And not just in the sense of participation trophies. Everyone wins because they become confident and robust writers who don't shrink at the idea of putting their minds on the page. 5000 Words develops excellence in writing by combining the following elements: Read quality literature and analyze its structure, themes, and content. (Most recently The …
Continue reading 5000 Words Writing Competition: Everyone Wins.
It was only appropriate his guestroom held trains. Hundreds of them. In specially built shelves they lined the walls floor to ceiling, a miniature world spread out over the whole breadth of the room. Sitting on the ancient couch put us at eye level with the train table. Craning our heads 90 degrees allowed a …
Thankful: conscious of a benefit received. I don't love their shoes, but I'd nominate Nike slogan creator Dan Wieden for the Nobel Peace Prize. Just do it--applied en masse could cure obesity, poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, and empty toilet paper rolls. The downside would be impulse marriages, divorces, suicides, and job walk-offs-- impulse suicides notwithstanding, the …
I'll never forget the first time I read "The Journey of the Magi" by T.S. Elliot. Think: Passion of the Christ, sub magi. This poem is deep and dark and human, revealing the grit that's glossed over by art and centuries. All I knew of the magi is they were funny-looking little men-dolls we set …
Continue reading Considering Death This Christmas? Read T.S. Eliot’s “Journey of the Magi”
"So where is it?" Jude asked as he spun me and gathered my hair in his fist, exposing my neck. "No 'on' button here," he whispered huskily, "How do I turn you on, Kate? I'm so very hungry..." I stared flatly into his eyes, barely holding my stoic mask. Suddenly he jerked my arm straight …
I nearly jump out of my seat when students come up with bold, fresh images that sound like something out of open mic night. A year ago I decided to teach them simile. "A cat is like a kitten," someone offered. Now I have them churning out similes like: disappointment tastes like rocks. Fourteen tweens gather …
"Welcome, we've been expecting you," my butler, bored and composed to near unconsciousness, greeted me with half-closed lids. "Poppycock," I snapped, and hefted my suitcase into his gnarled hands. With surprising deftness, they received it. He did, however, stumble a few steps backward into the arched portico of my family's estate. "The only time you've …
I like telling you about my car accidents. The slaps of fate, I consider my teachers. So when life smacks me down and I taste the dirt, my natural response is to share what it tasted like. This isn't new. My very first attempt at voluntary writing (age nine) was an apology to the Almighty …
Warning: This post is really boring. I wrote it in July and then left it in my drafts because I hated it. Then I re-read and decided it's worth remembering my 2016 summer. Still, unless you're slogging through your first novel or you want to remember my boring summer, you may want to scroll down …
I don't want to be worshipped-- I want to terrify. My rival covets worship, but I've never been so inclined. You could say between the two of us, I'm the humble one. And between the two of us, I'm the one providing a service: I scare you, don't I? Scare you into looking before you …
KL Griffiths 