Storytellersunplugged

By David Niall Wilson Deadlines. Did you ever wonder why they call them that? Dictionary.com tells me it's the boundary beyond which a prisoner should not pass unless he wants to risk being shot. That would be an example of old-school deadlines. These days I live a life full of self-imposed, work-imposed and by various means implied deadlines that would probably drive your average prisoner to step across the boundary and take his chances with the afterlife. That ... Read More

(How about a big Storytellers welcome for Robert Jones - he's agreed to do occasional fill-in essays - and to catch a few of those 31st dates that we ignore so well, and so thoroughly. Welcome aboard, Bob) by R. C. Jones Rewards come in many forms. One of the most commonly recognized rewards for writing is probably financial, but there are others that can be immeasurably meaningful. Some who write have received not only financial rewards but also literary ... Read More

By Dick Hill Written as a STORY FOR ALL AGES, presented for the congregation of the Universal Unitarian Church of Greater Lansing for children and adults alike in Joe Pesce and Brando as the don voices, just before the youth went to their religious education classes. Freely adapted, hell, ripped off, debased and screwed with, from a traditional Buddhist tale. Same Contente and Gino Dissatisfaccione were the very best of friends, which was rather surprising, since they had such very different outlooks on ... Read More

(This is a post from our past, a golden oldie to fill a gap. Starting next month we have three new Storyteller Members to introduce, and we're excited about it. I hope you enjoy this, and accept our apology for the weekend...Wayne and I had some technical back-and-forth glitches and the holiday ate his post. Tomorrow you'll get the marvelous Dick Hill...today you have to settle for me...) David Niall Wilson My current project, which started out as a biography, has ... Read More

There was almost no essay today. (Stop with the cheering, you lot. You get another thirty days without me now.) That’s because tomorrow, the calendar starts getting interesting. Come one o’clock, my wife is putting me on a plane for a two week stint at one of our sister studios, there to work with various and sundry fine folks on a project that looks to be challenging and enjoyable. (No, I can’t tell you which one. I mean, I could I’d ... Read More

by Janet BerlinerLast month in my column Bradbury And I, I left you dangling, wondering where Ray Bradbury would say he wanted to play next."The world knows you best as the author of Fahrenheit 451 and The Martian Chronicles, and of innumerable short stories and film scripts," I said. "You're in love with France, in love with life, in love with Chambord, a spired castle that grew out of the imaginations of kings. You've slept among tapestries and danced in the halls ... Read More

By Justine Musk (**Note from the "management**) This column was supposed to appear last month. It never made it from the overseas Kiosk to US e-mail, but we bring it to you now as Stan has company this weekend…flexibility is good. Justine wanted me to leave in the happy birthday to Skipp, but notes it's over man…better late than never… …..DNW) (Happy Birthday John Skipp! Seems like just yesterday I was an impressionable young slip of a thing first discovering Splatterpunk….) In ... Read More

Thanks to Mr. A, who took me up on last month’s invitation and emailed me with a Storytellers Unplugged request. Mr. A’s requested topic is endings, and why so many endings, primarily in short stories written by novice writers, fall short. Why do they sometimes fail to resolve the story’s conflict? Why do protagonists become passive or unsympathetic? Why does the ending of an otherwise promising story sometimes fall flat under the weight of logic? What rough edges burst the reader’s happy ... Read More

ByRichard Steinberg“The rainbow never made it to Piatigorsk. Three colors only were in evidence: the white of the snow, the gray of the sky, the black of the souls and the hearts.”-- from The Gemini ManIt was the spring of 1995, I wasn’t living in poverty; but poverty was just down the street, two buildings over, smiling expectantly whenever I walked by. I was recovering from a heart attack and two strokes three years before that.And I so wanted to be a ... Read More

By Jeff MariotteYou don’t have to have read many of my posts here at Storytellers Unplugged to know that I don’t believe writers should wait around for inspiration to strike. Regular keyboard time, daily if possible, exercises the writing muscles, and employing those muscles, through hard work, replaces inspiration. The daily "inspirations"—how should the plot proceed from this point? What will the characters say to each other? What am I really writing about?—reveal themselves through this effort.I practice ... Read More