The Mets game has been on for a couple hours, and the question of the day is: can I stay ignorant of the score for the next 8 hours? Seems unlikely, but if i do I'll be watching it tonight. Regardless, the Mets are rolling. Boy that Tatis is a force of nature though. I really like the Padres this year.
Saw The Conjuring 4 (I think that's the right number). Started out loving it, got a little bogged down toward the end, but I'd still recommend it. Seen it yet, Gill?
We finished the first season of Top of the Lake too, and really enjoyed it.
Lazy day. Edit, organise Talia's office for her, grocery shop, pet the cats, take a walk.
Coffee, cookies, and monkey hugs please. Hope your doggo is doing well, Larry.
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Kaiju-adjacent
Hey all.
So weird to be just settling in here, only for the site to leave.
I hope things work out for the new site.
Larry, I saw your first sentence and "passed away" and "Victor" and thought your dog had died. My heart jumped! So glad to see I read it wrong, and that he's doing better.
deGrom on the mound tonight, against the best team in baseball.
I'm writing and running several tons of errands - Talia is physically at work today, so it's just me and the cats.
Coffee and cookies and monkey hugs please.
So weird to be just settling in here, only for the site to leave.
I hope things work out for the new site.Larry, I saw your first sentence and "passed away" and "Victor" and thought your dog had died. My heart jumped! So glad to see I read it wrong, and that he's doing better.
deGrom on the mound tonight, against the best team in baseball.
I'm writing and running several tons of errands - Talia is physically at work today, so it's just me and the cats.
Coffee and cookies and monkey hugs please.
Kaiju-adjacent
Quote by MagnificentBastard
Well, I did it again. Nude bacon frying. Why do it? Just like climbing Everest, because it’s there. Off to emerg shortly for some ointment. Treatment for pigs is called, oinkment. My daughter laughs every time I say that. I’ll probably get the same British nurse who likes to make spotted dick jokes.
Anyway, none of this is true. What is true is the Mochaccino I made and am currently sipping.
Easy Mochaccino: Get your favourite hot chocolate powder mix and use as the sweetener. Make coffee a little stronger than usual. Add powder to coffee to desired taste. Add some sugar if you fear drink becoming too chocolatey, or choc-latte, if you want to generate a daughter’s eye roll and smile. Add cream or whip cream to soften flavour, making drink creamier. Delish.
Hope to go for a little ride this morning before the day gets too busy and the skies open.
When the hell did, “Have a good one,” become the standard cashier saying. I hate it. Have a good day is better. Have a good one is lazy language. Have a good what? Visit to the bathroom after eating at Taco Bell? Have a good divorce? Have a good fall after tripping on some guest’s kid’s toy left on the floor.
Have a good one is synonymous with See You Next Tuesday. If you don’t know what that means, best look it up. It’s not a kind way to say goodbye, but it is satisfying.
Anyway, have a good one everybody.
See you next Tuesday, Verbs.
I had to look that one up - my inner 12 year old boy is out mowing the lawn.
What's wrong with have a good one? Rabble-rouser. Talia is currently learning the sheer number of non-specific nouns i use in an average day, primarily: dealer, delio, thang, and thanger. As in, Would you take that delio and put it in the thanger?
No baseball today. Rematch with Larry's Padres on Friday.
Time to write. Coffee please.
Kaiju-adjacent
Quote by gillianleezaQuote by verbalQuote by gillianleeza
I've tried watching Tenet on HBO max a few times but can't get into it. I got lost in the beginning and didn't have the patience to continue. Maybe I'll give it another shot one night when I can't sleep.
We saw this in the theater, and Talia leaned into my ear and said "I have absolutely no idea what's going on." She hated it. I didn't understand it any better, but I kind of enjoyed trying to figure it out. I even watched it again. Talia made fun of me. I still didn't understand it, but it made a LITTLE more sense the second time around.
Looking forward to the new Conjuring movie. Not a big fan of sequels, but this series is better than most.
Kaiju-adjacent
Hey all.
HUGS
Nice to see all the love pouring out for Stories Space. Let me know how I can help. It's nice to know we'll all probably have a way to keep in touch, and read each other's work. I have nowhere else to talk about baseball! Or fiction!
Speaking of: the Mets got pummelled last night, by (I think) the worst team in baseball. It's so hard to tell if they are any good or not.
Tired. Did not sleep well last night. Slow day. It's nice out. Grilling tonight!
Coffee and a cookie please. Now where's that goofy lil monkey?
HUGS
Nice to see all the love pouring out for Stories Space. Let me know how I can help. It's nice to know we'll all probably have a way to keep in touch, and read each other's work. I have nowhere else to talk about baseball! Or fiction!
Speaking of: the Mets got pummelled last night, by (I think) the worst team in baseball. It's so hard to tell if they are any good or not.
Tired. Did not sleep well last night. Slow day. It's nice out. Grilling tonight!
Coffee and a cookie please. Now where's that goofy lil monkey?
Kaiju-adjacent
Quote by MagnificentBastard
With Mandalla’s past and current experiences, Sara’s cookies for fuel, and Verbs’, I don’t know what he’ll contribute 🤭, something might work to save and/or revive the space of stories.
Why, my expertise on kaiju and late 50s sci-fi movies, of course!
I've got some web game. I don't know much about web BBs, but I imagine there's a lot of building out of pages for stories, members, yadayadayada, and I'd be happy to help. I imagine there's a lot of boring grunt work in terms of editing a TON to text, and I could help there too.
I'm not a very good proofreader, but Talia is, and she might come help too (Ping I know you miss her avatar). Encourage her!!!
HUGS Hang in there everyone.
Anyway. We now have a new grill!!! Made some amazing sausage and pepper and onion sammies yesterday. Pork medallions and a mushrooms sauce are on the horizon.
Beautiful day out. Mets play the Os at 5. The coyote story is finally done, ready for some HEAVY editing, and I have a newsletter to write.
Coffee and a database-shaped cookie please.
Kaiju-adjacent
Quote by rolandlytleQuote by Mendalla
If/when we move to a new site, we definitely need to make sure the cookie jars get packed. And the coffee maker and kettle.
We just had a horrific act of white supremacist terrorism (or at least that's how many of us are reading it) here. A guy drove his truck into a family of Muslims out for a walk. Four dead (grandmother, parents, teenaged child) and one child in hospital. Guy has been charged with 4 counts of murder one and 1 of attempted murder. May also face hate crime and/or terrorism charges. The cops are still working that file with help from the Mounties. Meanwhile, my city is in mourning.
I do not understand how so many people believe this type of heinous act is right. I do not believe people are generally evil, but as the last decade has played out, I am beginning to think I may be wrong. My prayers go out to the victims and their loved ones, the man who did this, and everyone affected by it.
I have to say that the news of Stories Space's closure is a huge blow. I am home-bound for the most part and my time with you here on this site is my only person-to-person contact, except for my wife. I cried this afternoon and had to take medication for when I have an emotional break.
I leave in the morning for N.C. to see my family. I will not be able to be online very much over the next two weeks due to the trip. Everyone stay safe.
I am getting the sense that there will be a new stories space somewhere. Such a nice outpouring of affection for the space - I think folks'll put together a new one. And I need someone to talk baseball with! So if the site goes we'll finD someplace else to talk about baseball.
Enjoy your trip, and we'll see you in a couple weeks!
Kaiju-adjacent
Quote by Mendalla
So here is a story.
In 2014, the members of a board called Wondercafe that was run by the United Church of Canada learned that the church planned to close it down and force them on to a Facebook group. The site used custom board software built on top of their website content management system and upgrading to a new version was going to cost an ungodly amount of money. There was almost universal dismay at this plan but the church felt the site had run its course and did not want to spend the money.
So three members with suitable backgrounds (2 in IT, 1 had run forums before) realized that the board could be recreated much more cheaply using off-the-rack software and set out to create what is now called Wondercafe2. They had support, but not wholehearted, from the owner of Wondercafe but definitely had the support of the community. They drafted rules, found a host, chose software, appointed the first moderators and, almost exactly seven years ago, wondercafe2.ca went live.
The punchline is that I am one of those three members and am still the principle administrator of the site. And I have emailed my interest in helping keep this place going in some form to Nicola. Unfortunately, I may not have the time to spearhead an effort, but I am game to help.
Cool story. And encouraging enough so that Talia and I have volunteered our services to Nicola as well.
Any cookies left?
Kaiju-adjacent
Sigh.
Most good things fall apart eventually. Doesn't mean they weren't good. I'll keep coming in to talk baseball and grab a cup and a cookie (and a hug from that lil monkey) til the doors close. I'll keep reading any stories that anyone posts too, and post a few of my own. Maybe there can be a comp on How the End Comes to StorySpace!
Personally, I blame Ping. We had NO problems til Ping showed up.
I hope efforts to save this place pay off - thanks to those who are trying.
Anyway. Great Mets/Padres series this weekend, each team won two games. Good pitching duels in every game. I'm liking the Padres this year (unless they're playing the Mets).
A cofee and cookie and a wistful look at the soon to be closing doors.
Most good things fall apart eventually. Doesn't mean they weren't good. I'll keep coming in to talk baseball and grab a cup and a cookie (and a hug from that lil monkey) til the doors close. I'll keep reading any stories that anyone posts too, and post a few of my own. Maybe there can be a comp on How the End Comes to StorySpace!
Personally, I blame Ping. We had NO problems til Ping showed up.
I hope efforts to save this place pay off - thanks to those who are trying.
Anyway. Great Mets/Padres series this weekend, each team won two games. Good pitching duels in every game. I'm liking the Padres this year (unless they're playing the Mets).
A cofee and cookie and a wistful look at the soon to be closing doors.
Kaiju-adjacent
So, I watched baseball til about 2:45 in the morning last night. I started watching well after midnight, figuring I'd just catch a few innings of deGrom's start. What a great pitcher's duel. Couldn't quit watching! I fast forwarded through some middle innings but call all the action. 2 p.m. start today, maybe we can turn what looked like a sweep into a split.
In his first nine games deGrom has given up one run or less. It's the best start for a pitcher in over 100 years of baseball history.
In other news, Talia and I bought a grill yesterday. Tonight: pork medallions and a mushroom bourbon sauce, and corn on the cob. Yum.
We also started Top of the Lake, as a post-Mare of Easttown binge. Good show.
Later gators. Coffee and a cicada cookie please!
In his first nine games deGrom has given up one run or less. It's the best start for a pitcher in over 100 years of baseball history.
In other news, Talia and I bought a grill yesterday. Tonight: pork medallions and a mushroom bourbon sauce, and corn on the cob. Yum.
We also started Top of the Lake, as a post-Mare of Easttown binge. Good show.
Later gators. Coffee and a cicada cookie please!
Kaiju-adjacent
Quote by gillianleeza
The Woman in the Window on Netflix.
I had read the book but thankfully had forgotten the ending. It did not get great reviews but I enjoyed it. I love Amy Adams.
I know! The critics really blasted this, but we enjoyed it a lot! Amy Adams and Juilianne Moore (dreamy sigh) are both really good.
For a good story, google the book sometime. The guy who wrote it is quite a piece of work. He's a Talented Mr. Ripley level liar.
Kaiju-adjacent
Gill, are those cicadas wearing SUNGLASSES!?
The Padres are the best team in baseball, and beat the Metros 4-3 in a game much less close than it sounds. Another game tonight, though I think we'll be going out to an actual restaurant. Good game, Larry!
We also just got our first tix to live music is well over a year. Robert Earl Keen! During my birthday weekend no less! I'm very psyched. Feels like the world is opening up.
Pingalope, GoT starts with the WW, it has to end with them too. That battle is good but goes by SO FAST. They really overly rush it. Still, Khaleesi's 'moment" on the dragon at the end is stunningly cruel, and the endless hots of death and destruction after really bring it home. I also find the way they get to the Night King very satisfying.
Still looking for a replacement for Justifed. We're considering lobotomies, to cut out our memories of the show, so we can watch it again.
I have literally one paragraph to write today to finish the coyote story. And it's all pretty much pre-written in my head. I may start a new on up today.
Lovely, lovely weather today, and the weekend.
Coffee and a banana cookie. *throw my own poop at the monkey and run away*
The Padres are the best team in baseball, and beat the Metros 4-3 in a game much less close than it sounds. Another game tonight, though I think we'll be going out to an actual restaurant. Good game, Larry!
We also just got our first tix to live music is well over a year. Robert Earl Keen! During my birthday weekend no less! I'm very psyched. Feels like the world is opening up.
Pingalope, GoT starts with the WW, it has to end with them too. That battle is good but goes by SO FAST. They really overly rush it. Still, Khaleesi's 'moment" on the dragon at the end is stunningly cruel, and the endless hots of death and destruction after really bring it home. I also find the way they get to the Night King very satisfying.
Still looking for a replacement for Justifed. We're considering lobotomies, to cut out our memories of the show, so we can watch it again.
I have literally one paragraph to write today to finish the coyote story. And it's all pretty much pre-written in my head. I may start a new on up today.
Lovely, lovely weather today, and the weekend.
Coffee and a banana cookie. *throw my own poop at the monkey and run away*
Kaiju-adjacent
Quote by etairayQuote by Survivor
Hi, dear E. Never fear, I am always right here.
Beautiful Friday morning here in Welly ..bring on the weekend. Dad just left so I am home alone, a lil lost on what to do ..book or TV. Sheesh ..he left his live podcast on, to keep me entertained ..boring. Sorry old mam😃♥ gotta love him.
Go back and listen to the podcast your Dad left on RIGHT NOW, young lady. (Sorry, you kicked up my Dad instincts).
Yeah, GoT holds up really well under a second viewing. I'll be interested in hearing what you think about the last season, away from the hype. Do you sing along with the opening song like we do? You have to do something, it's like 2 hours long.
Roland, it's an exciting early season, isn't it. All the divisions are close, and the Dodgers are looking vulnerable. The NL East is crazy, which is good news for the Mets. Someone is gonna get hot eventually and challenge them.
Game's about to begin. May the best team win, Larry.
Gimme some Raquel in One Million Years BC please.
Kaiju-adjacent
Quote by Mendalla
Well, thanks for that, verbs. Now I'll never be able to see a pencil resting on another pencil without shuddering.
And for the rest of you, read the story. He's good at this spooky stuff.
Getting late so I'll make an herbal to go with my bedtime cookie.
Thanks for the props, Scott. I was pretty proud of this one.
Charlie Decides: https://www.storiesspace.com/stories/horror/-charlie-decides-.aspx
Pingaling, the Red Wedding is one of my very favorite moments on GoT. My daughter's reaction was the same. It's great to watch that scene a second time so you can see them setting it up. Wow.
Sunny lovely day. Hoping to finish the coyote story today.
Mets won a squeaker from Bill's D-Backs last night. On to Larry's Padres tonight, who I see are THE NUMBER ONE TEAM IN BASEBALL according to ESPNs power rankings. Let's see how good these Mets really are. 8 p.m. Larry. Be there.
Okay. On to the words.
Coffee and a small stack of chocolate chip cookies please.
Kaiju-adjacent
Quote by Mendalla
Good evening all. Nice to see the place livening up a bit.
Cool to hear the boot camp stories upthread. Have you guy written stories about your military careers at all?
Hello to Linda. Nice of you to pop by.
Rainy evening here after a decent day. Going to work on Friday and may start going more often after that. We shall see.
Writing is happening but we will see where it goes. I've had a few false starts of late.
Pecan divines should go well with my evening sencha.
I'd also be interested in reading stories about your military careers, either in s thread, or even better, as stories here.
I have a very short horror story on the front page. It's a little longer than a flash. Let's call it a flash and a half. Give it a read if you are so inclined.
https://www.storiesspace.com/stories/horror/-charlie-decides-.aspx
How about a decaf and a cookie?
Kaiju-adjacent
Quote by Rumple_deWriter
Morning, Larry and many thanks for the setup. When combined with some of Sarah's cookies, your coffee approaches being a goodness. ;)
And speaking of a 'goodness', Linda has appeared among us. However, if she takes all the oatmeal raisin cookies we may have to convene a 'come to Jesus meeting' on a fair and balanced distribution of that vital resource. ;)Don't know about the rest of y'all, but Wednesday following a Monday holiday just doesn't feel like 'Hump Day'.
Now with one hand holding a mug full of Larry's coffee and my other hand full of Sarah's cookies, I'll sneak over to the corner table and marvel at how two of the three baseball teams I follow are both in fifth place (NL West, D-Backs -- AL West, Rangers)
Later, Inspirators.
Bill, the D-backs may be in 5th place, but they staged a hell of a 10th inning comeback last night. Afternoon game today. Then, Larry's Padres this weekend!
Hey Linda! Cool Godzilla emoji!
Not much else happening. Talia had to work at her actual office today, so it's just me and the cats here today. I'm missing her a little.
Oh well. Time to write the newsletter.
Coffee would be swell. And a cookie! And a hug from that lil monkey!
Kaiju-adjacent
Sorry, Bill, that the Mets beat up on the D-Backs last night. Their bats appear to be coming alive. And DeGrom was awesome. Six wins in a row!
Not much else happening. Hanging out with youngest daughter for lunch. Trying to nail the ending down on two stories - that's my goal today.
Hey Roland, glad the cookout was a good time! Didja see DeGrom last night? Wow.
Enjoyed the story about the navy, Larry - thank you for your service.
Good to see you back Verity.
And Ping, Ping, Ping, I was suddenly struck by the idea that you may actually live in a tent in the woods, no kids or home or lemoncello or motorcycle, spinning a fictional middle-class reality from the dregs and ephemera and snips of stories you come across in the homeless camp as you spend your days haunting dumpsters and trash cans for food.
Too dark? He, I'm just warming up. These coyotes aren't gonna hypnotize and kidnap the children of my neighborhood themselves!
I'd love a coffee and a Gamera cookie.
Not much else happening. Hanging out with youngest daughter for lunch. Trying to nail the ending down on two stories - that's my goal today.
Hey Roland, glad the cookout was a good time! Didja see DeGrom last night? Wow.
Enjoyed the story about the navy, Larry - thank you for your service.
Good to see you back Verity.
And Ping, Ping, Ping, I was suddenly struck by the idea that you may actually live in a tent in the woods, no kids or home or lemoncello or motorcycle, spinning a fictional middle-class reality from the dregs and ephemera and snips of stories you come across in the homeless camp as you spend your days haunting dumpsters and trash cans for food.
Too dark? He, I'm just warming up. These coyotes aren't gonna hypnotize and kidnap the children of my neighborhood themselves!
I'd love a coffee and a Gamera cookie.
Kaiju-adjacent
Quote by MagnificentBastardQuote by rolandlytle
“... said to be extremely sweet, especially when they are warm.”
This feels like the beginning of a potential mother-in-law/cannibal punchline.
I was given a homework assignment. This picture is real. I’d bet this rivals the lean angle of Rump’s adjustable snore-prevention bed.
So, one drawback of sleeping in the backyard are the emergency vehicles. Damn. 3:30 am some fire trucks came roaring past our home. Second drawback: birds. The sun rises early here and it began getting light shortly after them rip-roaring vehicles. The freaking birds have been incessantly chirping since about four. Ugh. Crows. Magpies. Geese. Mallard ducks. Sparrows. Blue Jays. Some damn grey birds that eat rotted/fermented crab apples. Right now, there is one f’n bird right outside my tent. I swear it is right next to my ear, a foot away in the shrub. I can’t yell at it because I’ll wake my son. Cheap. Cheap. Cheap. Cheap. Cheap. Cheap. Cheap. Cheap.
He hasn’t stopped. I can’t type the word cheap as fast as he is cheaping. WTF is his problem?!?
Arrrrgh!!!
I wonder. If I cough, would it scare the shit out of him? Maybe I should set up a GoPro tonight. Timer. Remote control. When he starts cheaping tomorrow, I start the GoPro and then blast him with a can of airhorn.
This is worse than a water torture test. Drip. Drip. Drip.
I do have a full bladder. Maybe I cut a small hole in the... wait... I mean big hole... Big hole in the tent and unload on that little cheaping bastard. Seriously. The whole time I’m typing this, he hasn’t stopped making f’n noise.
Anyone use an air press for coffee? I do. Best coffee brew ever. Clean, not chewy like a French press. Less mess than a percolator or drip. Easier to throw at f’n birds that wake me at 4:00 am.
Oooh. I just involuntarily sniffed. He stopped.
Ugh. He’s going double time now. WTF?!? Something just hit the tent! A dull thud. A splat. Damn it. That’s not a pizza on the ceiling. Only a small child or a goose can poop that much. I bet the goose was trying to bomb that little bastard.
Sigh. My son is now up. He just commented on the bird in the bush. He thinks he can get back to sleep. He doesn’t have to get up until 6:30 to shower before school.
Good luck with that.
And now a helicopter. An f’n helicopter. Seriously? Who needs a traffic report at 5:23 am on a non-holiday Monday in Canada?
It’s gunna be THAT kind of Monday, isn’t it Fate?
Oh, just suck it up and drink your air press coffee. My recollection of sleeping in a tent with my daughter during Spring break was that I immediately went inside and fell back asleep for 3-4 more hours.
It's been rainy as crap all weekend long, with several bouts of hail. We've barely left the house, and then only to shop. So, no Quiet Place 2, but we binged the excellent Mare of Easttown. GREAT show. Kate Winslet is a force of nature.
Kaiju-adjacent
I came across this in the paper today. It's long as f, but he was a very big influence on me. Maybe too big. Anyway, this is really good advice, not rules for writing exactly, but some stuff to think about.
"Raymond Carver was born 83 years ago, in Clatskanie, Oregon. Later, he would cement his position as one of America’s greatest and most beloved writers and poets, a true master of the short story form. Carver is one of those writers who tends to spawn other writers—more than one person I know fell in love with the short story form after they encountered “Cathedral” for the first time. So who better to offer a little bit of writing advice to those of us still trying to get it right? Here are a few gems from the man himself:
Write what you know, but not too much:
You have to know what you’re doing when you turn your life’s stories into fiction. You have to be immensely daring, very skilled and imaginative and willing to tell everything on yourself. You’re told time and again when you’re young to write about what you know, and what do you know better than your own secrets? But unless you’re a special kind of writer, and a very talented one, it’s dangerous to try and write volume after volume on The Story of My Life. A great danger, or at least a great temptation, for many writers is to become too autobiographical in their approach to their fiction. A little autobiography and a lot of imagination are best.
–from a 1983 interview with The Paris Review
Lose your ambitions, keep your talent:
When I was 27, back in 1966, I found I was having trouble concentrating my attention on long narrative fiction. For a time I experienced difficulty in trying to read it as well as in attempting to write it. My attention span had gone out on me; I no longer had the patience to try to write novels. It’s an involved story, too tedious to talk about here. But I know it has much to do now with why I write poems and short stories. Get in, get out. Don’t linger. Go on. It could be that I lost any great ambitions at about the same time, in my late 20’s. If I did, I think it was good it happened. Ambition and a little luck are good things for a writer to have going for him. Too much ambition and bad luck, or no luck at all, can be killing. There has to be talent.
–from “A Storyteller’s Shoptalk,” published in The New York Times in 1981
Let yourself develop:
I think it’s important that a writer change, that there be a natural development, and not a decision. So when I finish a book, I don’t write anything for six months, except a little poetry or an essay.
–from a 1987 interview with French journalist Claude Grimal
Be patient with yourself:
When I’m writing, I write every day. It’s lovely when that’s happening. One day dovetailing into the next. Sometimes I don’t even know what day of the week it is. The “paddle-wheel of days,” John Ashbery has called it. When I’m not writing, like now, when I’m tied up with teaching duties as I have been the last while, it’s as if I’ve never written a word or had any desire to write. I fall into bad habits. I stay up too late and sleep in too long. But it’s okay. I’ve learned to be patient and to bide my time. I had to learn that a long time ago. Patience. If I believed in signs, I suppose my sign would be the sign of the turtle.
–from a 1983 interview with The Paris Review
Look at the world through your own eyes:
Some writers have a bunch of talent; I don’t know any writers who are without it. But a unique and exact way of looking at things, and finding the right context for expressing that way of looking, that’s something else. . . . Every great, or even every very good writer, makes the world over according to his own specifications.
It’s akin to style, what I’m talking about, but it isn’t style alone. It is the writer’s particular and unmistakable signature on everything he writes. It is his world and no other. This is one of the things that distinguishes one writer from another. Not talent. There’s plenty of that around. But a writer who has some special way of looking at things and who gives artistic expression to that way of looking: that writer may be around for a time.
–from “A Storyteller’s Shoptalk,” published in The New York Times in 1981
And not through anyone else’s:
Someone else’s way of looking at things—Barthelme’s, for instance—should not be chased after by other writers. It won’t work. There is only one Barthelme, and for another writer to try to appropriate Barthelme’s peculiar sensibility or mise en scene under the rubric of innovation is for that writer to mess around with chaos and disaster and, worse, self-deception.
–from “A Storyteller’s Shoptalk,” published in The New York Times in 1981
Write for yourself, and for other writers:
Any writer worth his salt writes as well and as truly as he can and hopes for as large and perceptive a readership as possible. So you write as well as you can and hope for good readers. But I think you’re also writing for other writers to an extent—the dead writers whose work you admire, as well as the living writers you like to read. If they like it, the other writers, there’s a good chance other “intelligent, adult men and women” may like it, too.
–from a 1983 interview with The Paris Review
No tricks:
I hate tricks. At the first sign of a trick or a gimmick in a piece of fiction, a cheap trick or even an elaborate trick, I tend to look for cover. Tricks are ultimately boring, and I get bored easily, which may go along with my not having much of an attention span. But extremely clever chi-chi writing, or just plain tomfoolery writing, puts me to sleep. Writers don’t need tricks or gimmicks or even necessarily need to be the smartest fellows on the block. At the risk of appearing foolish, a writer sometimes needs to be able to just stand and gape at this or that thing—a sunset or an old shoe—in absolute and simple amazement.
–from “A Storyteller’s Shoptalk,” published in The New York Times in 1981
I’m against tricks which call attention to themselves in an effort to be clever or merely devious. . . . A writer mustn’t lose sight of the story. I’m not interested in works which are all texture and no flesh-and-blood. I guess I’m old fashioned enough to feel that the reader must somehow be involved at the human level.
–from an interview with Larry McCaffery and Sinda Gregory, 1985
Don’t fake it:
It was [my teacher John Gardner’s] conviction that if the words in the story were blurred because of the author’s insensitivity, carelessness, or sentimentality, then the story suffered from a tremendous handicap. But there was something that must be avoided at all costs: if the words and the sentiments were dishonest, the author was faking it, writing about things he didn’t care about or believe in, then nobody could ever care anything about it. A writer’s values and craft. This is what the man taught and what he stood for, and this is what I’ve kept by me in the years since that brief but all-important time.
–from “John Gardner: Writer and Teacher,” 1983
Create tension:
I like it when there is some feeling of threat or sense of menace in short stories. I think a little menace is fine to have in a story. For one thing, it’s good for the circulation. There has to be tension, a sense that something is imminent, that certain things are in relentless motion, or else, most often, there simply won’t be a story. What creates tension in a piece of fiction is partly the way the concrete words are linked together to make up the visible action of the story. But it’s also the things that are left out, that are implied, the landscape just under the smooth (but sometimes broken and unsettled) surface of things.
–from “A Storyteller’s Shoptalk,” published in The New York Times in 1981
Pay attention to the little things:
I’m not given to rhetoric or abstraction in my life, my thinking, or my writing, so when I write about people I want them to be placed within a setting that must be made as palpable as possible. This might mean including as part of the setting a television or a table or a felt-tipped pen lying on a desk, but if these things are going to be introduced into the scene at all, they shouldn’t be inert. I don’t mean they should take on a life of their own precisely but they should make their presence felt in some way. If you are going to describe a spoon or a chair or a tv set, you don’t want to simply set these things into the scene and let them go. You want to give them some weight, connecting these things to the lives around them. I see these objects as playing a “role” in the stories; they’re not “characters” in the sense that the people in my stories are, but they are there and I want my readers to be aware that they’re there, to know that this ashtray is here, that the tv is there (and that it’s going or it’s not going), that the fireplace has old pop cans in it.
–from an interview with Larry McCaffery and Sinda Gregory, 1985
Write what you mean to say, with clarity:
That’s all we have, finally, the words, and they had better be the right ones, with the punctuation in the right places so that they can best say what they are meant to say. If the words are heavy with the writer’s own unbridled emotions, or if they are imprecise and inaccurate for some other reason—if the words are in any way blurred—the reader’s eyes will slide right over them and nothing will be achieved. The reader’s own artistic sense will simply not be engaged. Henry James called this sort of hapless writing ”weak specification.”
–from “A Storyteller’s Shoptalk,” published in The New York Times in 1981
But you don’t have to have all the answers:
The writer’s job, if he or she has a job, is not to provide conclusions or answers. If the story answers itself, its problems and conflicts, and meets its own requirements, then that’s enough. On the other hand, I want to make certain my readers aren’t left feeling cheated in one way or another when they’ve finished my stories. It’s important for writers to provide enough to satisfy readers, even if they don’t provide “the” answers, or clear resolutions.
–from an interview with Larry McCaffery and Sinda Gregory, 1985
Good fiction is partly a bringing of the news from one world to another. That end is good in and of itself, I think. . . . It doesn’t have to do anything. It just has to be there for the fierce pleasure we take in doing it, and the different kind of pleasure that’s taken in reading something that’s durable and made to last, as well as beautiful in and of itself. Something that throws off these sparks—a persistent and steady glow, however dim.
–from a 1983 interview with The Paris Review"
"Raymond Carver was born 83 years ago, in Clatskanie, Oregon. Later, he would cement his position as one of America’s greatest and most beloved writers and poets, a true master of the short story form. Carver is one of those writers who tends to spawn other writers—more than one person I know fell in love with the short story form after they encountered “Cathedral” for the first time. So who better to offer a little bit of writing advice to those of us still trying to get it right? Here are a few gems from the man himself:
Write what you know, but not too much:
You have to know what you’re doing when you turn your life’s stories into fiction. You have to be immensely daring, very skilled and imaginative and willing to tell everything on yourself. You’re told time and again when you’re young to write about what you know, and what do you know better than your own secrets? But unless you’re a special kind of writer, and a very talented one, it’s dangerous to try and write volume after volume on The Story of My Life. A great danger, or at least a great temptation, for many writers is to become too autobiographical in their approach to their fiction. A little autobiography and a lot of imagination are best.
–from a 1983 interview with The Paris Review
Lose your ambitions, keep your talent:
When I was 27, back in 1966, I found I was having trouble concentrating my attention on long narrative fiction. For a time I experienced difficulty in trying to read it as well as in attempting to write it. My attention span had gone out on me; I no longer had the patience to try to write novels. It’s an involved story, too tedious to talk about here. But I know it has much to do now with why I write poems and short stories. Get in, get out. Don’t linger. Go on. It could be that I lost any great ambitions at about the same time, in my late 20’s. If I did, I think it was good it happened. Ambition and a little luck are good things for a writer to have going for him. Too much ambition and bad luck, or no luck at all, can be killing. There has to be talent.
–from “A Storyteller’s Shoptalk,” published in The New York Times in 1981
Let yourself develop:
I think it’s important that a writer change, that there be a natural development, and not a decision. So when I finish a book, I don’t write anything for six months, except a little poetry or an essay.
–from a 1987 interview with French journalist Claude Grimal
Be patient with yourself:
When I’m writing, I write every day. It’s lovely when that’s happening. One day dovetailing into the next. Sometimes I don’t even know what day of the week it is. The “paddle-wheel of days,” John Ashbery has called it. When I’m not writing, like now, when I’m tied up with teaching duties as I have been the last while, it’s as if I’ve never written a word or had any desire to write. I fall into bad habits. I stay up too late and sleep in too long. But it’s okay. I’ve learned to be patient and to bide my time. I had to learn that a long time ago. Patience. If I believed in signs, I suppose my sign would be the sign of the turtle.
–from a 1983 interview with The Paris Review
Look at the world through your own eyes:
Some writers have a bunch of talent; I don’t know any writers who are without it. But a unique and exact way of looking at things, and finding the right context for expressing that way of looking, that’s something else. . . . Every great, or even every very good writer, makes the world over according to his own specifications.
It’s akin to style, what I’m talking about, but it isn’t style alone. It is the writer’s particular and unmistakable signature on everything he writes. It is his world and no other. This is one of the things that distinguishes one writer from another. Not talent. There’s plenty of that around. But a writer who has some special way of looking at things and who gives artistic expression to that way of looking: that writer may be around for a time.
–from “A Storyteller’s Shoptalk,” published in The New York Times in 1981
And not through anyone else’s:
Someone else’s way of looking at things—Barthelme’s, for instance—should not be chased after by other writers. It won’t work. There is only one Barthelme, and for another writer to try to appropriate Barthelme’s peculiar sensibility or mise en scene under the rubric of innovation is for that writer to mess around with chaos and disaster and, worse, self-deception.
–from “A Storyteller’s Shoptalk,” published in The New York Times in 1981
Write for yourself, and for other writers:
Any writer worth his salt writes as well and as truly as he can and hopes for as large and perceptive a readership as possible. So you write as well as you can and hope for good readers. But I think you’re also writing for other writers to an extent—the dead writers whose work you admire, as well as the living writers you like to read. If they like it, the other writers, there’s a good chance other “intelligent, adult men and women” may like it, too.
–from a 1983 interview with The Paris Review
No tricks:
I hate tricks. At the first sign of a trick or a gimmick in a piece of fiction, a cheap trick or even an elaborate trick, I tend to look for cover. Tricks are ultimately boring, and I get bored easily, which may go along with my not having much of an attention span. But extremely clever chi-chi writing, or just plain tomfoolery writing, puts me to sleep. Writers don’t need tricks or gimmicks or even necessarily need to be the smartest fellows on the block. At the risk of appearing foolish, a writer sometimes needs to be able to just stand and gape at this or that thing—a sunset or an old shoe—in absolute and simple amazement.
–from “A Storyteller’s Shoptalk,” published in The New York Times in 1981
I’m against tricks which call attention to themselves in an effort to be clever or merely devious. . . . A writer mustn’t lose sight of the story. I’m not interested in works which are all texture and no flesh-and-blood. I guess I’m old fashioned enough to feel that the reader must somehow be involved at the human level.
–from an interview with Larry McCaffery and Sinda Gregory, 1985
Don’t fake it:
It was [my teacher John Gardner’s] conviction that if the words in the story were blurred because of the author’s insensitivity, carelessness, or sentimentality, then the story suffered from a tremendous handicap. But there was something that must be avoided at all costs: if the words and the sentiments were dishonest, the author was faking it, writing about things he didn’t care about or believe in, then nobody could ever care anything about it. A writer’s values and craft. This is what the man taught and what he stood for, and this is what I’ve kept by me in the years since that brief but all-important time.
–from “John Gardner: Writer and Teacher,” 1983
Create tension:
I like it when there is some feeling of threat or sense of menace in short stories. I think a little menace is fine to have in a story. For one thing, it’s good for the circulation. There has to be tension, a sense that something is imminent, that certain things are in relentless motion, or else, most often, there simply won’t be a story. What creates tension in a piece of fiction is partly the way the concrete words are linked together to make up the visible action of the story. But it’s also the things that are left out, that are implied, the landscape just under the smooth (but sometimes broken and unsettled) surface of things.
–from “A Storyteller’s Shoptalk,” published in The New York Times in 1981
Pay attention to the little things:
I’m not given to rhetoric or abstraction in my life, my thinking, or my writing, so when I write about people I want them to be placed within a setting that must be made as palpable as possible. This might mean including as part of the setting a television or a table or a felt-tipped pen lying on a desk, but if these things are going to be introduced into the scene at all, they shouldn’t be inert. I don’t mean they should take on a life of their own precisely but they should make their presence felt in some way. If you are going to describe a spoon or a chair or a tv set, you don’t want to simply set these things into the scene and let them go. You want to give them some weight, connecting these things to the lives around them. I see these objects as playing a “role” in the stories; they’re not “characters” in the sense that the people in my stories are, but they are there and I want my readers to be aware that they’re there, to know that this ashtray is here, that the tv is there (and that it’s going or it’s not going), that the fireplace has old pop cans in it.
–from an interview with Larry McCaffery and Sinda Gregory, 1985
Write what you mean to say, with clarity:
That’s all we have, finally, the words, and they had better be the right ones, with the punctuation in the right places so that they can best say what they are meant to say. If the words are heavy with the writer’s own unbridled emotions, or if they are imprecise and inaccurate for some other reason—if the words are in any way blurred—the reader’s eyes will slide right over them and nothing will be achieved. The reader’s own artistic sense will simply not be engaged. Henry James called this sort of hapless writing ”weak specification.”
–from “A Storyteller’s Shoptalk,” published in The New York Times in 1981
But you don’t have to have all the answers:
The writer’s job, if he or she has a job, is not to provide conclusions or answers. If the story answers itself, its problems and conflicts, and meets its own requirements, then that’s enough. On the other hand, I want to make certain my readers aren’t left feeling cheated in one way or another when they’ve finished my stories. It’s important for writers to provide enough to satisfy readers, even if they don’t provide “the” answers, or clear resolutions.
–from an interview with Larry McCaffery and Sinda Gregory, 1985
Good fiction is partly a bringing of the news from one world to another. That end is good in and of itself, I think. . . . It doesn’t have to do anything. It just has to be there for the fierce pleasure we take in doing it, and the different kind of pleasure that’s taken in reading something that’s durable and made to last, as well as beautiful in and of itself. Something that throws off these sparks—a persistent and steady glow, however dim.
–from a 1983 interview with The Paris Review"
Kaiju-adjacent
Quote by rolandlytle
Cheers mates.
Oh, Bond. The spy that drank watered-down gin. I did like Connery. I was sad when he passed last year.
I hope deGrom faces the Braves. It is baseball at its best when great pitching meets great hitting. BTW, I found an interesting quirk to the reliever three-batter rule. If the game is stopped for weather or any other reason during an inning, that reliever must still pitch to meet the three batter limit even if the delay is hours or days. The only way out of the rule is injury or ejection.
Sara, those watermelon cookies looked so good! I will eat one with my herbal tea today.
I am a wee bit worried about tomorrow. We are having guests for a cook-out, and I have not been around new visitors since my condition worsened. With my occasional mental zone-outs and my paranoia, I am not good around new people. We have several neighbors coming over. I have met them before, that is what Liz told me, but with so many people in the house, I am worried it will affect me worse. That is what happens when I go out to crowded places quite often. Liz says she will stay with me; she is excellent at keeping me grounded. With her help, I hope things will go well. I will take some meds before they get here.
I hope everyone has a great weekend.
BTW, I am really behind on my reading. Be patient, and I will get to all the stories and poems. They are all so good and entertaining. Some days they are what gets me out of bed.
I hope the cookout is going well. I have garden variety social anxiety, so while I know little of what you are going through, my sympathies are with you.
DeGrom is indeed pitching tonight - but it's on ESPN, so I can't watch it on MLB.TV. Wah! Still, the boys are playing well, despite two thirds of the team being injured, so I won't complain.
Nice bike, Ping! And those lemoncello bottle look deLISH!
We are, I think, going out to see A Quiet Place 2 this afternoon. If laziness doesn't interfere. We went to Costco yesterday and while I wore a mask to enter, I took it off while inside the store. It felt so weird, but so freeing. I got a little thrill of community and patriotism (yes, patriotism!) that we weathered the Covid together, our cities and out state and our country. Well, okay, obviously not everybody. But most people did the right thing.
A bottle of lemoncello please. We'll sneak it into the movies.
Kaiju-adjacent
Quote by MendallaQuote by Survivor
Good day to you, Verity. It's so lovely that you bring up Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, By coincidence, I just happened to be in a production of that work as a play on stage here at our local arts theatre. I played the nefarious Child Catcher.
You and "nefarious" are not two words that go together in my mind, but that's acting. I sometimes contemplate seeking out an amateur theater company to try out with but other than a strong voice (mostly used for preaching and other public speaking), not sure if I have any qualities suited to the stage. I live in a city with a fairly strong theatrical tradition so there's plenty happening stage-wise normally.
Quite a theatrical bent to the Inspirators here! We were talking about doing some theater work here, pre-pandemic, and now that things are opening up again we may. Not in front of the audience, but backstage stuff. I love doing lights and sound.
We are buying a grill for the house this weekend! Chicken and corn on the cob and hot dogs and portobello (sp?) mushrooms!
I'll probably watch a little Braves-Mets action this weekend too.
Coffee and a cookie please!
Kaiju-adjacent
Quote by rolandlytle
For the baseball fans; players being paid millions of dollars can still play like little leaguers.
I LOVE THIS CLIP! Just insane. All he had to do was step on first base. And when Javy was running away from first, toward home, why follow him? Craziness! Thnaks Roland!
Mets swept a double header yesterday, and are ow 2.5 games in fist place, despite the entire frikkin team being hurt. It's like a magic trick! And we play Sara's Braves starting tonight.
Ping, we haven't watched the Friends reunion yet. Probably tonight. But Talia has half of today and Memorial Day off, so it's a three and a half day weekend! Gonna go out and buy a grill Saturday, and grill chicken and portabello mushrooms.
Other than that, not much else going on. Within spitting distance of finishing the coyote story today.
Coffee and a cookie please!
Kaiju-adjacent
Ping, you are into motorcycles the way I am into telescopes! Telescopes are cheaper. A little.
Finished Army of the Dead last night. Took me three days, partly because Talia doesn't want to watch it, partly because it's SO FRIKKIN LONG. It's way over the top, and the zombies are stupid (and not actual zombies at all), but it's way more entertaining than it has any right to be.
Larry, your Padres have come alive! They might be the team to beat in the west.
Mets were rained out AGAIN yesterday, so there is a double header today, even as I type this. They're blacked out here, so I will make myself write first, and then watch them when the archived games become available. Jeez, I'm neurotic.
Mimi Rose Howard and David Foster Wallace are playing with that cute lil monkey of Sara's. I'll have a coffee and a baseball cookie.
Finished Army of the Dead last night. Took me three days, partly because Talia doesn't want to watch it, partly because it's SO FRIKKIN LONG. It's way over the top, and the zombies are stupid (and not actual zombies at all), but it's way more entertaining than it has any right to be.
Larry, your Padres have come alive! They might be the team to beat in the west.
Mets were rained out AGAIN yesterday, so there is a double header today, even as I type this. They're blacked out here, so I will make myself write first, and then watch them when the archived games become available. Jeez, I'm neurotic.
Mimi Rose Howard and David Foster Wallace are playing with that cute lil monkey of Sara's. I'll have a coffee and a baseball cookie.
Kaiju-adjacent
Quote by rolandlytle
I wanted to mention something today but forgot earlier. The US Covid death toll has passed 600,000 (nearing the total military deaths in the Civil War), but the number of new deaths has dropped dramatically, and more than half of all adults have been vaccinated. But yesterday, the world death tolls crossed 3,500,000. Africa, South America, and southwest Asia (especially India) deaths are still climbing. Some are predicting 5,000,000 by the end of the year. The WHO has stated that the world death totals may be 25-40% higher on a conservative estimate.
A situation I have followed during the Covid pandemic is US federal institutions. The VA has had more than 12,000 veterans' deaths. And the military death toll is at 315. That is more than the number of fatalities in Afganistan over the past eight years.
BTW all of the federal institutions (military, VA, and prisons) are not counted in the US numbers listed by the media.
I did not want to bring everyone down, so here is one of my kittens, Bubblegum.
MagBass, I enjoyed that squirrel video. Thanks!
Hey Roland. Digging the picture of Bubblegum. And those numbers on Covid are sobering - I'm so glad I have had both shots.
Here's a pic of our kittens, Mimi Rose Howard and David Foster Wallace. They are brother and sister!
Kaiju-adjacent
Quote by MagnificentBastard
GoT (again) with my son. Just watched the series finale of Last Man Standing (sad to see it go) and the season, which may also be the series finale of Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist. It has not yet been renewed for season three.
Why are there no more Justified’s out there???
Tons of motorcycle videos on YouTube. If you haven’t seen her, check out Itchy Boots. Noraly is from the Netherlands. She travels on her motorcycle by herself around the world. She uses four GoPro’s, including a drone for stunning images.
Noraly is currently touring South Africa. Three years ago she travelled over 60,000 kilometres through Asia and Europe. Last year, her Patagonia to Alaska trip was cut short in Chile due to the pandemic. Hopefully, she returns to that leg soon.
I watched GoT with my youngest daughter last year. My favorite part was staring awkwardly at the walls during the nude scenes.
Actually it does bring up some interesting discussions, and I'd seen it before, so i know what's coming. It holds up well under a second viewing. Even the last season - though it's rushed, it's not as bad as everyone said it was at the time.No more Justified, though the same team is trying to get another Elmore Leonard series off the ground. And Timothy Elephant was in The Mandolorian!
I'm deep into Better Call Saul now. After that I'm trying to convince Talia to try Breaking Bad.
Kaiju-adjacent
Quote by MagnificentBastard
Verbs, you whiny little...
Fine. Here ya go. Sheesh. Bro hug ‘n booty grab.
Hi Everyone! Gill, Rumps, LarBear, EB, DoubleD, RollyMeister, Canadian Ape Boy, and our 30+ year Ingrish teacher. Sorry if I missed anyone.
Any updates on Rachel? Damn. I popped by Red a while back. I hope she’s doing better. Any news on Tonya or Vanessa?
Only big news here is that I bought a motorbike. Honda finally made something I wanted. It’s not really anything classic or traditional. It’s more of a fusion of styles with lots of tech and nanny modes. It’s a Rebel 1100 DCT. Essentially, it’s a spirited scooter. Well, not really. It does do a sub-4 second zero-to-100 km. I call it my naked sporty cruiser. LOVE IT.
Like many, I’ve got my first COVID shot, but am now in vaccination purgatory. Got the Astra-Zeneca one, but with blood clot fears and short shipping, I wait. Can’t get another from another either. So, I wait.
Kids are well. My little boy has now reached my height. Buggar is only thirteen. He reminds me of both, constantly. The girl is becoming a handful. She is branching out. Becoming her own obnoxious preteen self. Thankfully, she hasn’t contributed to my early demise in the terrifying still of the night. I fear I may end up pleading for her to do so.
Puppies are doing well too. Both are almost nine months. After dental surgeries, spay & neuter, etc, were into both for about twelve grand. Ugh.
Bought a new 8-person tent. Pitched it in the backyard this extended long weekend. Simply fab. Laying on my super comfy air mattress as I type this, both dogs on and beside me, the boy playing some Mario on his Switch across from me, while my daughter Zooms some ballet online in the basement. Time to make dinner, I suppose. And then an early evening ride on my iron horse.
I still have no urge to write, but Verbs, I too have many coyotes near by. I’ll pee on your fence, any day, any time. You don’t even need to ask.
Take care you gnarly band of deviants.
PIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!! You Magnificent Bastard!
A big new motorcycle! Wow! That must be almost as good as having a penis!
Anyway. It's terribly good to see you. Even Talia is glad you're back - I just yelled "Ping's back!" and she yelled "Yay!" So much has happened in the last six months! I'll PM you later.
We used to do the tent in the back yard thing. My youngest spent an entire spring break living in the tent out back, back in the day.
I don't understand this strange new sport you describe. How do you say it? Gaulf? Hitting white balls with little sticks? How can that possibly be entertaining to watch? You need a real sport like baseball. The Mets won last night, incidentally. DeGrom is back! Best pitcher in baseball! Sadly, they are playing the Rockies now, meaning the game is blacked out until 90 minutes after the game is OVER. Meaning I can't even start watching til around 10, and finish around 1. Grumble.
Elizabeth, no one in that division can string together a winning record. You're in last place, but only 3 games out of first.
As for the coyotes, I haven't heard them in several days. They quit howling in the story I'm writing too. Because--in the story--they are busy hypnotizing all the neighborhood pets!!! Trying to start a revolution. I don't think that is happening in real life, but I could be wrong.
Okay, I gotta go do stuff. I'd love a lemoncello. Do you have any grape? Or root beer?
Top it off with a kaiju cookie!
Kaiju-adjacent
Quote by gillianleeza
It's good to see everyone. Roland, it is always a treat to find you here. I am glad you are feeling better.
Welcome to Harly and Verity.
I've not been here for a bit. My Mom had a stroke, thankfully a mild one and she is recovering well now at home. It resulted in some stress and worry with my Dad. Long long stories but at least I have a GPS on the key ring he takes everywhere that can locate him if necessary. I stayed with him and have no idea how my Mom does it. I am happy to be back at my house.
I hope everyone is doing well.
I'm going to take some cookies and go nap. I'll try to catch up later.
Cheers!
My thoughts are with you, Gill. I'm glad the stroke was mild. And I'm glad you're back at your house.
Mets have lost three in a row, and the entire team is injured, as Roland pointed out (hey Roland!). But since we are in first place I won't complain. A Mets/Braves showdown looms this week though. Ready Sara?
Time to write about coyotes.
Larry, I'm sure you're right, I haven't gotten rid of them. All I wanna do is scare them a few houses down, so they don't use our yard as their entree into the neighborhood. Did I use entree right? I think that needs an umlaut or something.
Coffee and a kaiju cookie please!