Author: crystalbrier
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Hard Choices
Go to page: Hard ChoicesThis post contains spoilers for the Amazon Prime and BBC series, The Outlaws. Over the past few months, I’ve taken a couple of wonderful Gotham classes on story structure, taken a fun standalone seminar on the shape of stories, and been reading Story Trumps Structure, by Steven James. I have thoughts, most of them jumbled…
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[Poetry] Haiku
![[Poetry] Haiku](https://michelemakesstuff.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/spring-cherry-blossoms.jpg)
Go to page: [Poetry] HaikuSeventeen syllables often linking two thoughts seemingly unrelated – an underlying pattern sensed, but never stated – The sparrow hunts worms In the garden – Monsoon rains Flood the rice paddies – Not one thought following, logically, from another – Slamming door echoes Behind you – My heart cracks like The porcelain bowl – but,…
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Submission Tips
Go to page: Submission TipsA couple of tips I really like, courtesy of the Just Keep Writing podcast, which I recently discovered. This one they credit to P. Djeli Clark. To paraphrase, once you’ve submitted a story, do not touch it again until it has received five form rejections. if that happens, maybe you’ll want to consider changes. Or…
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Happy Halloween!
Go to page: Happy Halloween!One of the more playful Mom-box pieces, representing mom and her beloved little dog. Mom and I both grew up in the Witch City. I have several stories based there, and might make series out of them. I mean, it was good enough for Hawthorne. If you ever get to visit, I recommend it. Aside…
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[Poetry] Snap, Thud
![[Poetry] Snap, Thud](https://michelemakesstuff.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/trees-and-sky.jpg)
Go to page: [Poetry] Snap, ThudOther than you, Mother, what I miss most is the water. Nothing here is as cold as the Atlantic, no smell as sharp or sudden as the sea turn, no sound as sharp as the gulls’ screams, no wind that slices bone-deep and leaves you raw and quivering. Though of course, there is wind –…
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[Poetry] Ethiopia, 1984
![[Poetry] Ethiopia, 1984](https://michelemakesstuff.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/green-apples.jpg)
Go to page: [Poetry] Ethiopia, 1984I stretch and yawn, Chest swells, Tongue tests the biting edge. My belly growls. Skin ripples and flows over curves like water that wears the rock to egg-smoothness. I am continuous. Light bounds off my eyes as off polished green apples. I am fit and sound. My mind is a muscle, limber, Having the strength…
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Memory and Zorba
Go to page: Memory and ZorbaWhen I was a child, my mother and grandfather took me to see Anthony Quinn play Zorba the Greek in a live musical production. Or, when I was in my early twenties, my mother and grandfather took me to see Anthony Quinn play Zorba the Greek in a live musical production. The first experience is…
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A Swim in a Pond in the Rain
Go to page: A Swim in a Pond in the RainI recently took advantage of Gotham Writer’s annual Open House, and signed up for a session on fiction writing with author Susan Breen. It was excellent, but it’s not actually what I want to talk about today. During the course of the session, somebody asked about short fiction, and Breen recommended a book by George…
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I should not feel inclined to begin my work
Go to page: I should not feel inclined to begin my workI’ve been here. I know this is Proust’s protagonist speaking, and not the author himself, but it’s hard to imagine that Proust never experienced what I suspect is a universal pattern: No need to write tonight because I’m going to write all day tomorrow. Well, that didn’t go well. I probably need some time to…
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Artwork [Celtic knotwork]
![Artwork [Celtic knotwork]](https://michelemakesstuff.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/knotwork1-3087408999-1653443865143.jpg)
Go to page: Artwork [Celtic knotwork]Slightly crooked photo of a piece I did in 2019. Will definitely frame it this year (she says confidently). Technical pen and marker on white paper. Taking pictures of what I’m drawing, particularly while in progress, is a trick I learned at a workshop many years ago. The camera picks up all kinds of issues…