Process
My Favorite Essay
I return to this essay each spring, scattering my ink under Eliot’s. I remember Dr. Evans’s shock at my love for Eliot. It seemed incongruent with my love of Mark Twain and Steinbeck and all of those early loves who stole my heart with strong voices. Eliot employs voice differently than fiction writers, and for me, the voice of “Tradition and the Individual Talent” feels like the canon itself is speaking, directly to me, as if I am the recipient of a love letter from literature itself. When Wally (Dr. Evans) referred to Eliot (and Emerson and Hume) as stuffy old bastards, it was my turn to react with shock. I’m sure I looked at him like he had three heads or a tuba growing out of one ear. I feel an intimacy when I read Eliot. “Journey of the Magi” brought me to tears the first time I read it.
By Harper Lewisabout 9 hours ago in Writers
The Accidental Novelist
I never intended to write a novel. But I did. And HarperCollins published it. Titled The Gorgeous Girls, it was based on a number of pieces I'd written for Toronto's NOW magazine. They appeared in NOW's feature, Naked City, which was all about love and sex.
By Marie Wilson3 days ago in Writers
Fading Ink
The box was never meant to be opened. It had lived quietly on the highest shelf of my childhood closet, taped at the corners, labeled in my own looping handwriting: “Important — Do Not Throw Away.” I used to think anything I labeled important would remain that way forever.
By Jhon smith3 days ago in Writers
Alone in the Jungle
The canopy is so dense that it suffocates all light. I am slashing through the dense boscage to get to the light, but I don’t know which way to go, or if I will ever get out of the forest. This jungle feels often filled with peril, and lonely. I came to this tangle of vines, underbrush, and unknown unfamiliar territory, with a dream, a goal, a determination. I planned and still plan to reach the end of the primeval and reach the inner sanctum of a place that is not easily traversed. I am a writer, and I want to write as a career.
By Alexandra Grant3 days ago in Writers
The Last Memory: Chapter Six
Trenton locked the bathroom and turned around to wash her face. The cool water felt nice against her skin and after wiping her face with the soft green towel on the towel rack, she looked at herself in the mirror. Her skin was slightly worn with a few wrinkles in the creases of her forehead and surrounding her lips. She looked tired and her blue eyes seemed faded in color, like she had endured a lifetime of experiences already.
By Nicole Higginbotham-Hogue3 days ago in Writers
Going Back A Bit
Introduction When I was unable to publish, I started going back to find stories that I could repurpose, but then I saw old pieces that I thought were still excellent but had very little interaction from other Vocal creators. So I had a thought....
By Mike Singleton 💜 Mikeydred 4 days ago in Writers
This Writing Trend Is Making Teenagers Rich in the US
A quiet revolution is happening across the United States. It’s not in Silicon Valley boardrooms or Wall Street trading floors. It’s happening in bedrooms, dorm rooms, and coffee shops, where teenagers are typing on laptops and smartphones and earning money that many adults only dream about.
By Sathish Kumar 6 days ago in Writers
How I Write When I Only Have 30 Minutes
Most days, I don't have two hours to write. I don't have an hour, and some days I barely have 30 minutes. Between everything else I need to do in my writing business, life, obligations, and being human, pure writing time gets compressed.
By Ellen Frances6 days ago in Writers
Why Writing Gets Hard Right Before It Gets Good
I almost quit three days before my breakthrough. A little while ago, I'd been writing daily for two months, and it was hard (impossible, brutal, exhausting) the entire time. But around week eight, it became unbearable.
By Ellen Frances8 days ago in Writers
The Protection-of-Innocence Reciprocity Doctrine. AI-Generated.
Core Moral Premise The highest duty of any legitimate social order is the protection of innocent life. Innocent life has absolute moral primacy. Any system that systematically insulates predators, tolerates predatory asymmetry, rewards hypocrisy, or allows aggressors to retain insulation has inverted its purpose and forfeited legitimacy. Truth, justice, reciprocity, humility, mercy, forgiveness, and vertical accountability are structural necessities rather than optional virtues. Vertical accountability means recognition of and submission to a moral law higher than oneself. Authority must flow toward those who most consistently demonstrate sustained competence in moral and epistemic discipline. This competence is shown through observable conduct and trajectory over time, not through doctrinal label, tribal identity, credential alone, or self-profession.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcast8 days ago in Writers
