Succinctly Yours #171: Fabric of Society

Thank you once again to Grandma’s Goulash for hosting Succinctly Yours! The idea of this meme is to use the picture to tell a story in 140 words or 140 characters. The bonus word was “object.”

Handsome Sir Willem was a dandy, a fop who didn’t object to buying the very best fabrics. When the latest G.Q. was out, he knew it was time to bolt to his favorite store.  135

Sir Will didn’t object to buying the best fabrics for his wife. Mr. Fry could tell by the way he clutched his Vogue that those dresses weren’t going on Lady Will at all.  137

“I’d been playing Voltaire to a straggling drunk but he’d abandoned my dramas for a work of friction read him by a thin whore under the colonnade.” ~Jennifer Connelly, Revolution 

Succinctly Yours #170: In Hindsight

Succinctly Yours is a meme offered by the ever-generous Grandma’s Goulash to participants who wish to post a story of 140 characters (or 140 words) along with the picture that inspired it. Don't forget to  link back to Grandma’s lovely blog and check out the various entries. The bonus word for the week was “nibble.”

Bert Muppet, like Pinocchio, wanted to become a real boy. Once he’d had a nibble, however, he wanted to get back at everyone who’d had a hand in this. Hindsight’s 20/20. (139 characters)

Bert had always dreamed of becoming a professional stalker. He didn’t understand why his creative headshot didn’t earn him so much as a nibble from potential clients.  (140 characters)



I really do think "Bert" is a handsome young man. I believe it was just the expression—not to mention the mirror—that got me!

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts. ~Winston Churchill   

A Taste of Whine and Crappers, or…Why Blog?

 I have a confession. For a while I’ve had trouble blogging because something caused me to reevaluate why I blog. The reason doesn’t matter, though it should be made clear that the issue wasn’t about blogs in general, but about mine in particular. And it wasn’t about all social media. So I thought a lot about why I blog, and I wrote down my thoughts…because it’s just what I’ve always done. It helps me think.

We all hear that social media is important to utilize for our writing careers, but I obviously don’t do it to gain readership. I’ve had editors and a few readers contact me through my blog, but that’s not the main reason I do it, either. I am doing what I love most in this world and sometimes people tell me that it helps them somehow. That alone is a way to cup, however briefly, my personal holy grail.

We’ve all known people who seem to want to write because they think there’s something glamorous about writing. If there is, I have yet to see it. I’m undoubtedly preaching to the choir here, but you know it’s a lot of hard work sitting in a chair in the oversized t-shirt with the moth holes and coffee dribbles. Oh wait—the shirt thing is probably just me. But it is solitary work. Blogs are a chance to feel not so alone.

When I ask myself why blog, the simple answer I keep getting back is because I enjoy it. Some say we should be spending our precious writing time on worthier endeavors than blogging, but I get tons of writing ideas. I cherish the online friends I’ve made, and I truly, deeply enjoy your blogs and other social media posts. I enjoy your wit, your wisdom, your warmth. I appreciate your talent, your tips, and your feedback. I love the challenge of the memes you offer. I’m not asking you for comfort or reassurance here. You’ve already given me those—much more than you know.

Lisa Ricard Claro’s Book Blurb Friday rekindled my interest in fiction and reinforced my faith in my ability to plot. And blogging has taught me a whole new skill: how to write short and even ultra-short pieces. In today’s fleeting, tweeting times, that’s not a bad thing. Lately Grandma’s Goulash has been helping me with micro fiction, a genre I’d never before appreciated. You even inspired me to enter the recent Reader’s Digest 100 Word contest in which I placed.

In the end of writing down my thoughts, I realized I blog because it helps me to write down my thoughts. It’s what I’ve always done. It helps me think. No matter what anyone else thinks of my blog, I care about it. This is me deciding that’s all that matters. So…I’m going to try to get back more to blogging, especially now that summer is here.

And plus? Thank you again. For being so inspiring.

The criticism that damages an artist…contains no saving kernel of truth yet has a certain damning plausibility or an unassailable blanket judgment that cannot be rationally refuted. ~Julia Cameron, The Artist’s Way

Writing is magic….~Stephen King