The Story Ark
Education • Books • Writing
Hey Y'all. This is a place for story lovers. Whether you create stories, or you just love to experience them, come join us as we write and talk about the tales which inspire us.
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June 23, 2025
The Plunge

How are the WIPs going?

I've been asking myself if I should just jump. I fear I've been wasting time on my short story collection. The last proof I ordered had a few problems on the cover which I hope I've fixed, but I haven't ordered a new proof because I wanted to read through my stories again. This is something I just haven't done. I have read through these stories many times and hired an editor, and yet I'm afraid I've missed something. Of course I've missed something. Everybody misses something at some point. There will be some glaring typo, probably a homophone, that nobody sees until I publish.

Anyway, most of my "writing" time this week was taken up, not with writing, but doing little polishes on this book that probably don't matter. I think it's time for me to set a date and stick with it.

As regards my vampire story, I think I have the cover where I want it, but I'm waiting until the end of July to make a decision on when to publish as I've submitted it to TheOtherStories.net to see if they want to produce it as an audiobook. If so, and it's unlikely they will, that will change a few things as regards marketing and so forth.

Anyway, I've put years of work into both of these books, and I know, apart from a miracle, I'll never really make any money from them. Still, once I start publishing, I'm supposed to keep publishing, which means I need to keep writing, or so I'm told; I can't spend all my time trying to figure out the right pictographs to go between section breaks (agonizing decisions that took all of yesterday to make).

Well, that's how my week of writing went. How are your WIPs going?

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June 17, 2024
Proof Copy of Post Mortem

A little, sneak-preview, if anyone's interested, in my novella. Still waiting for the cover as patiently as I can. (The artist isn't late or anything; I've been going crazy since I placed the order.)

  • Are you publishing/self-publishing anything?
  • Would you, maybe, want a copy of my story?
  • Would anybody want to read my story?
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February 14, 2022
Welcome to The Story Ark community
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October 28, 2022
The Right Hand of Doom by Robert E. Howard

A little something to enjoy before Halloween.

The Right Hand of Doom by Robert E. Howard
April 22, 2022
קהלת | Ecclesiastes 1:1-11

So, I tried my hand at writing my own translation of one of my favorite passages in the Bible.

1 The words of the Preacher, son of David, King in Jerusalem.
2 Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher. Vanity of vanities; the whole is vain.
3 What is left over for man in all his toil in which he toils under the sun?
4 A generation comes and a generation goes; but the earth remains forever.
5 And the sun rises, and the sun goes [down]; And to his place, there he strives to rise.
6 Going to the South, returning to the North—turning, turning, the wind goes; And over its turning, the wind returns.
7 All the rivers run into the sea, but the sea is not full.
[From] the place where the rivers run, there they return to run.
8 All these words are tiresome. Man cannot utter [it].
The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled by hearing.
9 That which is is that which will be, and that which is done is that which will be done; and there is nothing wholly new under the sun.
10 Where is...

קהלת | Ecclesiastes 1:1-11
April 15, 2022
The Wind and the Trees

More Chesterton today. Another short one. Please enjoy.

The Wind and the Trees
July 01, 2025
Don't Panic!

It's here. My short stories. Hold on. I still don't know how to give discount prices, but I will put them here if I figure it out.
https://a.co/d/cvpYTRd

June 30, 2025
Colds and Bureaucracy

How are the WIPs going?

Well, forgive me that I've taken so long to post today. I was hoping that I could lead with, "I've published my short story collection." However, I am still waiting for a final thumbs up from the amazonian overlords on my cover. There was no problem with the cover before I tried to publish—they sent me proofs ere now—but I suppose their quality control only kicks in after I hit the publish button. The problem: I had text going from the front cover into the spine—something I had done on purpose—and they don't like it; or, that's my guess. Their wonderfully opaque message only hinted that what was wrong was something to do with the cover, with the text of the cover, and with the spine.

Anyway, I've gotten a little work done here and there on my other projects, but I've been sick with a cold all of last week. Sleep has conquered me the last few days, but I'm feeling worlds better for it.

Let me know how your WIPs are going. If I can figure out how to ...

June 16, 2025
Hanging in There

How are the WIPs going?

I'm having to slow down a bit myself. My left hand is mostly out of commission, and it is hard to type. I got proofs of my book covers in the mail. I think my vampire novella is ready, but I still need to tweak some of the writing on the back cover for the short story collection.

Anyway, I've also been plotting, which is fun. There is a story I have, a superhero story I've been thinking about since before I really was trying to be a writer, before I started blogging or anything. It was a story, I realized, I couldn't write; I didn't know how to, then, but now I think I can. I was sitting alone with the pain in my hand, and suddenly I saw how the whole thing should end. Now that I have that, I think I have the whole story—I just need to write it.

"In making many books there is no end" as the preacher says, but I hope I will write this one.

Let me know how your WIPs are going.

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A Bit of My Writing Process
How I Outline

How are the WIPs going?

I have, over the past few weeks, been working on a pair of short stories I hope to submit to a horror podcast, The Other Stories. They want cosmic horror. On a day off, I wrote one in a single sitting, but felt there was another story there. When I saw that authors were allowed to contribute two stories per theme, I thought I would bide my time and see if I could write the other, more ethereal story that I sensed was there.

Now that I have written this second story, at least the better part of it—it wants a stronger ending—I feel there is still more to be written. A series of these short stories might make an interesting read, perhaps even amount to a novella. Who knows? However, now and again, as regards my posts here, I sometimes think it would be a good idea to share some of my own writing/outlining methods.

One of the things I do when I see a project developing like this is to ascertain what patterns are showing themselves. Very often, when I'm writing poetry, there is some line or couplet that appears to me, and the rest of the poem pours out of that initial inspiration. I study what I have been given and ask myself: What are the patterns inherent in this and where is it going?

So, if I were to do that with this pair of stories I find a few patterns/themes:

  1. Horror stories revolving around one POV
  2. Retrospective
  3. Themes of Love + Death
  4. Themes of Chesterton's God, the gods, the philosophers, and the demons
    1. God: Padre C
      Believes in a purity of original uncreated/being
    2. The gods: Giovanni
      Paradoxically believing in everything and nothing
    3. The Philosophers: The Doctor
      Believes in Death
    4. The Demons: Jasper
      Hail Satan
  5. Nyarlathotep vs Hastur :: Satan vs Death
    1. Order vs Chaos
      1. Nyarlathotep's schemes vs Hastur's madness
      2. Nyarlathotep's temple vs Hastur's decay
    2.  Weakened will (seduction) vs blackmail (threats)
    3. Contract vs Betrayal
    4. Human sacrifice vs suicide

Anyway, That's just a quick riff. I don't always write these things out; often, I just think them through. The next question would be where the meta story is going, that is, what is its endpoint/cathartic moment. Now, I have one hint as to the next step, to follow the doctor character, who seems somewhat suspicious, and also to fill in the Chesterton pattern. As such, two more stories appear, one following the doctor and one following Jasper.

So, that's just a little insight into how my thinking process works. I don't know if I'll pursue this possible story or not. Either way, let me know what you think, what you're working on, and what your writing process looks like.

Keep writing.

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October 24, 2023
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Writing Prompt: Lovecraft

After my disappointment with The Lovecraft Investigations, I thought it would be a good idea to write our own Lovecraft inspired work.

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August 07, 2023
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My (Insane?) Plans

I saw an interesting question posed on twitter: Would you write an entire book series and not publish a single book until it's all done? Now, that is precisely what I've been doing, or, perhaps I should say, what I've been planning. Right now, I've somewhat given up on traditional publishing, partially as it seems like traditional publishers want me to do the marketing as well as the writing, and partially because it seems like most forms I fill out ask me how well I've self-published my own work so far.

 

So, I started to consider whether to self-publish the book I have written, and it seemed to me that since I had already organized it into three major sections, each about the length of a short novel, it would make sense to self-publish it in those organic pieces. As my original outline extended beyond this book, I figured I ought to finish writing to the end of my outline. That should make a fourth part. Furthermore, when I finished that outline, I jotted down a few notes for a continuation of the story. I've been working on a new outline, off and on (mostly off), and hope to finish it and add it to this possible series, thereby reaching a total of either five or six parts.

 

Now, why do I want to chop up my story like this? For one, I think these breaks in the story make sense. Also, one piece of advice I've heard about self-publishing is to keep a steady flow of work coming out. So, before I self-publish, I want have a ready well of titles to publish at regular intervals. My overarching plan is to, over the next two to three years, get ten titles ready, half or so consisting of this series and the other half based on a few short outlines I've jotted down here and there throughout the years. Then, take the leap and self-publish.

 

  • Am I being stupid?
  • Would you try something like this?
  • Have you written any series?
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