Big Cat, Little Cat: Bad Jokes Dumb Jokes I have a particular relationship with bad jokes. I come from a family of bad-joke-tellers. And I swore I would be better. That sounds like a joke; or the premise for one. But it’s actually not. My parents and grandparents and uncles and so on would say…
Tag: Writing
Like the Wind: Preface and Prologue
Series Preface: The Grand Art of Story In a story it is perhaps hard to appreciate a character’s journey that is tangential to our own. Not much being offered that helps us navigate our own. Or helps us understand our own, or inspires us to forget our own for a few hours, or to make…
Finding my Place as a Writer
I’ve had a pretty beastly journey with anxiety. There have been times I’ve really struggled with anxiety so bad that I experienced agoraphobia. When simple things like leaving my apartment to take the trash just a few feet down the hall to the trash chute might trigger a panic attack. When going outside my building…
Mistaken Identity (Caturday)
Big Cat, Little Cat: Mistaken Identity Mistaken Identity: The Oldest Trick in the Book It’s interesting to me that we continue to read Shakespeare’s comedies. On a separate note, it’s interesting to me that we no longer read the comedies of his contemporaries, such as Ben Jonson. But in a way, it’s the most natural…
The Fourth Wall (Caturday)
Big Cat, Little Cat: The Fourth Wall Was the Fourth Wall Always There? Back in my dissertatin’ days, one of my particular interests was: the occasions on which an epic poet talks in the first person. You might say: times when the poet breaks the fourth wall. For example, the way Homer does at the…
Writing Fiction: Learning to Say “I Can”
About two years ago, fueled by COVID and general upheaval in my life, I started writing again. Writing was something I’d loved doing. Until I let someone into my life who destroyed my confidence in so many ways. And, as a result, I stopped doing things that brought me joy. That was almost twenty-five years…
Exactly the Same
Something I don’t yet understand.But wish to:When I write a poemI put my heart into it.Think deeply into a questionScratch out revision after revisionRage for days, months, yearsFinish only when I can whisper:This is how I felt.This is how I and only I felt at this one unique momentThis singular combination of circumstances that never…
Playing Telephone (Caturday)
Big Cat, Little Cat: Playing Telephone Playing Telephone: Mistakes and Fiction This is one of the most interesting and thorny subjects. It’s hard to imagine a bigger difference between fiction and life than the issue of mistakes. In life, we make mistakes all the time. We act against our self-interest. And of course we just…
Writer’s Notebook: Year in Review
“Hi,” he said. “How’s it going? Has the world ended yet?” Terry Pratchett, Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch It’s kind of been feeling like that lately. At least for me. And probably a little bit for Adam, too, who has to edit all of my work before it’s posted…
Artistic Integrity (Caturday)
Big Cat, Little Cat: Artistic Integrity What is Artistic Integrity and How Much does it Cost? What happens to an artist who is commercially successful? Or a politician for that matter? People talk about how “so-and-so went to Washington and forgot who voted them in.” Or “So and so got big and now just makes…