@dougk
Active 5 years, 2 months ago-
Doug replied to the topic Monthly comp – October 2020 in the forum Monthly Competition 5 years, 6 months ago
“Written in the Scars” 101 words
Some people left a scar, it was a vertical one, slashing straight down. Not on the skin, where anyone sees it; this is inside, where it leaves its mark on your mind.
Then, others cut another scar, a horizontal line across the top of the first, and another right below it following the same track. An F.
So it…[Read more]
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Doug started the topic Moved out of the house of "Trampling" in the forum Coffee Shop 5 years, 7 months ago
Hi all,
Well, I’ve gone and slacked, and haven’t checked in here for a month–sorry about that. At least I’m checking in now from a new address. For the last 5 and 1/2 years I lived on the third floor of an old building with old hardwood floors, that creak if you so much as look at them. When you’re in the habit of getting up at 4 or 5 in the…[Read more]
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Hi Doug, congratulations on the move. It sounds like a relief to be living somewhere easier.
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The move sounds positive! 🙂
If you fancy it, there’s a new short story challenge starting – Go to Forum, Things That Go Bump. We (by which i mean @athelstone) run them every year and they are great fun and a great prompt for creating something you might not otherwise write.
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Doug posted a new activity comment 5 years, 7 months ago
Personally, I’d leave it out. So many people now must be writing pandemic stories, that the mention of it alone might put readers on guard. Also, optimistically speaking, by the time your novel comes out, life may have returned to normal and your story would be dated.
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Doug replied to the topic Positive thoughts in the forum
CoronaMo 5 years, 8 months agoYesterday I listened to the Dissecting Dragons podcast about writing for relaxation, enjoying the process of creating and not worrying so much about the outcome.
It reminded me of something shared once by Barry B. Longyear, a writer who skyrocketed to fame in the 80’s, and it almost killed him. Fortunately he survived to tell the tale. He wrote…[Read more]
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Thanks for sharing that, Doug. It’s great. I’ll have tk send a copy to my co-dragon 😊
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That’s a good one, Doug… as a person of faith myself, I’ve often started new projects with a prayer, and one novel in particular benefited enormously in trying to incorporate aspects of my faith within it. Thanks for sharing
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Doug replied to the topic Positive thoughts in the forum
CoronaMo 5 years, 8 months agoHi Raine, thanks for asking. The story will appear in a Thirteen O’Clock Press anthology called “Chains,” about dealing with captivity, prisons and the like. Submissions are open until it’s full.
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Doug replied to the topic A gasp escaped me! in the forum Blogs 5 years, 8 months ago
Stephen King, who’s described himself as a lazy researcher, has related the letters he’s gotten from people who caught him in research errors. The tone of the letters, he said, was invariably gleeful. I wonder if Boyne has gotten those too? “Hee-hee, you got this wrong, and that wrong!”
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Doug started the topic 5 Tips to Help You Write Imperfectly in the forum The Writers' Lifeboat 5 years, 8 months ago
This article really helped me, what with self-doubt, not liking my own writing, etc. Some of the advice made me smile & nod. I think it’s worth sharing.
Cheers
~Doug -
Doug replied to the topic The $2,000,000 Guitar in the forum Blogs 5 years, 8 months ago
Such a great story! As a guitarist who at one time owned a Les Paul, I found it fascinating. I’d also like to add that, for one of the greatest all-time guitar leads–the Beatles’ “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”–Eric Clapton knocked it out in one take, with a red Les Paul he called Lucille. Wonderful stuff.
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Doug posted a new activity comment 5 years, 8 months ago
Got it done! I got all the way to the end, and backed it up on Gmail. Seemed to take forever to get through that draft. I feel like celebrating now! Thanks for your support.
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Congratulations!! I nearly did it. Just 10 pages left to go but I made the decision to look at them with fresh eyes this morning.
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Finished it and emailed off for a book doctor report. After which I’ll probably have to start again!
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Well done, Doug. And Jane and Kate too.
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Doug replied to the topic That old enemy, Perfectionism in the forum The Writers' Lifeboat 5 years, 8 months ago
An update. I’ve continued the revisions, but slowly, slowly. I’m now a hundred pages from the end, and I’ve decided enough of the nonsense, I’m getting all through it <i>this weekend</i> come hell or high water. Feel free to hold me to it.
Will check back in Sunday night, one way or the other.
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Good luck, Doug. I’ve got the same goal.
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So have I! Something in the air this weekend.
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Got it done! I got all the way to the end, and backed it up on Gmail. Seemed to take forever to get through that draft. I feel like celebrating now! Thanks for your support.
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Congratulations!! I nearly did it. Just 10 pages left to go but I made the decision to look at them with fresh eyes this morning.
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Finished it and emailed off for a book doctor report. After which I’ll probably have to start again!
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Well done, Doug. And Jane and Kate too.
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Doug replied to the topic Positive thoughts in the forum
CoronaMo 5 years, 8 months agoI’ve been fortunate that I could keep going to my job as usual (I work for the state of Rhode Island). Though there are all kinds of safeguards, and Army & Air Force personnel about.
An acceptance last week for a new short story, reminds me that life goes on.
And a wise old saying reminds me that “This, too, shall pass.”
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Doug posted a new activity comment 5 years, 8 months ago
Such things as this are good for my own disillusioned heart to know as well. I can never be reminded too many times, people aren’t all bad. Thanks for sharing.
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Doug replied to the topic Planning vs Winging it. in the forum
A place for Stupid Questoins 5 years, 9 months agoI start with the basic premise and the characters, and let the plot unfold as I go. I once learned at a writers’ conference that it makes a lot more sense to outline the whole thing in advance, and I agree with that, but it’s never worked that way for me. I can’t nail the thing down, it wants to take off in another direction once I’m writing it.…[Read more]
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Doug joined the group
A place for Stupid Questions 5 years, 9 months ago -
Doug posted an update 5 years, 9 months ago
Listened to a podcast about Tennessee Williams. When he was young, he worked monotonous days in a shoe factory, hating it. He combated this by resolving to write a story a week.
His mother later said: “Tom would go to his room with black coffee and cigarettes and I would hear the typewriter clicking away at night in the silent house. Some…[Read more]
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Doug posted a new activity comment 5 years, 9 months ago
Hi all,
Since I listen to a lot of audiobooks, I thought, why not give _The Sun Also Rises_ another chance, this time on audio? So I tried it last week.
Well I finished it this time, all right. And it left me dazzled. Stunned, even–he truly was a master. I like to think I’ve matured as a reader and a writer since years ago, and maybe I have a…[Read more]
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Doug replied to the topic That old enemy, Perfectionism in the forum The Writers' Lifeboat 5 years, 10 months ago
Rewriting it has been on the back of my mind. I’ve felt this way about some of my short yarns before, and rewrote them into stories that were published and I’m now proud of. I didn’t think of it as rewriting, more like “extensive revisions,” maybe because that doesn’t sound so daunting as rewriting. That’s probably what I’ll end up doing with the…[Read more]
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Doug started the topic How Writers Can Benefit from a Sense of Purpose and Routine in the forum The Writers' Lifeboat 5 years, 10 months ago
Here’s another weblog from C.S. Lakin’s website. This one has to do with the scary current times…
Regards,
~Doug - Load More
