Comments for Cool Plums Weblog

Comment on THE LAST DAY OF THE SIXTIES – Part 3 by John

John — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 20:02:52 +0000

Joan, every day was a new adventure; it was not only exhausting but exhilarating. I love your last line. That’s exactly how I feel. At the time it seemed chaotic, but there was a “you can do anything” spirit I think we all have come to sorely miss.

Comment on THE LAST DAY OF THE SIXTIES – Part 3 by Joan L. Cannon

Joan L. Cannon — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 19:54:03 +0000

Oh John–that’s when I was teaching in high school too, and what memories you brought back to me! I resorted to fairly carefully chosen lyrics from Simon and Garfunckle and James Taylor and Cat Stephens and the like, and to a wonderful department head who discovered my husband and I were dedicated little theater volunteers. We devloped an elective class in theater arts–non-literary–that was really a mini course in criticism along with hammers and nails and lighting diagrams and acting theory, 12-string guitar and other band instruments–and I guess you get the picture. Those were exciting times when I was learning more than I could teach!

Comment on THE LAST DAY OF THE SIXTIES – Part 2 by annieepoetry

annieepoetry — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 04:36:39 +0000

thanks for posting this… I forgot about Richard Brautigan. Now i must find him…

Comment on SHORT STORY MAGIC – PART 8 by Joan L. Cannon

Joan L. Cannon — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 16:28:11 +0000

Even without the editor’s comments, this is the sort of story nearly everyone would like to produce. Besides the lyrical language paired with realistic dialogue, besides the psychological perceptions, it has a theme that fits any age and nearly any reader’s background. The theme is important.

I’m in awe of Mr. Wake.

Comment on TOP CONTESTS by Suzanne Simonovich

Suzanne Simonovich — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 05:04:15 +0000

Thanks John! This is great, I belong to a writer’s group in Kenosha, WI, and this will be a wonderful resource for everyone. Our new website will be available soon; we will be called Kenosha Writer’s Guild, formerly Kenosha wrtier’s Group.

You are motivation!
Suzanne )

Comment on SAMPLE SHORT STORY by Linda LeBlanc

Linda LeBlanc — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 00:17:47 +0000

Yes, we are all trying to be “better writers”, and readers need to work on being “better readers”, so don’t be so hard on yourself ( You have been on your writing journey much longer than I, as you can well remember.

The story definitely conveys overwhelmed emotions, and when you look at it like a poet, the “crowd” of relatives actually functions as a collective “one”, so there are really only two characters after all. A crowd of people metaphorically reflects the “crowd” of emotions. (The only problem is the “distraction” of trying to figure out how each person is related to the narrrator.)

This is a great experiment, and I think you have basically pulled it off. Sometimes a story has to sit a bit in the reader’s consciousness for the full effect to seep in…must come from your poetic side. And, as Emily D. said “tell it slant” which you have done. Suggestion: Think of it as a poem and “tinker” a bit…an extra line of dialogue, extra phrase, one more paragraph, but I wouldn’t make it much longer or it will lose its effect. Or just go with the fact that you have put expectations on the reader and they need to pay attention!

Linda

Comment on SAMPLE SHORT STORY by John

John — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 20:25:26 +0000

Thanks, Linda. As a rule I try to keep short stories to two or three characers and three scenes. In this case I wanted the reader to feel a little overwhelmed, as I was at the event this is based upon. But I see from your response and others, there is a price to pay. Maybe a better writer could pull it off, but I do think trying is what makes us advance to that “better writer” status, even when we fail. John

Comment on SAMPLE SHORT STORY by Linda Buskey LeBlanc

Linda Buskey LeBlanc — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 17:53:52 +0000

Loved the story and underlying themes ( issues in today’s pop psych parlance as this story goes . However, there were too many characters for me as well. As an aside though, the number of people i.e. relatives did serve a purpose, because that is really how it is at family gatherings when you see people you are supposed to know and can’t remember them, or if they are “once or twice removed.”!

Comment on TOP CONTESTS by Gay Davidson-Zielske

Gay Davidson-Zielske — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 14:17:23 +0000

John–While I don’t really have writer’s block very often, I always suffer from “finder’s” and “sender’s” block, so thanks for compiling these nudges. I may actually send some poems off today–or enter another kind of contest. Thanks for this service. Gay

Comment on SHORT STORY MAGIC – Part 5 by Susan Hannus

Susan Hannus — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 13:03:41 +0000

Plot and theme. Plot reveals action while theme is what the reader will connect with personally….sort of a universal thing like….fear of abandonment….all politicians are corrupt? And all plot must write toward this…..reveal this…support this? With this in mind, I have looked over the short stories I have written and see that most of them lacked this…theme…in a strong way….it was simply a story being told….but they lacked something that was universal in connection. The ones that did have this thing called theme, I considered my best and never knew why…. Thanks for the new pair of eyes.