Dream 2025-09-03

Dream 2025-09-03

She was an exotic beauty in her late thirties with olive-skin, a nice body, and an air of sophistication. Her shoulder-length raven hair was dominated by a loose wave. We didn’t speak much during out time together.

Afterward, I was compelled to explain our interaction, first to her father, a short, well-dressed gentleman with an ascot, who might have been from Italy or Greece or Lebanon. Thankfully, he was good-natured. Our conversation was brief and respectful.

Next came the guy, the one who thinks she loves him even though she doesn’t give a damn, a frat boy with blond hair and a trust-fund attitude. He was aggressive verbally and physically.

“She doesn’t even like you,” I scoffed in an indignant tone as I dodged a chair that he threw at me.

Eventually, the frat brat gave up and stomped off.

I was asked to speak with a blonde woman named Kathy, someone I worked with years ago. She was upset, but not by me or my fling with the exotic brunette. Something else was bothering her. Her friends asked if I could help calm her down.

I agreed, but they said she went to her office. It wasn’t a work day, but her company was hosting an event for the employees.

I was relieved. I made amends where I could and did what I could do. The dream came to an uneventful end.

The Independent Power Of Words

Words have their own power. Their meaning can stray from the intentions of an author or speaker. If you have been misunderstood, clarify your message.

On Poetry

A poem does not need to rhyme

But the breath of the poet

Should tingle your skin

And their soul should reach into your bones

Grammar Police

I correct bad grammar. If that annoys someone, a kite can go fly them.

Finding The Words

Please don’t spend precious time

Searching for a rhyme 

Just say what you want to say 

Let it flow out

In an effortless way

In the form that it wants to be said

Don’t hoard an idea 

In the dark of your head

Clutching it tightly 

While you fuss politely

Over form 

Or fret about how

It might be received

It’s your idea

Your thought

Your desire

A delicious ripe sample

Or your inner desire

It doesn’t

Have to meet 

Anyone’s standards 

But yours

Ideas will rust

And flake into dust 

If you let them get stuck 

In the muck

Of your thoughts 

Debating

Deciding

Undoing

Colliding

Worrying about the right words 

The flow from your heart 

To your hand

Must be quick

Not stylish or slick

Not clever

(Not ever!)

Just let your thoughts rip

Be bold and be swift

The flow of ideas

Must be smooth 

The writer 

Has no time to loose

Exciting Writing

If you’re bored when you write it, they’ll be bored when they read it. Make it snappy or tell a better story.

Writing Blog And Future Plans

Some years ago, I started a blog to capture short bits of writing. It was a good fit for my style of expression. I like to work on projects that I can finish quickly. I can access the blog from anywhere using my mobile devices. I type faster than I write by hand, so my ideas flow more freely.

I don’t have to worry about carrying a notebook. I can edit what I write without wasting paper, and everything is archived on cloud storage that will probably last longer than I will. The platform that I use is free, so there’s not even a cost associated with this venture.

I found that I was finishing about two hundred fifty posts a year. Eventually, I had the idea to try to push myself to see if I could write an entry for each day of the year. I met this goal in 2018 and promptly swore that I would never do it again.

Moment is powerful, however, and once you get in the swing of a project, it’s hard to turn it off. The next January, I wrote thirty-one entries, much to my surprise, and then another twenty-eight in February, and so on. I was well on my way to logging more than 365 entries for the second straight year.

This has been a fascinating exercise. It has pushed me to grow and mature as a writer, I have written lots of things that never would have existed if I hadn’t committed myself to meeting a monthly quota.

I won’t claim that all of this writing is good. Some of it is dull, some is corny and embarrassing. Some is frivolous fill that I cranked out as the end of the month drew near. But there are some gems in there that I look bad on with price. For that reason, the exercise has been worthwhile.

I have now completed the eleventh month of the third year. (This entry doesn’t count. I have already fulfilled my quote for November.) I’ll finish it off with thirty-one new entries in December.

Next year, however, I am going to give myself a break. I feel that it’s time to set the monthly quota aside. Every project has an opportunity cost of time and energy, and I would like to spend my time on some new projects in the coming year. When 2021 rolls around, I’m planning to write more casually. Whether I write five entries in a month or fifty or zero will depend entirely on how I feel and what I want to express.

Thanks as always for reading my thoughts. I feel a great sense of joy when they are well received.

DRS

30 November 2020

July 1, 2020

For the past two and a half years, I have written something every day, a poem, a short essay, an uplifting thought, a memoir, or an observation of things that are happening around me.

From time to time, I comment on politics and the state of the world. I understand that my remarks on such topics can be contentious and passionate. This is a reflections of my concerns over situations with grave consequences. 

I do try to keep these discussions as polite as possible. My goal is to summarize the facts and state my position direction without impugning the behavior of individuals. I realize that I do fall short of that mark on occasion. I’m only human, and at times my passions get the better of me.

That said, my guiding principle in writing my daily entries is to say something positive, to express thoughts and comments that people might enjoy and find uplifting.

It would be exceedingly easy to unleash a daily outburst of invective over some tragic event or short-sighted policy decision, but harsh words help no one and change nothing. Beyond that, time is precious. I’m not going to invest time writing something if I don’t believe that it’s worth someone else’s time to read it.

Complexity And Simplicity

Describe an idea with crayons. If it’s a good idea, we’ll understand it.

Play a song on a guitar or a piano. If it’s a good song, we’ll be moved by it.

Tell a story using simple, direct language. If it’s a good story, we’ll connect with it. It will seem real to us.

Complexity is the result of incomplete, inadequate, or conflicted thinking. Simplicity is genius.

Copyright © 2019 Daniel R. South 

All Rights Reserved

Quick Wit

Poets short of time 

Can jot down three simple lines 

Finding words that rhyme 

Copyright © 2019 Daniel R. South 

All Rights Reserved

The Thrill Of Improvisation

My short story, The Horse Farm, is improvised. There's no outline. I make up each chapter as I go along. Most of the time, I have a general sense of where the story is heading, but sometimes the narrative forces me to change direction and follow an unexpected path. The driving force is believability, i.e. would the characters really do these things in their current situation? 

The process is exciting, because I encounter surprises along the way. I get to know more about my characters over time, just as the reader does. Last evening, I worked on a chapter, and I realized that I needed to revise my expectations. What I thought would happen didn't make sense at that time. It would have been unrealistic. 

Where is it all going? Well, I guess we'll have to see. I don't think that the story would have been very interesting if I had conceptualized every detail in advance. Writing it would have been dull. I prefer discovering the course of the story chapter by chapter. I hope that you'll enjoy it as well.

Copyright © 2015 Daniel R. South 

All Rights Reserved 

  

How To Write Dialog Like A Successful Professional

A Master Class in Dialog Writing, by George Lucas:

"I've got a bad feeling about this!" - Han Solo

"Oh, dear! We're not going to make it!" - C3PO

"Bleep a bleep bleeeeep!" - R2D2

"Waaaaaaaahhhhhh!" - Chewbacca

Taking A Moment To Appreciate My Good Fortune

I spent some time writing this past weekend, and I'm very pleased with one chapter in particular. It benefits from that inexplicable magic for which the author can claim no responsibility - it just seems to happen when the conditions are right. (A couple of friends who previewed the chapter concurred with this assessment.) 

I'll post a link tomorrow. Today, I'm just going to relax and reflect upon how lucky I am to be able to write and share each chapter in real time. It's The process can be a little scary - there's no going back once something is out of the bag - but it's thrilling to watch it all come together. Thank you for your support and for all of your generous comments.

My Approach To Writing

I enjoy writing, but I'm not a writer. 

Writers do research. Writers cite sources and develop outlines. Writers study the work of other writers. Writers quote usage rules for amusement.

My approach to writing is intuitive and improvisational. I stream ideas and let the structure evolve naturally and the edit to optimize flow and clarity.

I'd like to think that my writing contains elements of poetry and lyricism. The sound of each word and phrase is as important as its meaning. I want the reader to experience each paragraph as though it were a short piece of music. 

I can't listen to music while I'm writing. External sounds interfere with the melody and rhythm of my words and phrases. Every sentence has to sound right in my head and when I read it aloud, or I'll rewrite it until it does.

Clarity and efficiency are critical, as well. Why say more than is necessary? Who has time to read fluff? Readers shouldn't have to turn to the good part. It should all be the good part, or they shouldn't bother reading it.

Copyright © 2015 Daniel R. South 

All Rights Reserved