With so much packed into so few words, every word has to earn its place. Somehow the piece has to move, needs to have conflict and shape and feeling.
Tag Archives: Canadian Literature
Guests in the Night
The edge of my bed is digging into the back of my thighs, and my neck aches where it meets my slouching shoulders. I deflate with a sigh. Defeat lowers himself down onto my rounded back and settles in, making his bulk comfortable. He’s heavy.
Like an Eyelash in my Eye
Little star, nebulous
You stay far outside of my reach
Lofty and twinkling
You were the light of my dreams
How to Keep Writing When You Feel Like Giving Up
I get it. I feel you. The struggle is real. How to persevere as a writer when you feel like giving up? Here are ten suggestions. I hope some combination of these helps.
January 2023 Editing Progress Update
I am a little behind schedule already, for no other reason than my own dawdling. I’m a chronic procrastinator.
One Foot Out the Door
I’ve got 14 things in my shopping cart
That I don’t intend to buy
And my eye on a ticket to anywhere
A homebody with the urge to fly
Identifying Your Ideal Reader and Why it Matters
As you’re writing and editing with this person in mind, you can feel like you’re telling the story to someone rather than just telling it.
The botched pursuit of a mate by adult males of the order Lepidoptera
It’s 2:00 am, and I’m bent over the sink, sucking mango off the stone, juice running down my forearms and dripping onto yesterday’s dirty dishes. Seventy-two moth carcasses fill the garbage can in their crumpled Kleenex shrouds.
While Some Throw Rocks at the Object of Their Fear
At her touch the raspy scales constricted and coiled, tensed into an anxious lowercase e. She gently slid her fingers under until the coil lay in her palm.
2023: A Plan
The best way to start any plan is at the end. Where do you want to be? What do you want to have accomplished? Once you know what you’re aiming for, you can chart the path that will lead you there.
Aly Writes 