2 Jul 2011 by Annie Evett

How many definitive plots are there in Literature?

A little over two hundred years ago, Dr Samuel Johnson surmised that fiction was limited to a few plots “with very little variation”. A continuous bone of contention within writing circles is the notion that there is a definitive number of plots within storytelling, and that all others are permutations of these original plots. According to the Internet Public Library there are only seven plots. They... read more

1 Jul 2011 by Annie Evett

[Fiction] Friday Challenge #214

[Fiction] Friday Challenge #214  for 1st of July, 2011 Write a story using a nursery rhyme (Mary had a little lamb, Three Blind Mice, Jack and Jill, Three Pigs etc.) as your inspiration. Write it from a secondary character’s point of view. How Fiction Friday works. It’s easy to do. Check this page for this week’s theme or challenge. Prompts are published each month to give you plenty... read more

1 Jul 2011 by Paul Anderson

Praecedo – July 2011

It’s 11:45pm, and I don’t know what I’m going to write. Fifteen minutes before this post is due to be published, and I’m only just starting it, with no firm idea of what to say, where it will go. A lot like how I write. I’m what they call a “pantser”–I fly by the seat of my pants when it comes to writing. I’ll start with the germ of an idea, and pour... read more

30 Jun 2011 by Paul Anderson

Post Scriptum – June 2011

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Two posts diverged on a writing site, and sorry I could not travel both and be one editor. Here, in our new home, it is time to look to the future. Over in our home for the past five years, I’m saying goodbye. Writing can... read more

29 Jun 2011 by Jodi Cleghorn

Just Add Beer

It’s late on a Saturday afternoon. There are partially drunk beers of varying sizes, colours and shapes on the table. Coats are slung on the backs of chairs, the odd scarf clings to a throat and as though conducting thoughts–one set of hands gesticulates, sometimes tiny movements and other times grandiose passionate gestures… heads nod in time. The topic of discussion is passive voice in... read more

28 Jun 2011 by Jim Bronyaur

Collaboration

Collaboration. Sharing thoughts, ideas–working together.  Creating something from two or minds instead of one. I’ve seen both the good and the bad side of collaborations with the first idea that you must have a clear vision of what you hope to accomplish.  What’s the purpose of the project and what’s the future of the project?  Those are very important questions to ask.  If you’re going... read more

27 Jun 2011 by Dan Powell

Hell is not other writers

“Hell is other people.” — Jean-Paul Sartre (No Exit: A Play in One Act) Last year I got my first real taste of collaborative prose writing as one of twenty authors included in 2010′s Chinese Whisperings: The Yin and Yang books. The concept of Chinese Whisperings is elegantly simple: short fiction anthologies in which each story ripples into the next. Only with the 2010 offering things... read more

26 Jun 2011 by Annie Evett

Spoken Sunday #21

Spoken Sunday Submission #21 for 26th of June, 2011 For full details check the page. How To Play: 1. After you have submitted to [Fiction] Friday – or written a passage of around 600 words, record it. 2. On your blog, or audioboo site, post an explanation of your piece (if its a passage from a larger work) or ask readers for specific feedback about it – as well as a link to your recording. 3.... read more