Here’s some random stuff I’ve written here and there, recently.
A 99 word challenge about flying fingers…
“Drop your spoon!”
My grandma’s favorite spoon clacked to the floor, batter spraying her shoes.”
“What in God’s name are you making?”
I popped the tupperware lid and showed her.
“And what are you going to do with those?”
I shrugged my shoulders.
“Well, I expect the best.”
Arrayed like a fan I delivered them to the table.
Grandma took one bite and spit it out. “These are awful.” Picking up a handful she threw them toward my face.
I ducked and grinned mischievously as the squadron of Lady Fingers flew across the room and exploded against the wall.
~~~
Over on Scrib-o-defile
“Of all the endeavors one can embark upon, writing may be the loneliest. The farmer has his mule, the soldier his compatriots, the teacher their students. But we, the writers, flourish or languish within our minds, alone.”
~~~
and, a forum post
We all long to belong.
Over the decades of my internet career, I’ve belonged to many “tribes” of the net. They all have swirled into existence, lived for a while, and, generally, dissolved away. All the social platforms strive to do just this. 100-150 people is the optimal “tribe-size”, or so the psychologists say. Beyond that and a collective loses cohesion, smaller than that and dominant players tend to oppress alternative opinions.
The Tribe-o-the-Scribe is one such online community to which you may consider you belong. In this day and age, one tends to join many various digital tribes. Some last, some don’t. Some disperse into the ether, and, strangely, re-converge years later.
The point:
• To what extent do you enjoin your personal tribes? What are they? How many? Do you cultivate them?
• When you write, do you intentionally involve your characters in tribes of their own? Do you consciously consider tribal belonging with your characters?
… a reply from me: 1
Friends and tribe-mates are, in my opinion, two different things.
Friends? No, don’t have those (which may not come as much surprise). But intellectual segmented tribe-mates? Many.
Family is a tribe. Work-mates can be a tribe. Hobbies, activities, passions, writing… these are all candidates for tribal inclusion. Travel to another country and meet an expat from [your country/province] and suddenly, you and they are members of a tribe; a tribe spontaneous and impromptu.
We all tend to downplay tribalism. But it’s inherent in the human psyche. Now, the tribe of human, or better yet, Earthling… I’d gladly pronounce my solidarity to that one — given the challenge.
… a reply from me: 2
Tribes have boundaries but, beneficial ones are not exclusionary. There is a size problem, but generally they break up and form sub-tribes. The concept of a tribe is that mutual respect is foremost. No one member can dominate over the others, as a self-regulating “comeuppance” is generally well ingrained.
Predominately, the acceptance of transition is assumed: The nurturing of new members, the retirement of old members. It’s a lifecycle mimicking existence.
Anyway, I tend to include it in my stories. I was wondering if others consciously did so too.
Anonymole - apocryphal agitators 
I’m here from the Carrot Ranch from the “Flying fingers” post.
I just wanted to let you know that I really enjoyed reading it. The mischief was spot on.
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Glad to see you back. “…flourish or languish within our minds, alone.” That’s why I briefly post my writing on WP. With the feedback I receive, and the tribalism I enjoy…I no longer feel alone. Few people in my “real life” even know I write…sounds way too cliché…until I get published…then it will be real…
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I’ve recently found that getting “published” is relatively easy — if one relaxes the term a bit.
I’ll post here soon on my full experience but, briefly: Draft2Digital + The BookPatch seems to be a solution. I’ll see what my finished product looks like here in a few days (bought a few copies of my 1st novel published this way.)
So, turns out, get it written, sit on it for a while, rewrite it, get it edited, and go for it. Too few days, too much to write, not to give it a go.
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Wow. Thanks! Can’t wait to read this post, which I will save…
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