Science fiction, fantasy, mystery and what-not
Serendipity is useful. I’d just been pondering a chapter’s length yesterday. At thirty-six hundred words, I felt it lengthy. No, the reader within thought it lengthy, and was suggesting breaking it up into three chapters.
“Why three?” I asked the reader.
“That chapter has a lot going on in it. Breaking it up let your readers breath.”
“But three?”
“The way I see it, you have three natural breaks in the action.”
The reader, having read a lot, typically offers some good insights, so I considered what he said. As I did, a Reedsy article about chapter length was discovered in my inbox.
The article, “Chapter Length Matters. Here’s Why,” and its comments, gave me more substance for my thinking, so I thought I’d pass it on to other writers.
What of you, writers? Is there an ideal chapter length, or do you have specific guidelines, rules, or suggestions to share?
Have you even been perusing the news, and come across an article with a title like, “21 great pizzas in 21 San Francisco neighborhoods,” and think, “Oh, my god, I could eat a pizza RIGHT NOW,” and then your stomach rumbles in agreement?
Yeah, me, neither.
Panda-cat (catfinition): Black and white feline that doesn’t pull off the traditionally stylish tuxedo look, but has more of a panda bear ensemble.
Warm with dreams and cozy under blankets, I cracked my mind open to a cat’s demands. “No,” my body said. “I want to stay in bed.”
The sentiment tempted me. Rain was falling and daylight had slipped down the spectrum into a ghostly gray. The cat persisted, as cats will do. My brain transitioned to song lyrics.
“I spent the day in bed. You can please yourself. But, I spent the day in bed.”
I’d only heard the Morrissey song a few times since its release. Not much of the words stuck to me, but I remembered, “Stop watching the news, because the news contrives to frighten you, to make you feel small and alone, to make you feel that your mind isn’t your own.”
That’s how I felt as I rose and hastened to serve my feline masters. If I couldn’t stay in bed, I wanted to go to a pub and sip a pint, but no, I must write.
Here’s the rest of “Spent the Day in Bed” for your enjoyment. How’s your day? Want to stay in bed?
Do you ever hear someone refer to plastic silverware? Do you ever ask them, “Why is the plastic silverware white?”
Yeah, me, neither.
Meowstrom (catfinition): Powerful feline activity, often accompanied by meowing (and sometimes by hissing and growling), that sucks others into its quantum vortex.
Have you seen the poll results about fake news in America? Forty-six percent of Americans believe the news media make up news stories about the Trump administration.
Who is surprised?
I believe the news media make up stories, but not about Trump. I believe that other stories have been made up and posted as real news. That set up the meme that the news media can’t be trusted, a position that President Con Don pushes.
Let’s count some of those fake stories. Remember those birther stories about President Obama? They were demonstrably fake stories that right wing media sites continued circulating for years.
Just today, several right wing news sites made up and spread a story about an immigrant starting the California wildfires that swept through NorCal.
How often was Hillary Clinton mocked as “Killary” because of all the people she and Bill were said to have killed? Fifty people, according to some sites, although none of those deaths have been proven in court.
What about Pizzagate?
Remember Jade Helm 15, and the Federal government’s plot to invade Texas and other states?
Many media sites ran with Con Don’s insistence that he won the popular election, enough that people believe him, even though he later asserts that he didn’t win the popular election because of rampant illegal voting in California, and that his inauguration crowd was larger than President Obama’s crowd?
Without effort, I can go back and remember more. What of Judith Miller and the Iraqi WMD, and Nigeria yellow cake? How about the FEMA death camps? Shall we talk about climate change denial? Con Don even lied about his statements on Charlottesville, and though they were broadcast that day, and shown repeatedly, people believe that news was fabricated. Hell, they’re giving him credit for the jobless rates declining, and the improved economy, without being able to cite anything he’s done for either one, and without acknowledging that those are continued trends that started years ago, under President Obama.
None of this news. Spinning news to dirty a candidate isn’t new, either. Nor does it belong to America. Much of the derogatory opinions about Jews, Muslims, and just about anyone who isn’t a white male, can be traced back to unproven or twisted whispering and news campaigns.
No, I’m not surprised that people think news is being made up about Trump. He makes up a lot of it himself, then feeds it to the media, and some of them blindly run with it.
It’s part of a great heritage.
Someone posted these children playing Ozzie’s “Crazy Train” on xylophones on Facebook the other. The children are from the Louisville Leopard Percussionists. I’ve seen them do Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, and Black Sabbath, and enjoyed those performances, so I’m plugging their cover of “Crazy Train” as today’s theme music. I hope you enjoy them.
Michael Seidel, writer 