writer

being one with the keyboard?

writing can happen in one of two ways. you can wait until you’re inspired, until a flow overwhelms your mind and you are suddenly gripped with the words you want to put on the screen. which rarely happens. or you can grab the charging bovine by its metaphorical spurs and simply start. how to start is the subject of many courses, including quite a few of mine. the simple answer is you don’t write a story the way you write a letter, start to finish. you write it by analyzing its plot the way we do in literature courses before it ever exists. draw its points along a timeline and fill them in. then write those pieces and add words and sentences between them. i call this the spreadsheet approach to writing. does it work? well, yes. but you can see the results of this more-organized approach to writing here in my short stories and novels, academic articles and cultural commentaries.

short stories

there is nothing more fun than sharing a moment, an image, a feeling with a friend. that is what short fiction is meant to be. a single scene, a single thought, a single experience. it may last seconds, hours, days. but it is readable in a single sitting, often in a matter of minutes. it should be enjoyable, beautiful, fun. some of these are from collections, others standalone. i often write these to commemorate events, much as i do with poetry. there are many more that are in the process of being added to this list over the next few months but i encourage you to enjoy what is here in the meantime.

writing in verse

if you’re looking for my poetry, you will find it here.

rights

i retain copyright over this material but i believe that the pursuit of peacefulness through language and music is something that, to the extent possible, should be available to all people. i will make you somewhat of an agreement and it is up to you if you hold to the part that i propose for you but i do hope that you will.

to have the right words in your heart, your mind, your soul, that is to touch the earth with understanding.

all the material here is free to read, to listen to, to share. if you find happiness from any of what i have shared with you, i ask that you let me know, not so that i can provide you more material or send you promotional emails but so that i may know that in some way i have been successful in the only way that matters, to have connected with someone through their happiness. beyond that, i know that much of what is here is written for performance, be it music or public reading. i do not propose to charge you for the use of the material and i do not wish to restrict its use. i will not place watermarks or print restrictions on my music and poetry. all i ask is that you share with me where and when it is being performed and, if possible, send me a recording — not for public sharing, that is, simply for me to have the enjoyment that comes from knowing that my creative work is being shared into the world. you are under no obligation to follow these hopes but i do ask it of you.

if you never share yourself, what use is it to find yourself, be yourself, live as yourself?

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thank you for reading. your eyes have done me a great honor today.