jessicavandessel

[jessicavandessel]

[jessicavandessel]

Published again 😊 The form known as flash fiction - very short short stories, under 1000 words or even less- has been having a big moment with the rise of online literary magazines and journals. I actually find it harder to write than longer forms, so I'm proud of this one.

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“Luxury has never appealed to me. I like simple things, books, being alone, or with somebody who understands.”

— Daphne du Maurier (b. 13 May 1907)

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Unexpected sink art

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19th Century Japanese postcards from Ehagaki = [A collection of Japanese pictorial postcards] (1868).

Full text here.

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“A flower does not think of competing to the flower next to it. It just blooms.”

— Zen Shin

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CommuterLit is a website dedicated to short fiction you can read at those times when you've got a few minutes to fill. It's a great idea and I'm not just saying that because they've published me this week.😊 I keep it and other literary sites bookmarked on my phone as an alternative to social media and doomscrolling.

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Wool socks wool socks wool socks

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“A fire broke out backstage in a theatre. The clown came out to warn the public; they thought it was a joke and applauded. He repeated it; the acclaim was even greater. I think that’s just how the world will come to an end: to general applause from wits who believe it’s a joke.”

— Søren Kierkegaard, Either/Or

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My favorite writing tip I’ve seen lately was to create a Scraps folder, especially if you’re working on something long-form. That way you have somewhere to dump scenes or bits that don’t quite fit but you don’t want to delete them entirely either. And sometimes you’ll find that they slot in perfectly somewhere else in your story.

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Walnut shells cut in half.

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Second drafts are worth the effort

You rewrite stories because they’re good and because you care about them, not because they’re inherently flawed.

A second draft is not admitting your first was bad. Only that it’s worth the time and effort to keep working on.

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“To become a human being is an art.”

— Novalis, Logological Fragments I

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“If you don’t say what you’re thinking, you end up lying when you really need to speak up.”

— Banana Yoshimoto, The Lake

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Ghosts of summer

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Carlos Ruiz Zafón, "The Shadow of the Wind."

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swimming in sylvia's mind