Shoutout
Candide, Can Didn't
There have been times in my life when I have pondered which book or author has left the biggest impression on me. I have often been without an answer until I realized it came from a book, or rather a novella, I read in my junior high years. No, it wasn’t for a book report. I picked it up at a sale one day, purchased it, and read it in a day.
By Alexandra Grant4 months ago in Writers
It's A Challenge
Introduction My first challenge today is to get this article published before I have to run off to York. Yesterday was slightly traumatic having to deal with disappearing parcels and potential thefts, but they are now all in hand and dealt with but on to the subject of this thing.
By Mike Singleton 💜 Mikeydred 4 months ago in Writers
Turning Negatives Into Positives
Introduction When I am looking for inspiration sometimes I have negative thoughts, like the fact that most people don't see me as a creator in any way, I am just there when stuff needs to be done, and that makes things difficult and the lines from Bob Dylan's "Joey" come back to nail things home:
By Mike Singleton 💜 Mikeydred 4 months ago in Writers
Paul and John's 47-Words Short Story Unofficial Challenge Results!
Apologies, apologies, apologies! Paul and I have finally extracted ourselves from weeks in virtual confinement in our efforts to judge 53 stellar entries to the 47-word short story unofficial challenge, 54 if you include Harper's 2nd entry (which we did not, sorry Harper, rules may be for chumps, but they are still rules).
By Paul Stewart4 months ago in Writers
Is Anybody Reading Our Vocal Stories Or Do They Just Like The Pictures?
Introduction Three months ago I saw and amazing photograph of a hill close to where I holiday, shared it in a residents group and it got a lot of likes and a few comments on Facebook. This was the poem:
By Mike Singleton 💜 Mikeydred 4 months ago in Writers
The Hand That Reached Back
The path was already there, though I could not remember stepping onto it. It opened beneath my feet as if the world had been waiting for me to notice it. Grass leaned softly against my ankles, bright with the kind of green that looks impossible until it is right in front of you. The air was warm, but not heavy. Sunlight poured through the high leaves in broken streams, touching the ground in gold and then disappearing again beneath patches of shade. It was not a field, but it was open like one. It was not a forest, but it breathed like one. The place refused to be only one thing. It stretched wide enough to run and deep enough to get lost. It gave room to laugh, but kept secrets between the trees.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcast4 months ago in Writers
Authorship vs Refinement
Much of the confusion surrounding artificial intelligence and writing comes from a failure to distinguish between two fundamentally different acts: originating ideas and refining their expression. These acts are often treated as interchangeable, as though whoever touches the final form must also be the source of the thought itself. That assumption does not reflect how writing has ever worked, nor does it reflect how human thinking actually unfolds.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcast4 months ago in Writers
Expression vs Distortion
One of the most persistent frustrations in communication is the gap between what a person intends to say and what others actually receive. This gap exists regardless of intelligence, sincerity, conviction, or depth of understanding. Someone can hold an idea with clarity internally, yet watch it arrive distorted, flattened, reduced, or misinterpreted once it is expressed. The failure is often blamed on the idea itself, when the deeper issue is frequently translation.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcast4 months ago in Writers
Productivity as Preservation
Productivity is often framed as the visible accumulation of outcomes. Words written, posts published, episodes released, metrics improved, engagement gained, and projects completed become the evidence that work has happened. Under this framing, anything that does not immediately result in external output is treated as inefficiency, distraction, avoidance, or delay. The productive person is assumed to be the person who can show visible results.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcast4 months ago in Writers
