This & That

ON THE PROWL


by Donna L Martin

Foul fowl on the prowl,


With gnashing beak and beastly scowl.


What hunger makes your tummy growl?


Little mice that dart and cowl,


Run away fast from that ol’ night owl!

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If you start with a bang, you won't end with a whimper.  -T. S. Eliot

Get it down. Take chances. It may be bad, but it's the only way you can do anything really good.  - William Faulkner

Don't be dismayed by the opinions of editors, or critics. They are only the traffic cops of the arts. - Gene Fowler

If you haven't got an idea, start a story anyway. You can always throw it away, and maybe by the time you get to the fourth page you will have an idea, and you'll only have to throw away the first three pages. -William Campbell Gault

A writer will seal his own coffin,
And the interests of readers will soften,

If the author insists

On the usual twists,

And he goes to the Wells once too often.

- Mark Grenier

This & That

THE SEEDLING

By Janet Lavergne

I planted a little seedling

And watered it so it would grow

I talked softly into the pot

And waited for the plant to show.

I played everything on my stereo

From Bach to Brauhm’s lullaby

I urged the little seedling

“Come out and don’t be shy.”

One day I heard a rumble

The house began to shake

I wondered what was causing

That somewhat small earthquake

Out came that seedling

And he said with a grin

“Turn on the Rolling Stones!”

And promptly went back in.

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"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great."  Mark Twain

"Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way."  E.L. Doctorow

"Good writing is supposed to evoke sensation in the reader—not the fact that it is raining, but the feeling of being rained upon."  E.L. Doctorow

"Read a lot, finding out what kind of writing turns you on, in order to develop a criterion for your own writing. And then trust it—and yourself."  Rosemary Daniell 

"Read, read, read. Read everything—trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the most. Read! You'll absorb it. Then write. If it is good, you'll find out. If it's not, throw it out the window."  William Faulkner 

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