“Fertile imagery, but NO marketable hook.”
She tossed the NO into a jar to compost down with the NAYs and NOTs – aerated with her sighs, moistened with her sweat – until an idea landed, cracked open and extended roots into the loam.
A shoot, a stalk and then a YES bloomed.
Joanna Norland is a playwright and a writing coach who treats rejections as a badge of honour.
“A girl with a lively imagination must be in want of–”
“A writing desk!” Jane exclaimed. “Oh, Papa!”
She opened the gleaming mahogany drawer.
Out scrambled a tiny . . . Someone.
Brilliant eyes. Muddy petticoats.
”I am Miss Elizabeth Bennet,” curtseyed the Someone. “I’ve been waiting for you. Let our adventures begin!”
Joanna Norland is a writing coach and playwright whose scripts, including Lizzy, Darcy and Jane, and a one-act and full-length adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, have been produced on four continents.
You used to stay up until dawn, captivated by my possibilities.
You would scribble clandestine notes for me at work and rush home to resume our tryst.
Now, you complain I’m all drudge.
“Back soon,” you promise, but I’ve seen you…
…courting fresh plots, exotic characters, and even fifty-word stories!
Joanna Norland revised this story nine times.
It seems in vain that he’ll complain
although he fain will make it plain
along this vein, severe wrist pain
is driving him insane.
And though his writing’s not inane—
the words are clear, they’re not arcane—
since some will chafe at his campaign,
he should refrain from this refrain.
Ken Gosse usually writes whimsical, rhymed verse. First published in First Literary Review–East in November 2016, later in Pure Slush, Home Planet News, Lothlorien Poetry Journal, Spillwords, and many others. Raised in Chicago suburbs, now retired, he and his wife live in Mesa, AZ, with rescue dogs and cats.
To write short, meaningful stories, one must think big and read wide, but watch and listen for the small things, the tiny moments when the best (and sometimes worst) of what it is to be human is revealed.
Recognize these moments, moments after which everything is different.
Write about that.
Paul D’Arcy tells stories. All real. Most brief. You can read more at pauldrc.com.
In the hereafter and evermore a group of deceased literary artists obtained permission to haunt on Halloween with the stipulation their disturbances be directed only at living writers. The ghosts wailed. A whooshing wind boosted their warbling hum. Blaring bursts of clamor transported an unembellished staccato rhythm layered with ambiguity.
Bob Thurber is the author of six books. Regarded as a master of Flash and Micro Fiction, his work has appeared in Esquire and other magazines, been anthologized 60 times, received a long list of awards, and been utilized in schools and colleges throughout the world. He resides in Massachusetts. Visit his website at BobThurber.net.
“I want to be a writer,” she said. She feared they’d try to stop her. But they didn’t. Her teacher promised to help.
“That’s wonderful!” exclaimed Mom. Grandma’s face lit up.
Dad set up a desk for her.
So she pulled the keyboard toward her.
Nothing happened to the paper.
Michaele Jordan wrote this story.
I’d like to say a word or two before I go to bed,
and maybe I would write them down if they were in my head,
but since they’re not, I haven’t got a lot of words to write,
and so, instead of writing them, I’ll simply say, “Good night.”
Ken Gosse usually writes whimsical, rhymed verse. First published in First Literary Review–East in November 2016, later in Pure Slush, Home Planet News, Lothlorien Poetry Journal, Spillwords, and many others. Raised in Chicago suburbs, now retired, he and his wife live in Mesa, AZ, with rescue dogs and cats.
The woman strokes century-old, burgundy-colored poems on crumbling letterhead to time-travel. Memories magically appear. She is five years old standing behind her beloved grandmother, watching while the poet writes. The child wants to be old too, an author, like her idol. Not a lost ghost visiting from the distant future.
Former journalist and technical writer Lilian Pomeroy Edmonds is working on a poetry anthology with braided essays inspired by her grandmother’s poems written from 1899-1932. You can browse her work on Substack at wavingfromadistance.substack.com.
I was disappointed, discouraged and sad to miss out on last weeks Black Friday Bonanza at the Oxford Comma shop. However, my brothers friends mother said theres a closing down sale at Berts Apostrophe Store. Apparently its going into administration, but Im not that bothered; I never go there anyway.
John has recently had stories published in People’s Friend, 101 words, Paragraph Planet, Westword and FFF. He’s the author of ‘Rough Rides’ and ‘Short and Sweet and Sour’. Previous winner of The Times short story competition.