Category Archives: Uncategorized

December 11, 2012

If I had a dollar for every post I’ve made…

…I’d have a hundred dollars. That’s right, this is the 100th dispatch from the Green-Walled Tower.

I’d like to thank all you who have read my posts faithfully and those who have just stopped by for a visit. I appreciate you all. So how well do you know the workings of the Green-Walled Tower? Take my quiz and find out. Get more than seven right and I’ll send you an autographed smile via ThoughtNet. Get them all right (and fly yourself over here) and I will treat you to a bowl of soup of your choosing. The answers are at the bottom.

1. What was name of the very first story I posted?

a) The Long Ride Home b) Mayor Jim c) Three Writers on a Bus d) Ants Go Squishie!

2. How many countries have visited my blog?

a) 53 b) 87 c) 99 d) 142

3. Which country has visited the most (besides the US)?

a) India b) Canada c) Djibouti d) South Korea

4. What is the name of the dimension-traveling woman who first appeared in See the World Through a Cardboard Tube?

a)Klista b) Calista c) Margaret d) Betty

5. What does it mean to snee?

a) when you start to sneeze, but then catch yourself b) when you smoke 20 cigarettes at once through a PVC pipe c) when you answer a question before it’s asked d) when you see things that are invisible to other people

6. In the story Alone on Top of the World, what was the girl Aerin’s job?

a) shepherd b) astronomer c) farmer d) accountant

7. What is Edward Morrison’s robot friend called?

a) Chingu b) Amigo c) Droog d) Ami

8. What was the name of the very first Open Prompts story I did?

a) Saturday 4am b) Klutz c) Wine and Spirits d) Meanderbus

9. Where do I live?

a) Canada b) US c) Japan d) South Korea

10. What am I going to do for the blog’s one-year anniversary?

a) buy you all a car b) finally go to Disneyland c) eat a liter of ice cream and cry softly d) build a real green-walled tower and invite you all there for a party

Answers: 1-(Mayor Jim), 2-(87), 3-(India), 4-(Klista), 5-(when you see things that are invisible to other people), 6-(shepherd), 7-(Droog), 8-(Klutz), 9-(South Korea), 10-(?)

21 Comments | tags: blogging, milestone, outside the tower, quiz, writing | posted in Uncategorized

December 4, 2012

The Green-Walled Tower gets a new schedule

By David Stewart

Source

I’m curious, fellow bloggers, do you have a schedule for posts you write every week? Do you always post on certain days, or just as the muse strikes you?

When I first started blogging from the Green-Walled Tower, I posted two stories a week, since I didn’t want to overwhelm myself at the beginning. I soon added a third story a week and for most of my time here I have done three posts a week: Monday, Wednesday and Friday, with the Wednesday story being shorter, which is why I called it the Mid-Week Flash. I’ve added other posts along the way and so I have come up with a schedule, just for my own sake and for my readers, if you care at all. So, here it is:

Sunday: Visual Fiction – This is where I post a photograph I’ve taken myself, along with a short prompt or story. Usually something that inspires me.

Monday: Story – A longer (about 1000 words) story or an installment of one of the continuing story lines

Tuesday: Random Post – either nothing or just something like this where I post something that’s not fiction.

Wednesday: Story – either flash fiction or whatever I’m working on that is ready to go out.

Thursday: Story – similar to the one on Monday, something longer or part of a continuing story

Friday: Friday Fictioneers – I’m going to try this, thanks to the encouragement of my friend Amy at The Bumble Files. We’ll see how it goes, but it looks like a good laugh (ie. fun).

Saturday: Nothing! – Hey, everyone needs a day off sometimes. I guess I’m Jewish in this respect, taking the Sabbath off.

Thank you again to all you who read and follow my blog. You’re awesome.

28 Comments | tags: blogging, flash fiction, green-walled tower, outside the tower, schedule, writing | posted in Uncategorized

November 26, 2012

Assa! (Nanowrimo is over)

By David Stewart

Well, it’s done, it’s over, “I’m back,” he said. It may be an arbitrary goal, but I have crawled past the Nanowrimo 50,000 word finish line, more dead than alive.

Actually, it wasn’t that bad, but I need to get out all the melodrama I kept from my story. The story is not quite finished and it’s a messy, scruffy first draft, but it has potential.

I’m looking forward to posting fiction here regularly again. On the agenda: “The Making of the Squid”, the back story Edward “the Squid” Morrison in the Aftermath series.

Also, besides the Open Prompts stories that I have done in the past, I am starting something I, most unoriginally, am calling Semi-Open Prompts. This is where I ask one person to give me a bunch of prompts and then I write a story with them. I’ll probably do one a month or so. The first set of prompts was provided to me by Sharmishthra Basu and the story will be posted within a week or so.

(By the way, if you’re curious, assa (앗싸) is the Korean exclamation for when something really good happens, kind of like Yes! or Alright! in English. It rhymes with the Spanish word casa, but the “s” sound in the middle is really long. Now you can say you know Korean 😉 )

17 Comments | tags: Korean, nanowrimo, Open Prompts, outside the tower, semi-open prompts, winner, writing | posted in Uncategorized

November 22, 2012

Who am I? (and the Leibster Blog Award)

By David Stewart

An interesting thing about the Internet is that anonymity allows us to be whoever we want to be. We are all just personas and avatars that we choose. We can show as much or as little as we want, and ironically, this means that it is often easier to become close to people online.

Anyway, for most of the people who read this blog, I am a blue ball with a “ΔΣ” on it (my icon) and whatever you can construe of me from my writing. So, here’s a picture of me, to put a face with the words.

On another note, I received a nomination for the Leibster Blog award from I am Super Istar, for which I am honored, and I decided to do a post on it.

How does Liebster work?

A) You are not allowed to nominate the blog who nominated your blog.

B) You paste the award picture into your blog.

C) You write up 11 NEW questions directed towards your nominees. Here’s what I wrote.

1) If you could marry one historical figure, who would it be?
2) Have you ever fallen asleep during a movie in the theatre?
3) If you could be some sort fast-food related royalty, would you be Burger King, Dairy Queen, or some sort of duke of french fries?
4) What is the most number of blankets you’ve ever had on your bed?
5) If you could go into any fictional world, which one would you choose?
7) Which do you think is the prettiest national flag (besides your own)?
8) What is your favourite part about blogging?
9) What’s your least favourite part?
10) Do you think “favourite” looks better with a “u” or without one?
11) Did you realize I skipped #6?

D) When you receive the award, you must post 11 random facts about yourself.

11 RANDOM FACTS ABOUT ME

1) I’m a Christian. Not any particular denomination, I just try to love everybody.
2) I have created two languages, but I can’t speak them.
3) People who don’t know me think I’m quiet. My friends know I’m crazy.
4) I have had a beard almost continuously since 2000. I plan to still have one when I die (not that I’m planning my death or anything.)
5) If I could be any element, I’d be Tungsten, because it’s also called Wolfram, and that’s just cool.
6) I don’t think I’ve ever eaten a Twinkie, and I won’t be sad if I never do.
7) The first novel I ever finished was about a guy who secretly slept under an old woman’s kitchen sink, in order to save on rent.
8) Except for a three-month period in 2000, I have always lived on either the top or bottom floor of whatever building I have lived in.
9) One of my goals is to read The Hobbit in five languages. English, Korean and French down, just Spanish and Japanese to go.
10) I hate going to bed and I hate getting up. I have a strong sense of inertia.
11) Some of my students call me “baby” because that’s what “David” sounds like when said with a Korean pronunciation.

E) To answer the 11 questions asked by I am Super Istar:

1) What can you say about dreams? They’re often fantastical, often disturbing, and usually forgotten.
2) Who would you want to marry, someone you love or someone who loves you? I married my wife, because I loved her (I still do).
3) Have you ever spoken to a real stranger and got a real life message from them? Possibly, I can’t remember. Hopefully the message wasn’t “Don’t forget what I say next.”
4) If the sky is not blue, what color would you like it to be? Maybe purple?
5) If you hate your name, what would you name yourself if you could speak by day 1? I like my name. It fits me.
6) Would you rather be tall or small? I’m over six feet, but I’ve thought it would be cool to be 7 feet tall. Until I think about flying coach.
7) What is your favorite work of art or song? One of my favorite songs is 진달래꽃(Azalea), by Maya.
8) Who do you love the most? God, unless you mean just people, and then, my wife.
9) If given the chance, would you rather visit the past or take a peek at your future? I don’t want to know the future. Since the city I live in is 1000 years old, I’d like to go see what that was like before modern times.
10) What is the first thing you do when you wake up? Turn off my alarm and set it for 10-15 minutes later.
11) Create your own quote to live by. Never stop exploring. Just because you’re on the right track doesn’t mean you’re at the end of the path.

F) Pass the award onto 11 other blogs (while making sure that you notify the blogger that you nominated them.

1. http://chosenvoice.wordpress.com/

2. http://matronbell.wordpress.com/

3. http://theurgetowander.com/

4. http://kattermonran.com/

5. http://paulaacton.wordpress.com/

6. http://unwalled.wordpress.com/

7. http://whyamihereinahandbasket.com/

8. http://tessasheppard.wordpress.com/

9. http://luddyslens.wordpress.com/

10. http://magicthought.wordpress.com/

11. http://momentswithmillie.wordpress.com/

18 Comments | tags: blog award, Leibster | posted in Uncategorized

November 19, 2012

“But then…” The Beginning of an Epic Chain Story

By David Stewart

Well folks, today is your lucky day: a day you can participate in a chain story of epic proportions. Or not. It’s up to you.

Here are the guidelines:

1. Add your section of the story in the comments, picking up from the last comment.

2. Starting with “But then” is encouraged, but not required.

3. A maximum of 3 sentences.

4. Please, no swearing, explicit sex or gore. For the children, you know 🙂

5. Feel free to post more than once (although maybe not in a row).

This is an experiment, so we’ll see how well it work. It will go on as long as people keep posting. I will occasionally repost the comments in the main body, so just make sure you read through the comments to see what the last one was. Here we go:

The sun was shining and Jennifer was sure it was going to be a wonderful day. She ate her breakfast with gusto, got dressed in a light-hearted way and strode outside, whistling a jaunty tune. She checked the mail, but then… (1)

she noticed the mail box was empty. Jennifer frowned, realizing the important package from her employers was late, and it was never late. Pulling out her cell phone, she started to place a call, but then… (2)

She remembered that she shouldn’t discuss the package on an unsecured line. The last time an employee had made that mistake the consequences had been severe. She turned to walk back inside, but then… (3)

a strange man grabbed Jennifer’s arm. He was dressed in black from head to toe. “Don’t use the cell phone. They will know where we are!” he hissed. “What? What are you talking about? Who are you?” cried Jennifer, but then… (4)

Something caught her eye about him. There was some sort of a glint in his eyes. There was something wrong with the way he spoke, the way he used his inflections and it worried her because …. (5)

she feared he might be a robot. Wresting free from his grip Jennifer turned and high-tailed it back into the house. As she frantically latched her door, she started shaking uncontrollably. (6)

But then the door burst apart as a laser beam shot through it. “Don’t you recognize me?” he shouted, moving forward robotically. She felt the world spinning around her, as if she was going to faint, but then… (7)

everything went quiet and she felt very calm and somehow..happy. She looked at this person in front of her who had dropped to one knee, he was looking up at her, an open ring-box in his hand. “Jennifer”, he said ” you are a professional jewel thief, you would know, please can you tell me what this is worth?” but then… (8)

just as she was about to answer, it all came flashing back and her mouth went dry. This was no stranger, it was Jake Robison, the guy she partnered with to pull off a major diamond heist in Germany eight years ago. “Jake?” she asked, but then….. (9)

her eyes were drawn back to object in the box. With a great deal of confusion, she realized she was not looking at a diamond, or even a ring. It was spherical, crystalline, hollow, and appeared to be… (10)

a geode – a Keokuk geode. “I’m not that familiar with geodes – where did you get it?” she asked. Jake cleared his throat and growled, “museum in Germany, me and Oskar. Just as we were headed out the roof door I caught a bullet in the throat and Oskar is dead”. (11)

16 Comments | tags: chain story, collaborative, fiction | posted in Uncategorized

November 16, 2012

…and they lived happily ever after.

By David Stewart

On Monday, I did a post on first lines in literature, and today I’m going to look at the last lines of stories. The first line of a story does not have to be brilliant, but it is important as the reader’s first impression of the story. The last line is even less important, of course, because the reader has already read the entire story and the last line is not going to make much difference either way. The only exception is a writer like H.P. Lovecraft, who often revealed the twist of the whole story in the very last sentence.

Still, I am interested in last lines. Most are nothing special, but some of them sum up the whole story very beautifully and leave the reader with a lasting impression of things. Here are some of the ones I really like, but first an explanation and caveat: first lines are often very quotable because they don’t rely on any context. They can’t; they’re the first sentence. But last lines only make sense when taken with the book as a whole. And there are often spoilers. I couldn’t tell you the last line of “The Wasp Factory” by Iain Banks without giving away the major plot twist. Anyway…

“We look forward to getting you back.” Fight Club, by Chuck Palahniuk. This is so perfect because it has a hint of foreboding. The main character escaped and you thought the story was over. It isn’t…

“The creatures outside looked pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.” Animal Farm, by George Orwell. This is the perfect ending for this, since that’s the whole point of the book, that the pigs eventually become exactly like the thing they tried to get rid of.

“And, feeling better, fixed herself at last a cup of black, hot coffee.” Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick. I like this because I think a cup of coffee is a good end to anything.

And probably my favorite ending to a book for sheer poignancy and summing things up is from Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien.

“‘Well, I’m back,’ he said.”

Do you know any good last lines? Do you put much work into them in your own writing? Share your thoughts in the comments.

14 Comments | tags: last lines, literature, outside the tower, writing | posted in Uncategorized

November 15, 2012

Keeping on Nano-ing Along

By David Stewart

Well, I’m not dead yet. It’s going really well, actually. Nano, that is. I just passed 30,000 words today and although I’m not entirely sure how everything is going to turn out at the end, the story shows promise, especially for a second draft.

First Lines

In the spirit of my Monday post on first lines in literature, here is a first line from my Nano novel. It’s not the first line of my novel, but instead it is the first line of a 19th century novel that the characters find that sheds some light on their particular situation. I’m not saying it is a particularly good first sentence, since it’s not necessarily supposed to be, but it is what it is.

“In that long forgotten corner of Byzantium, where once was known and forgotten much of the lore of elder days, stood the great pile of stone, grey and rough-hewn, and in front of it the man himself, the wizard, the sorcerer of living flesh who struck and molded that mind of slave imprisoned, keeping it alive for all his dire purpose.” Heinrich Finster, Travels by Darklight.

Nano Tradition

This is my seventh year doing Nano and over the years I’ve developed various traditions surrounding it. I usually work in coffee shops, since I work better there than at home, and since it’s the season for mandarin oranges in Korea, I usually eat a lot of those while I’m writing. Here is a picture of one of my favorite coffee shops near our house.

I like this coffee shop since it’s the only one I know of that lets you sit at low tables on the floor. It’s a very cozy place to work. I also now have an official Nanowrimo mug, if I want a lot of coffee, that is. It holds 500 ml of coffee. I made it myself (mostly). When I drink from it, it makes me feel like a Viking warrior and the word “quaff” comes to mind.

韓國 means “Korea”

Do you have any special things you do when you write? Do you always write in the same place? Let me know in the comments.

11 Comments | tags: coffee, coffee shop, nanowrimo, writing | posted in Uncategorized

November 12, 2012

It was a dark and stormy night…?

By David Stewart

I love working on the first line of a story, especially a novel. The first sentence sets the tone for the whole book. It’s the first impression and if it’s off, it can sour the rest of the book for the reader. The first sentence will always be more memorable than the 100th sentence, so it has to be better.

So, what’s important to say in the first sentence? Many writers introduce their characters, since they are central to the story. Some introduce the landscape. A commonly held no-no is to start with the weather because usually the weather is trivial. One of my novel’s first lines is: “The air in the room felt close, like a cave, and the darkness smelled like baby powder and diaper rash cream.” There, I was trying to introduce the setting, but also set the mood and also give foreshadowing for the story to come, since it’s about babies and darkness. Another, where I introduce the character right away is: “Jonah liked being a hunter.” That also is trying to give a setting for the whole story, since the whole story in one way or another, is about hunting.

Here are some books that I have in my house and their first lines:

“The Mole had been working very hard all the morning, spring cleaning his little home.” (The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame). This introduces the character and gives a tone for the rest of the book. It’s a domestic story about domestic problems, and also about animals.

“A mile above Oz, the Witch balanced on the wind’s forward edge, as if she were a green fleck of the land itself, flung up and sent wheeling away by the turbulent air.” (Wicked, by Gregory Maguire). Another character introduction. This is actually in the prologue of the story, I think. It introduces the Witch as solitary and disconnected with the rest of the world, a problem she has through the whole story.

“Marley was dead: to begin with.” (A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens). Dickens was wonderful at first lines. This just grabs you and throws you into the story.

“Coraline discovered the door a little while after they moved into the house.” (Coraline, by Neil Gaiman). This first sentence introduces the character and also shows right away what is important in the story by saying “the door” instead of “a door” as if we should already know about it.

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” (Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen). I think this is another of those classic first lines that lays out the whole book in a single sentence.

And then, the first line that I read and just laughed and laughed. Good or bad is for you to decide, but it definitely grabs you: “It was a long day, the day Axis tried to kill Azhure, then married her.” (Starman, by Sara Douglass).

Do you have any favorite first lines from novels? What are some of your own? Let me know. 🙂

23 Comments | tags: first lines, literature, outside the tower, writers, writing | posted in Uncategorized

November 9, 2012

Things Never to Tell Your Mother

By David Stewart

Sometimes I’m surprised I survived to see adulthood. I think that about a lot of kids actually, especially after seeing Youtube fail compilations.

The following is a true story. There was a large river near our house when I was in high school. Parts of it went through a high gorge just below the big waterfall our town was named after. I would go down and climb on the rocks by the water and have a great time. One time, I decided to climb up the cliff face right under the bridge that went across the gorge. It was over sixty feet high and I didn’t have any ropes, but I was a good climber, and if there is anything teenagers have, it’s recklessness confidence.

The actual river, just down from where I climbed up.

I got about two thirds of the way up and ran into trouble. The rock became friable, breaking off in my hand. There were no solid handholds. I couldn’t go back down and directly below me were sharp rocks and the fast, swirling water of the river. Also, no one knew where I was. I started praying hard for God to get me out of there safely.

There were obviously guardian angels clocking some overtime, because I managed to get around the hard area and get up to the top. I’d like to say I learned something from the experience and maybe I did, but what I should have known was this was not something to tell my mother. This is the sort of thing that gives mothers (and later, wives) heart attacks.

So, later that evening: “Guess what, Mom? I almost died today.”

What a bad son.

9 Comments | tags: climbing, danger, outside the tower, river, true story | posted in Uncategorized

November 7, 2012

What I learned about writing from Cambodian children

By David Stewart

If you’ve ever visited Cambodia, you know that the whole country has an entrepreneurial spirit. People offer you rides on their scooters for a price, men sell cut sugarcane, and children mob you selling postcards, handmade crafts, books, and pretty much anything and everything else.

The competition is beyond stiff and you see a whole range of tactics, from super aggressive to friendly. I was the most impressed with the children. The best ones immediately told you their name, asked your name, where you were from, told you facts about your home country, and anything they could to make an impression and develop a rapport. They did it fast too–they had about ten seconds maximum to make you want to buy their products and not the next person’s.

It worked too. I was much more likely to buy something from Jentha who had two brothers and a sister at home and called me by my name and could name the capital of my country, than I was from some random little girl offering me five postcards for a dollar when I already had all the postcards I needed.

I realized that this is a little like fiction, especially short fiction and especially blog fiction. People are more likely to give a novel a chance to develop the plot and characters, but on a blog, people who are clicking around randomly have half a million other blogs to choose from, so why do they choose mine?

The title, of course, is important to draw people in, but also the first paragraph. With blog writing, the currency is not money, but time, and I know for myself, it is often the first paragraph, that part that shows up in the summary, that determines if I’m going to read more or not.

Of course, there is another aspect. For the children this process is all about selling. They learn the names of perhaps hundreds of tourists a day and probably forget them almost instantly, but it was also easy to tell those who were only after the money and those who were also truly friendly and engaging. Blogging is not just selling our blogs, it’s also about building relationships. We should be engaging and attractive, but we also have to be honest. People are attracted to authenticity and can tell if it’s not there.