A helpless yellow disciple of anger, precariously fluttering against the concrete earth. Preachers and brethren, hung by the umbilical stalk of faith, shake and chortle. The wavering spine of desire, snapped and severed by the coarse sparks of flesh. Red tenderness is found by flames of will.

1000 words per day. If you write 1000 words per day, you can crank out a lot of writing. I’ve seen indications around that a writer’s ‘apprenticeship’ should amount to one million written words. If you can do 1000 words a day, then an apprenticeship amounts to about 3 years. …

Every story stems from a crisis. As readers, we are most interested in the struggles of our fellow humans. Our interest is most easily captured by bad news, stress, conflict. Not that the outcomes must be bad – on the contrary, we love stories that depict triumph in the face of adversity. But …