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 |   A tentative blog to test the temperature. |
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Ten years ago I was writing several blogs on various subjects - F1 motor racing, Music, Classic Cars, Great Romances and, most crushingly, a personal journal that included my thoughts on America, memories of England and Africa, opinion, humour, writing and anything else that occurred. It all became too much (I was attempting to update the journal every day) and I collapsed, exhausted and thoroughly disillusioned in the end. So this blog is indeed a Toe in the Water, a place to document my thoughts in and on WdC but with a determination not to get sucked into the blog whirlpool ever again. Here's hoping.     |
| What’s With This Present Thing? I am currently reviewing at least one short story or poem a day, for reasons to do with 7-day badges (psychology works). In the course of all this, it has become apparent to me that there is a trend in WdC newbie work. More and more of them are writing in the present tense. Now, I’m not against writing in that tense - I’ve even been known to do the occasional piece myself. But I do find it interesting that so many new writers are attracted to it, apparently at least. To me it seems that writing in the past tense is easiest and, in the early days (if I can cast my mind back that far) the idea of telling a story in the present never crossed my mind. And that was probably because none of the books I read at the time were written in that tense. So what makes young writers gravitate in numbers to the present? Is it because they don’t read enough old time literature to have become used to the past? Or maybe the schools don’t deal with such things as writing in different tenses? Perhaps there’s something in the air and the culture is experiencing a shift that I can’t possibly understand due to my advancing age? I’d really like to know and, if anyone has any thoughts on the matter, I’d be interested to know. Until I begin to see the point in it, I will continue to advise young writers against spending so much of their effort in the present. A whole book written thus is a pain to read and even a decent length story can become quite tiresome in it. It just feels so natural to me to write in the past tense. Word count: 292 |
| Dominik Dudek I haven’t done a music post for a long time so, when I discovered a rather good Polish musician today, I thought it would be good to share him (or rather they but I don’t know the young lady’s name) with my good writer friends (up to you whether you read that as good-writer friends or good writer-friends). Hence this post. The song is catchy, the lady’s voice is interesting, and he seems to have good taste in which songs to record - I’ve listened to several now. Anyway, let me know what you think. Word count: 94 |
| A Story in a Sentence A black leather glove shucked hastily and lying in the passage to a desperate bedroom. |
| The Value of Newsletters I read WdC newsletters. And I would recommend that you do too. Read as many of them as you can, get them sent to your email, and participate in commenting when appropriate. It’s surprising what can be learned from doing so. One of the less obvious things is that you find out about contests and challenges you’ve never heard of before. Only this morning, the first day of 2025, I found, through a newsletter, an interesting thing called The Bradbury. Attracted by the unusual name, I had a look and discovered the contest I’ve been needing all the years of my WdC membership. It’s for short stories, one a week. That is one heck of a tall order. But I need that kind of spur if I’m to achieve even the semblance of productivity. I need pressure! And this is the kind of pressure that I need, but know it will force me to deliver the goods. That may not be the kind of thing for you but read newsletters and you’re bound to find all sorts of thing just as interesting. And, in case you like the sound of it, here’s a link to "The Bradbury"  .Word count: 197 |
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