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Homophone or Homonym? I cannot bear the sensation of my bare skin touching the bear skin rug. Which is which? bear;bare bear;bear |
Approaching the Winter? Are you approaching the winter of your life? I am, and it is hard to believe. One of our colleagues, Joey says" Happy 2025   , has written a touching and finely crafted first-person story about the feelings you might be feeling. Give it a read, you will enjoy it.
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Damon Nomad  T  . When I started, I had almost no idea what to write or where to look for inspiration. So I went out to water my garden... (I live in Florida, so there is no snow) But while tending to my roses, the neighbor's grands played in the yard with my pal Loy. They played soccer, and my muse decided to inspire me then and there. And from that brief moment this piece came to life. Yes, therein lay a good bit of self-reflection, but I swear it had to be someone else whispering in my muse's ear. This one was way better than most of the stuff in my port. I even think the 1,000 word limit was a plus, else it would be too long. |
Which Nonadjective Label Would You Like as a Writer Poet Artist Scribe Wordsmith Storyteller Chronicler Laureate Something else? For me . . . Storyteller. Hopefully with a positive adjective. |
Pretentious or Poetic; Plain Spoken or Simplistic I occasionally come across something written that I cannot finish reading because of the flowery and elaborate language. Why do people write in such a pretentious fashion? I think to myself as I look for something else to read and comment on or review. I have been questioning my own attitude about fiction. I enjoy reading popular genre fiction with plain language, and interesting and engaging plots and characters. In my journey as a writer, I want to entertain and engage with plain-spoken and clear language. I seek to measure my development as a writer and storyteller in traditionally published commercial fiction. So that has become the lens through which I see writing, sticking with fiction. I realize that it is pretentious of me to judge other writers' work through my personal bias. There most certainly must be readers who search out elegant literature and would be appalled by my simplistic style. So, to each his own in this regard and recognize your own biases when looking at the work of others. |
My Brilliant Failures in 2024 Writing Goal for Short Stories In January I posted about the one-hundred rejection goal suggested by some writing ‘gurus’. "Note: Success Through Failure Rejection thera..." The main point of the exercise is based on rejection therapy, learn to accept rejection and move on. How close did I come and was I successful? Regarding the goal's metric, I was a miserable failure. I did not even come close to a hundred submissions., much less that many rejections. But rejections come much easier now. Here are my numbers. Seventy-seven submissions and sixty rejections. Eleven are still pending, having been submitted in the last few months. On the upside, I have three short stories that have been published and three more with signed contracts for anthologies that should be out in the early part of this year. So, being generous to myself, I had an acceptance rate of 6 out of 66 or nine percent. One of my most noteworthy experiences was a rejection, a highly competitive anthology with more than 350 submissions. I got emails twice about making it through progressive rounds to the final shortlist. Then a rejection email, but a thoughtful and detailed critique from two editors on what they liked and where they thought the story came up short. A hugely valuable source for areas of improvement. I found the intense competition of commercial short stories, of the pulp fiction variety, to be an excellent way to improve my writing as well as get an unbiased and objective measure of how my writing stacks up. Just this week I got an email from a publisher for an anthology call that will be coming out soon, giving me a heads up and hoping that I submit. A first for me. For 2025, I will continue to increase the number of submissions. My goal for this year is to see if I can land a story in one of the big publications: Asimov, Clarkes World, Hitchcock, or Ellery Queen. Honestly, I expect to fail at this level. Like a semi-pro baseball player trying out for a major league team. All they can do is reject me, and that’s a success. I want to thank all of the writers on WDC who have read, commented, and reviewed my stories here. I want to particularly thank S 🤦  for his thoughts and advice on commercial fiction submissions and story writing. |
A Great Quote About Grammar for Fiction Writers “Perfect grammar has nothing to do with great writing.” Jane Friedman in Writers Digest June 2010 Friedman goes on to say, “The worry you invest in grammar is energy diverted away from the meat of the writing. Grammar is a surface-level issue that should be taken care of separately, near the end of the writing process, and can even be corrected or polished by someone else.” This is exactly how I feel about grammar in my writing. I only have so much time to dedicate to improving my writing craft. I could spend the rest of my life improving the mechanics of effective and entertaining storytelling. I’m not going to try and perfect my grammar. Which is not the same as saying I will not try and improve. In fact, I am nearly finished with a month-long online course dedicated to grammar and punctuation. The vast majority of fiction readers expect clarity and understanding, not mastery of the rules of grammar. Except of course the grammarians, oh well you can’t please everyone. Source article link https://www.writersdigest.com/general/why-i-dont-care-about-grammar-and-why-you-... Vigorously Disagree? Make your case. |
| Damon Nomad - In tense, I would argue continuous past, pluperfect and future past are also useful for a writer. But, really, if you are writing straight-forward fiction, standard verb tense without too much passive voice and just being consistent tenses is all writers aim for (except capital-L Literature). But now we're getting into details. I mean, who labels tenses? For that matter, I have never had to diagram a sentence, and yet the USA insists kids do it. This is getting into things that do not matter when looking at punctuation and grammar. No editor is going to expect 100% perfection, but the closer you are, if it comes between you and someone else, the one that needs the less editing is going to get the place in the anthology. I am under no delusion that a number of my stories were only accepted because a minimum of editing was required, not because I am a particularly good writer. And I disagree. Punctuation really is simple. Commas, semi-colons, direct speech - it is all pretty simple. There's a lot, but it isn't difficult. |
H (from down under) raises. I try to use proper grammar and control the SPAG in my writing. Mostly, when there are missteps and errors in my efforts, they are my lazy oversights. One of the classic truths about writing is we, the authors, when reading our own works, see what is supposed to be on the page instead of what is actually written. But occasionally, I use bad grammar on purpose. When writing a scene with over three speakers, I often look for a way to distinguish one speaker from another without dialogue tags. Sometimes, I don’t let a character use contractions when they speak. This often gives the reader a sense of stilting/elitist tilt to the character. Other times, I use slang/other mispronounced words or improper/poor grammar to show a unique character's lack of sophistication or education. These minor grammar mistakes are useful in improving the flow and understanding of who is speaking in the scene. But these usages should always be on purpose, not because of a lack of good copyediting. |
| Joey says" Happy 2025 - All good points. I would note, In the world of commercial fiction the publishers have the copy editors for that final polish before publication. When competing with a hundred or more writers and a deadline, I believe some misplaced commas will be tolerated if you have one of the most captivating stories. |
Strange Place for a Review I recently became aware that one of my short stories, published in a commerical anthology, had a review in an unusual spot. A whole web page on the site for just my story at the College of Charleston. Not the literature department but a site created by Professor Alex Kasman in the Department of Mathematics. He reviews movies, comic books, novels, TV shows and short stories. The site is titled Mathematical Fiction. He includes a link to the book, Arithmophobia, on Amazon. So what the heck, I'll take it. Here is a link to his review of my story. Eratosthenes’ Map by Damon Nomad |
| I got there by googling him and then, making a series of decisions I thought I would find it but didn't. I backtracked and made new decisions, finally gfinding it. I think it's your URL syntax, try https://kasmana.people.charleston.edu/MATHFICT/mfview.php?callnumber=mf1649 |
Do You Pay Attention to PM? “Which PM might that be?” You ask.  Is there more than one? I shoot back.  “Post Master, particulate matter, provost marshal, post meridiem, promethium . . .” “Okay, fine. This is about writing. So obviously I’m referring to Pace and Mood.” If you are relatively new to writing fiction like me, you might not be paying enough attention to the pace and mood of your storytelling. The mechanics may be flawless with a clever plot and interesting characters, but your stories keep getting rejected by publishers or not winning contests. There are many reasons why stories get chosen, even good stories get rejected. Have you considered the pace and mood of your stories? These two elements help bring stories alive and give the reader an emotional experience. You’ve felt it when you watch a television show; the mood is often set by the lighting, music, and setting. Felt the pace through action and shifting scenes. As the writer you should be shaping the mood with the settings, dialog word choice, character behavior and body language, and weather. Some of the common tools at your disposal. Control the pace through action, sentence length, paragraph length, how quickly dialog bounces back and forth, how quickly you change scenes, and selective use of cliffhangers at the end of scenes or chapters. I’ve learned to go back to stories before a submission deadline with careful consideration to pace and mood. Several times, I have recognized my story is flat because I have not paid enough attention to PM. Best Wishes for the New Year |
| I'm six chapters into writing a witch story for Bren. I'm trying to stay constantly aware of its pace, and frankly, I don't think I'm doing well in that area. In these first chapters, I have to present a lot of backstory. If I tell it too quickly, critical details might be lost. If I let it develop, as I'm doing, it seems to drag. I think I'm doing a fair job of controlling the mood from chapter to chapter and overall. A few years back, I began a novel which I have largely abandoned after writing only one chapter. It was to have been a pretty-much serious novel, but I wanted it to be "Gripping from the first line!" So it began like this: "Denture adhesive!" Protagonist exclaimed aloud. "What will they want me to write about next?" Seriously. I did that. |
Give this finely crafted story of a Newbie a read. Clearly an experienced writer even if new to WDC.
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| New Literary Journal Inaugural Issue A British based journal from Penstricken Press just launched with a collection of short stories and poems. It’s a pretty impressive collection of established and emerging authors.  You can read it online free at Penstricken Issue One and if you really like it you can buy a print copy. You might particularly like the story, Cosmic Entanglement . . .ah yes Shameless Plug for Damon Nomad. My author Bio in the publication references Writing.com. Happy Holiday Reading |
A Christmas Tale A short story you might enjoy from my portfolio, just under 2000 words. Happy Holidays
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What Does “Subject to the Jurisdiction” mean? Are you disturbed by recent fear-mongering and hyperbole over President Elect Trump’s plan to eliminate birthright citizenship? Take a breath and see what the constitution says. How does a newborn in any country become a citizen? Surely, after birth, they aren’t nationless, are they? There are two basic models of citizenship for newborns. Citizenship is granted based on birthplace (Jui Soli: on soil) or based on parents' citizenship (sanguinis: by descent) Most of Western Europe is by descent and most countries with birthplace citizenship are in the Western Hemisphere. Thorny moral and legal problems for birthright citizenship however remained for indigenous peoples and slaves. Slavery citizenship was intended to be dealt with by the 14th Amendment in 1868 as establishing birthright citizenship in the Constitution. What is the actual language of the relevant clause of the 14th Amendment? All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. Notice the critical four words they added as a condition. They could have left them out, but they didn’t. What does that mean? Subject to the jurisdiction thereof? It’s not completely clear and the most relevant Supreme Court interpretation is a very old case, US v. Wong Kim Ark, not long after the 14th Amendment came into effect. The opinion is nearly 75 pages and includes a complex summary of the legal history in England, Colonial America, and the United States. Fundamentally, the Supreme Court held that any child born in the United States is a citizen of the United States unless their parents are ambassadors or ministers of a foreign country or an alien enemy. It is clear under this precedent that children born in the US of immigrants are citizens. That cannot be changed by an executive order or a law. The Supreme Court precedent does not deal with the children of parents who have not legally immigrated. It would be helpful to bring greater clarity to birthright citizenship given modern circumstances. Preserve the historical right with predictable and equitable results with a compassionate process for transition. |
A WRITING STREAK THAT WILL END SOON (Regrettably) I posted on December 6 that I had gotten three short story acceptances in the previous three weeks. "Note: Persistence Pays Off in Publishing (Sometimes)...". If you submit stories to commercial anthologies and journals, you know that the competition is tough, one hundred to five hundred submissions, or even more, for ten to twenty slots. I didn’t get an acceptance in the next week, but this morning I did get another anthology acceptance email. Yeah, it feels great to get a stream of acceptances of nearly one a week for a month. But I know it is an anomaly. I have gotten more acceptances than rejections in the past month. I can’t let this blip color my expectations. My overall acceptance rate for the year for short stories looks like it is going to be around ten percent. I started 2024 focused on increasing the number of my short story submissions in an effort to embrace and learn from rejections. I have achieved that goal but have a lot more to learn. It’s also pleasing to feel like I’m not just a one-trick pony as a relatively new author who started late in life and a good close to the writing year. I also need to prime myself for a long streak of rejections, they will come. I'm also thankful for the WDC community that has helped me improve as a writer and provided a safe place to interact with those interested in writing. |
Too Old to Become a Published Author? A new story about someone who aspires to become a published author after decades of life and work. Give it a read and let me kinow what you think. Happy Holidays
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A Story Going Off The Rails If you watch television, I bet you have had this experience. A series that you really like, with engaging characters, good stories, and excellent acting. A popular show that stays fresh for several years and then it goes off the rails. Maybe a few key characters leave and the stories are ridiculous. Here is an example for me. Criminal Minds when it became Criminal Minds Evolution. Have you had this experience? What do you think the reasons are? Trying to sustain a concept for too long? Aging and changing actors? Writers taking things in the wrong direction? Something else? |
| I am endlessly disappointed with television these days. New series come along regularly, many with excellent and original ideas, but then fizzle into the usual preaching and unimaginative directions. They rush into my forgetory with monotonous regularity. Just occasionally something happens along with complete novelty and invention, like sudden serendipity from the Hollywood gods. All too often, series like these exist only for a season or two, prematurely rushed off the screen when the executives realise they've accidentally allowed something good and refreshing to creep through the filter. One example that I can think of immediately is Rubicon, a spy thriller that was genuinely gripping and fascinating. Two seasons and then poof, into the ether. Even rarer is the show that is good, runs for four seasons, and then has the sense to end before everything turns to mud. Two examples, probably because they're the sole instances in the last three decades, are the Canadian gem, Slings and Arrows, and the flawless Detectorists from the British actor and writer, Mackenzie Crook. |
| It's too chronic now days. I'm having a hard time finding new shows that are even worth watching so I've resorted to re-watching older shows again and then finding the same thing- anything that goes more than 5 seasons ends up going a bit "off" on at least one of them. Some, like Castle- we know- (costar hatred/issues working together), others- I think it's because either directors or main writers leave and those who take over don't have the same experience or guard rails that were in place before. I also think there's a lot to your "trying to sustain a concept too long". One of my favorite shows is Supernatural, which ran for 15 seasons, and many say that's 15 seasons too long. There was supposed to be an original story arc for 5 seasons according to its original creator. The first 5 seasons are absolutely awesome. After that- they are hit and miss. But I continued because I loved the characters and the humor. So much so that I've watched the entire 15 seasons 3 1/2 times now. The reverse is most definitely true- shows that were awesome and killed off way too soon, like Better Off Ted or FireFly. Those- I have no idea what was going through the minds of the arses that killed them. |
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Oh, and you said a homonym has the same spelling or pronunciation? Same pronunciation and different spelling is a homophone.
So, yeah, anyway, I think the issue with me chiming in is US English is different to UK English. I didn't realise this was a difference. Sorry.