Dialogue is one of the main parts of fiction writing, along with exposition and description. How much of each is in your story depends on the type of story you are writing, but it is possible with a very short story to write a story completely of dialogue. This could be either talking or through…
G is for Prank
G is for Prank I opened the shed and saw ropes hanging from my bike. Garlic. Of course. Tabitha started it by putting an artichoke on my homeroom chair. My revenge was a liquidly-ripe banana in her pencil case. She stuffed cotton candy in my gym shoes a week later. After that, the pattern was…
Muse on Monday – September 19, 2022
Have you ever noticed how there is a higher proportion of stories about writers than other jobs? That’s because writers tend to write about what they know and what they know is writers. However, there are a lot of other jobs with interesting stories out there. Just talk to someone in tech support, for example,…
Muse on Monday – September 12, 2022
I’ll be traveling for the next few weeks, but that doesn’t mean the stories stop coming or that the muses stop musing. This week’s story prompt is the first line of a story. The rest of the story is up to you. Story Prompt: September 12, 2022 I heard from my friend that the blue…
Like a Boat Town Commute
Like a Boat Town Commute I strained at the oars of my dinghy. 7:55am. The school had drifted during the night, and I could just see its flag out beyond the diner. I passed merchants paddling out to create the day’s floating market. A few shouted encouragement. I rounded the church and spotted the school…
The Incognito Me
The Incognito Me I am beginning to like the smell of chlorine. Before this trip, the only picture it brought to mind was scrubbing floors or the stinging smell of hospital corridors. But now it smells like leisure: of early morning swims in the pool before practice or warm afternoons sitting by the water before…
Reading to Mrs. Smith
Reading to Mrs. Smith It was my first day and I didn’t want to be late. I was seventeen and volunteering to read to shut-ins in their homes. I felt every bump of the rough pavement up into my nerve-jangled stomach as I drove my mom’s car along Cedar Road, looking for number 460. The…
Muse on Monday – September 5, 2022
No matter where you live or what your life is like, there is always beauty that pops up. Admittedly, if you live in a Swiss mountain valley, there might be more than if you live in a sewer, but there is nowhere without any beautify if you have the eyes to see it. This is…
The B.U.G. (Big Unfriendly Giant)
The B.U.G. (Big Unfriendly Giant) Bus ticket to Mount Crius Park: $15.60 Snacks for six-hour hike where I found the BUG: $6.35. Search and rescue efforts after he took me to his cave: $38,500. Collect call to my parents at rest stop after escaping: $2.36. Cost of his following me home: Rest stop shelter:…
Savanna Classroom
Savanna Classroom It was hot and the class was restless. It consisted of 8 young red-billed oxpeckers perched along the neck of Giraffe 216 and a yellow-billed oxpecker lower down on the flanks who was a recent transfer student. The teacher was droning on about air currents and thermals. “What’s your next class?” Mbaya whispered…
The Green-Walled Treehouse 