You may know the old story, The Boy and the Nuts: A child visiting a wealthy home was pleased to find on the table a jar full of nuts and figs. (This was in the days before Skittles, keep in mind.) He plunged his greedy little hand into the sweet jar and took all that… Continue reading Friday Fable: The Writer and the 138,000 word manuscript
Category: writing
Quebec Writing Competition
If you are a writer in Quebec, you have about ten days left to submit your short prose masterpiece to this year's Quebec Writing Competition, brought to you by the CBC and its exceptional provincial partners. (It's like the regular CBC short story competition, but just for Quebec writers. And if you think it's unfair that Quebec… Continue reading Quebec Writing Competition
Friday Fable: The Writer and the Inspiring World
You may know the old fable, The Widow and the Hen: Once there was a widow who found a hen wandering the yard. The widow gave the hen a handful of barley and, lo, it laid an egg. The next day, the widow tossed the hen another handful of barley, and she was blessed with another… Continue reading Friday Fable: The Writer and the Inspiring World
Suddenly a blog post
"World is suddener than we fancy it." (Louis MacNiece, "Snow") We've long been warned not to build tension on the cheap by spattering our manuscripts with the word "suddenly." Lately I've read a few posts advising writers not to use the word at all - ever - because it's meaningless. These are posts from editors… Continue reading Suddenly a blog post
Friday Fable: The Writers’ Group Driver and his Three Passengers
You may have heard the classic fable, "The Lion and his Three Councillors:" A lion caught a whiff of his own rancid breath and thought, "Maybe I'm not as kingly as I ought to be. I better check." He called to a sheep and asked, "Say, does my breath stink?" "Yes it stinks terribly," said… Continue reading Friday Fable: The Writers’ Group Driver and his Three Passengers
Catherine Austen 