This experiment arose from a Craft Note post I published last week, titled How Things Begin, in which I described how my work arises from a single line, to which I append more lines. To demonstrate the process, and as something of a challenge to myself, I'm attempting to write a story "in public." What…
Here are some new, rough lines to add to the last. Not sure if I'll be adding more daily, but I'll use the above title format to indicate further developments. Ed. [updated 12/6/11] It occurred to him the sophisticated code on top of which everything runs included a randomizer and so the possibility of orderly,…
(This post continues my series of posts in which I experiment with "public writing." To view more posts on this topic, use the "Topics" dropdown menu above and select "Experiment in Public Writing." Thanks, Ed) I'm thinking about the following line: "... the manganese reek of an aluminum casting works that drained down through the…
Updated Yesterday, I wrote about the elusive source of my ideas, then followed up with a second post introducing an opening line that came to me from who knows where. "And from that line come other lines," I wrote. "If there are enough lines, I discover a voice and a work of short fiction." Today,…
Two craft notes in one day--a record. Asked where my ideas come from, I shrug, "I don't know." Asked whether I start with plot, or a character, or a setting, or a description, I usually respond, "None of the above." What comes to me first is a line, a sentence. And from that line come…
Ed Desautels' Maximum Fiction 