I asked Ring Lardner the other day how he writes his short stories, and he said he wrote a few widely separated words or phrases on a piece of paper and then went back and filled in the spaces.
quote by Harold Ross
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A good many young writers make the mistake of enclosing a stamped, self-addressed envelope, big enough for the manuscript to come back in. This is too much of a temptation to the editor.
Ring Lardner in How to Write Short Stories
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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No one, ever, wrote anything as well even after one drink as he would have done with out it.
quote by Ring Lardner
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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'Are you lost, daddy' I asked tenderly. 'Shut up,' he explained.
quote by Ring Lardner
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Love Letter
She wonders how to begin her letter
She knows he will read each word
Greedily for any hint of love. She knows
He will sniff the paper for any scent of her
She leans an elbow on her writing desk
And clutches her pen tight. She has got
As far as, Dear John, but then the words
Stopped coming. Before she had sat down
To write, the words flowed through her
Mind like a rushing stream, now nothing
She sucks the end of the pen. Say what
You would if you were face to face, her
Mother always said. She tries to imagine
He is there before her and what she would
Say if he was, but still no words will come
He writes to her so fluently when he writes
He always seems to know what to write
And how to put it into words. She tries again
Puts the pen nib onto the paper, gripping
The pen tighter. She reads what she’s written
Dear John. The pen moves, the words begin
To flow, her hand moves across the page
The images come into her mind as she writes
The things that they said last time they met
The things they did, she blushes slightly
That almost being caught out by the maid
In a state of undress. She pauses the pen
And sits gazing at the painting on the wall.
She looks back at the paper and starts again
The words tripping over themselves to be put
Down in ink upon a page; the images open up
In her mind, the colours, the smells, the events
The pen now stops. The love letter is written
The writing done. She looks at the words
Then she seals it in an envelope and writes
His address. She pictures him reading it: in bed
In his room, sleepy, in a state of his usual undress
poem by Terry Collett
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There Was Nothing Left To Write
THERE WAS NOTHING LEFT TO WRITE
There was nothing left to write
Everything had already been written
And was being written over again and again
By thousands elsewhere-
There was nothing left to write
And nothing new to say -
And no need for anything he had to give-
It was over for him as a writer
Whether he accepted it or not-
No one would ever need or want anything he could do again-
And so when he despite all this still wrote
It seemed to many simply pathetic-
The obsessive reflex of an already lost soul-
Who wrote and wrote and wrote
Who writes and writes and writes
Who cannot stop
However senseless all he does, is.
poem by Shalom Freedman
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I've read short stories that are as dense as a 19th century novel and novels that really are short stories filled with a lot of helium.
quote by Lynn Abbey
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Swim Submerged
FLYING flocks travel in flight,
another faulkner puts down his
shovel, and writes, writes, and
writes,
spare me the out cry,
spare me the empty familiar,
spare me muddled spirits,
and write the words with your
own red blood,
FLYING flocks travel in flight,
sextan turns up, with her freind
plath, and they both begine to
write, write, and write, yippee,
says the words, for these words
will end up in a paper back book.
poem by David Gerardino
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Long Poems & Short Stories
Some think that a story has no place
in poetry - 'Put it in the short stories, '
he said, dismissing a poem I wrote
as a narrative, as though such verse
must be relegated to short fiction.
Must I go back to Beowulf, composed
in the first half of the eighth century,
to illustrate the validity of the form
(written in meter without using rime) ?
Robert Browning's The Ring and the Book
is a long poem of dramatic monologues
in twelve books concerning a murder
and an adulterous affair in Florence.
Less scribbling and more reading
might improve one's perspective,
don't you think?
poem by Michael Pruchnicki
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A Piece Of You
Im just trying to live this life of mine
The more I look, the more Im blind
And all I ask for is piece of mind
And all I want is a piece of you
Well I lost my way today
Back home from work
The snow fell like dust
I felt like dirt
Happens everytime I start to search
For that long lost piece of you
A piece of you
A piece of you
A piece of you
It seems the last time I was sure
Of anything
I sold my heart
I wore your ring
But now, the queen has lost her king
All I want is a piece of you
A piece of you
A piece of you
A piece of you
song performed by by Veruca Salt
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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I prefer to be a monkey than a donkey!
First standard girl
called me for a funny play,
She wrote a few words for her display,
in a folded paper and hide it for a while;
She asked me to say a number
from one to ten and open the paper,
She gave me a clue and asked me to say four
Four denotes that I am a good boy;
But I said the number 2 instantly,
The number 2 interprets monkey,
The number 1 denotes donkey,
I prefer to be a monkey than a donkey!
poem by V.K. Kanniappan
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A Piece Of Paper
A diploma hanging on the wall
is really not you at all.
It's just a piece of paper.
A marriage certificate in your file
of when you two walked down the aisle
is just a piece of paper.
A birth certificate, signed and sealed
made you legal but concealed
that it's just a piece of paper.
A death certificate proves you're gone.
The truth is you've just moved on.
It was just a piece of paper.
All these papers that yellow with time
were really not worth one thin dime.
They were just pieces of paper.
Your life was never all those things.
Your life was when you took on wings
and soared with love for all.
poem by Edwina Reizer
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The Young Poet
Poetry was something else
written by others
somewhere else
and came from
somewhere else
but the poetry
which he did not know
called one day
in a language he did not know
so he put down words on paper
and threw the paper away
but the words did not go away
and he did not know what poetry should do
until he wrote the words
which told him
what poetry could do
for only poetry can teach you poetry
*
Gertrude Stein stood behind me while I wrote this.
poem by Michael Shepherd
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Storyteller Emma Jean
I’m wearing a sparkling blue ring,
from precious Mother Emma Jean.
This ring gives me power to storytell,
Emma Jean told stories and she did it well.
Now she told a story I will never forget,
she weaves the story of the “Headless Horseman”.
telling her story in Missouri at a really young age,
better then Grimm’s Fairy Tales writes it on the page.
Her voice changes in fluctuation and stance,
weaving words like a rhythmic dance.
Even though Emma Jean’s gone,
I will tell her stories so they will live on.
Written by Christina Sunrise on Feb.15,2011
poem by Suzae Chevalier
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I was asked by a group to write a song on the theme of brotherhood. This was before women's liberation, when brotherhood meant men and women both, so I wrote the song. Since I had always been very fond of the Passion Chorale, I wrote words to that great piece.
quote by Tom Glazer
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Storyteller Emma Jean
I’m wearing a sparkling blue ring,
from precious Mother Emma Jean.
This ring gives me power to storytell,
Emma Jean told stories and she did it well.
Now she told a story I will never forget,
she weaves the story of the “Headless Horseman”.
telling her story in Missouri at a really young age,
better then Grimm’s Fairy Tales writes it on the page.
Her voice changes in fluctuation and stance,
weaving words like a rhythmic dance.
Even though Emma Jean’s gone,
I will tell her stories so they will live on.
Written by Christina Sunrise on Feb.15,2011
poem by Christina Sunrise
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If I Could Just Get It On Paper
If I could just get it on paper
By: jimmy buffett
1981
For william faulkner
If I could just get it on paper
The things that have happened tonight
That seems to me to be the big key
Im havin too good a time to ever turn
Out the lights
Go to bed wake up with a clear head
Recallin what made it a ball
Yes if I could just get it on paper
I might make some sense of it all
If I could tell half of the stories
The funny way most things begin
Figure ways to disguise all the half-truths and lies
Find the heart of my song with the point of a pen
Simple words can become clever phrases
And chapters could turn into books
Yes if I could just get it on paper
But its harder than it ever looks
(instrumental)
All alone on the edge of the water
Hidin out by the sea of cortez
With my sketch pads and flairs
Tapes and battery spares
Its just no comprehendo to what everyone says
Time alone seemed to work well for faulkner
Time away seems to work for the kid
Life and ink they run out at the same time
Or so said my old friend the squid
Yes if I could just get it on paper tonight
I could tell you what I think I did
song performed by by Jimmy Buffett
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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A good many young writers make the mistake of enclosing a stamped, self-addressed envelope, big enough for the manuscript to come back in. This is too much of a temptation to the editor.
quote by Ring Lardner
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I Feel The Blues Movin In
Though the miles are between us
I thought our love would strengthen
As it has so many times before
But something has happened
I can see it in your eyes
I can feel my world is crumblin
And the blues are at my door
Chorus:
The last letter that you wrote was
On a blue piece of paper
That old feelins back
The clouds are movin in
The beginning of the end is near
I feel your love has faded into darkness
It seems I have no friend
I feel the blues movin in
Oh its not the words you wrote that made me sad
And broken-hearted
Thats put me in this sad shape Im in
Between the lines are mixed emotions
And theres teardrops on the paper
You said thats all Ill write today
Ill cose for now old friend
Repeat chorus
My state of mind is desperate
And this hole that Im sinkin in
Gets deeper while Im diggin to get out
Oh please give the right answer to the questions Im askin
Tell me you still love me
That would turn my world about
Repeat chorus
song performed by by Dolly Parton
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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For me, being a writer was never a choice. I was born one. All through my childhood I wrote short stories and stuffed them in drawers. I wrote on everything. I didn't do my homework so I could write.
quote by Laura Hillenbrand
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Margarita
Margarita, ah
Margarita, ah
Ooh
It was in pittsburgh late one night
I lost my hat, got into a fight
I rolled and tumbled till I saw the light
Went to the big apple, took a bite
Still the sun went down your way
Down from the blue into the gray
Where I stood I saw you walk away
You danced away
I asked her what were gonna do tonight
She said cahuenga langa-langa-shoe box soup
We better keep tryin till we get it right
Tala mala sheela jaipur dhoop
She wrote a long letter on short piece of paper
Oh margarita dont stay away too long
Come on home
Oh margarita dont say you will when you wont
Margarita
song performed by by George Harrison
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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