get back on track?
Writing, like most things in life, has a natural ebb and flow. An initial idea burns bright, the words coming easily. Then you reach a point when you’re not as sure of the direction, or something seems missing. That’s part of the process. Let your subconscious mind work on it by writing something else or doing another activity. Be positive and relax, and know that in a day or two the answer will come to you. Then you’re flowing again.
I guess I don’t really believe in Writer’s Block. But it’s one of those things that if you are worried about it, and look for it, and empower it, then you might find it. Why do that?
—Robb Skidmore
"When Billy got home to Ilium after the airplane crash, he was quiet for a while. He had a terrible scar across the top of his skull. He didn’t resume practice. He had a housekeeper. His daughter came over almost every day.
And then, without any warning, BIlly went to New York City, and got on an all-night radio program devoted to talk. He told about having come unstuck in time. He said, too, that he had been kidnapped by a flying saucer in 1967. The saucer was from the planet Tralfamadore, he said. He was taken to Tralfamadore, where he was displayed naked in a zoo, he said. He was mated with a former Earthling movie star named Montana Wildhack."
And then, without any warning, BIlly went to New York City, and got on an all-night radio program devoted to talk. He told about having come unstuck in time. He said, too, that he had been kidnapped by a flying saucer in 1967. The saucer was from the planet Tralfamadore, he said. He was taken to Tralfamadore, where he was displayed naked in a zoo, he said. He was mated with a former Earthling movie star named Montana Wildhack."
— Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
