Last night, my wife and I began a jigsaw puzzle. We have several outlets of entertainment yet few are as captivating to us as this simple game of intellect and patience. Setting stages of play from clearing the table, to categorizing the pieces, finding the ones that are part of the border, and finally finding […]
Read More All the pieces fitting togetherDive. Dive into the cool depth where it is dark and calm. My head is pulsating, ringing, and tired. I want to sleep and eat and rest and move and do nothing. Any action feels like a burden. So now I will simply try to dive with no sense of direction. What would usually terrify […]
Read More Stress ReleaseI am uncertain how many restarts this series will have and in all likelihood it will be an cyclical until my final days. For now, it is a breath of fresh air. I write on this first day at the end of my second decade of life. Looking back on the past 10 years, most […]
Read More Progression of a writer: Day 1It is a wonderful feeling to write with some normalcy. I am fairly confident I can contribute it to my new requirement of reading. For I am on the cusp of returning to school! There is a feeling of nostalgia intertwined with slight anxiety as the days of summer dwindle away. For too long I […]
Read More Progression of a Writer; Day 30[Its occurrence] is most strongly associated with the old family or ancestral home and land, even when a family member dies abroad. The cry, linked predominantly to impending death, is said to be experienced by family members, and especially by the local community, rather than the dying person. Death is considered inevitable once the cry […]
Read More The Seeker; The Cry of the BansheeI have known for some time that the joy I find in writing is in the exploration of a story. I like to venture into the details and sketch what I find there. More often than not my mind’s eye gets ahead of what my fingers can type and I end up frustrated as I […]
Read More Progression of a writer; Day 29Hidden within a sprawling city by the edge of the sea, there a small canyon. The story goes that long ago, a woman lived at the canyon’s mouth. She lived alone as a hermit singing lonesome songs, with only the birds that would visit at her doorstep to listen. She was said to be beautiful and […]
Read More The Seeker; The CanyonHello dear reader, If you have stumbled upon this entry in search of literature you are in luck! I have decided to embark on a journey and it is my good fortune you have come to see me off. To show my gratitude I shall promise you this; I will return like the great explorers […]
Read More The Seeker; A Journey to Discover MagicIt was a Friday afternoon. Richard had noticed that events were cowards: they didnt occur singly, but instead they would run in packs and leap out at him all at once. –Neil Gaiman, Neverwhere This website, and even more specifically this blog, was intended to catalog my personal creative work. However, today and possibly again […]
Read More Progression of a Writer; Day 28Variety. A change in tone and perspective. Forget the subject, the object, the action. They can all be tweaked, manipulated, changed to fit. A blue sky can be calming, alarming, or simply plain. The taste of burnt toast can be frustrating, funny, or even a fond memory. I say this in order to explain the […]
Read More Progression of a Writer; Day 27The following short story is a new version of an already published project of mine titled, “Warm Wood”. The title as well as a significant part of the story has been re-written. I hope you enjoy and please feel free to comment. Warm is the Wood ******** “Long ago the West was a wild […]
Read More Warm is the Wood; A Re-tellingIt took Adam only a couple days to figure out he loved Iris, and only two years to take her out on a date. She was everything, plain and simple. Iris had known Adam for over two years and had never known anyone she could open up to so honestly. She trusted him, plain and simple. […]
Read More Don’t Say Anything-you told me there was a spot-light above our heads.” That the cracked sidewalk we stood upon was a stage. You left my warm hand to turn and face the road. An audience of debris sat in the orchestra section of the curb. The general seating was filled with pools of reflections. Lit apartments and […]
Read More “Late one night we were walking and-It was a ghost ship of death pushing its way through my hotel window. Rows upon rows of skeletal remains. I remember feeling strange thinking no person would want to stay there yet my father explained to me some how it was peaceful and serene. “Your mother should passing by now if you want to […]
Read More Another DreamIn response to a poet… And so she approaches. Get ready! Steel your nerves. You are both sun children, but her brightness is blinding, her following shadow deadly. Nowhere to run, no where to hide. Back pushed against a wall of glass. Ready to buckle, ready to shatter you into peices. But it […]
Read More Progression of a writer; Day 26What is the definition of emotions? Not simply the explanation of meaning found in the dictionary, but the figurative lines that define them in our lives. For me these boundaries blur. Can you clearly show me the differences? I pose these questions to myself, as a writer who seeks to enhance his skill, to progress. […]
Read More Progression of a Writer; Day 25The following note was written in April of last year. I can no longer recall where I was and who I was with. Do we become disconnected from our past? Or does it continue to haunt our present? I sit here contemplating if I am in fact wasting time. If I should be doing something […]
Read More Progression of a Writer; day 24You wake up thirty minutes later than usual. It’s Friday, life is good, and the morning is here! The dishes in the sink aren’t a hassle to clean, their chatter as they are washed and stacked mingle together with the songs of sparrows outside the window. They seem ever excited for the new day and […]
Read More FridayThis is not my language. I write words, and my heart aches for their blindness, their ineptitude. Foolishly I have gone on a journey without lantern or map. Selfishly I seek significance in the darkness, reaching out for tendrils, a line to grasp onto, a hook to draw me to the surface. But I am them […]
Read More Catching InspirationDear Reader, If you have decided to view this post, I welcome you to the following journey. I have reached the point as an author where I am spilling with ideas that have never seen the light of day. With the approach of winter and fresh expectation for the new year, I have decided to […]
Read More An explanation of a digital narrative; The College TryHave you ever gripped a pen, having its blackened tip just above an empty page? I have spent eons at that precipice, countless thoughts and ideas being thrown over the edge in uncertainty, feeling each unworthy to be made permanent upon the page. So now I simply reflect that there is little else to write about but this […]
Read More Progress of a writer; Day 23Another season expires, its warmth fading as the soft whispers of winter’s approach. Fall for me is a season of inhalation. A time of year of observation and reflection. We take in the world in a state of change, watching the colors of leaves change like blood filled with new air, turned red. The chilling air […]
Read More Progression of a writer; Day 22The man is in a state of animation. His body in motion. He is not just another body on the street. Not just walking by with his head held down. His head is up; his eyes out; mouth open. The traffic between us mutes his words, but I can see their effect on his body. […]
Read More Cold EggsAbel’s eyes grew heavy. He could feel the blood pump rhythmically through the tender skin of his eyelids, every beat adding a pound of weight. He wanted nothing more than to give in to the weight, let those tiny doors shut him into the darkness, and have them be locked tight by long tangled lashes. […]
Read More Running on Shuffle“I can’t see her face“, I thought. Just the end of a fair skinned nose. The only exposed piece of flesh against the curtain of beautiful hair, blood red. Her clothes were black. She was a mystery and I was attracted to it. But with a jerk of the head, the curtain moved. She raised […]
Read More Behind the CurtainI wanted to know the name of every stone and flower and insect and bird and beast. I wanted to know where it got its color, where it got its life – but there was no one to tell me. -George Washington Carver “Five…” Jake slurred out the word, his hands getting sweating as his […]
Read More Colorblind, hue #2I pose to you the following question, “How do you write the voices of your past?“ How do you quote friends that you have parted with in time, or members of family no longer alive? How do you give them new life? As I begin to weave together a story that is as much […]
Read More Progression of a Writer; Day 21I wanted to write something different. Something that you could later describe to a friend as quirkey or weird. Anything really. As long as it was not ordinary. As long as it stayed away from that black spot of the human mind where things are lost, hiding behind the affirming nods and understanding smiles. It’s […]
Read More The mission of a story.She closed the book, placed it on the table, and finally, decided to walk through the door. The door was colored white, but she could see through the exposed scars the original grain of the wood. Through the door was black. Calling it “dark” would be an understatement. It seemed she had found the negative […]
Read More DarknessI gasped for life, knowing full well at that moment I should have been dead. I sucked up madly every last droplet from whatever source the water had come from. I could no longer remember how long it had been since I had last had a drink. In order to survive I let myself fall […]
Read More DesperationErnest felt the heat of the sun. His eyes were closed, yet his vision was filled with hues of red, the warmth of sun penetrating his wrinkled lids and lashes. The wind blew at the sweat on his brow and whispered the smell that he knew was summer. It was as noon as a day could […]
Read More A fork in the roadFor those interested, the following is a description of the morning of a young author… The author wakes a little before dawn. Not out of practice or discipline but out of necessity from a stomach ache that could no longer be ignored or treated by rolling over in bed. So the author finally rises, first […]
Read More Progression of a writer; Day 20Since I had set out to continuously write on this website, it is remarkable to find that only nineteen days have been recorded thus far. And while there are instances when other works stand in place for a given day, I had assumed to be much “older” as it were. The original purpose of this […]
Read More Progression of a writer; Day 19At the cusp of dawn, I dreamt of a song I can no longer remember. It’s tune lost in the split of light as my eyes open upon a new day. It worsened my mood, and I found myself without fail rising on the lesser side of the bed. My body felt stiff and the […]
Read More A Lost DreamThis post is simply a call into the void. I am listening for the echo. As my voice bounces of the ever widening gaps, I hope to hear something returned. I seek out the sound of even a whisper, the faintest evidence that I can still do this. That I have not lost the ability […]
Read More The Gaps RemainThere was a boy on the subway braver than me. Standing there at the end of the car, confident in who he was. The words he was speaking were silent to my ears behind the music I played to shut out the discomfort I felt being so close to strangers. The scene darkened by the […]
Read More Door OpenMuch has transpired since last I reflected on my progression as a writer. And while there is much to share I found myself struggling on where to begin. Do I share my descriptions of family, kindred smiles that I barely recognize, having been apart for so many years? Yet in our introductions we embrace, love […]
Read More Progression of a Writer; day 18Have you ever stumbled upon a moment that is not yours? An encounter or action seen from a distance yet it pulls you in. Time slows its pace and details suddenly flash in vivid color and sound. You notice everything. And in the moment of clarity, you understand that the moment belongs to another. What […]
Read More To capture a momentHi everyone! I am elated to share that I finally figured out how to retrieve the content of yesterday’s blank post for “Progression of a Writer; Day 17“. I apologize that there was nothing there and hope you will enjoy it. -H. Werstler
Read More Website Update: SUCCESS!!!There is a cat outside my front door, and each day it stops by to say hello. I watch as it looks through the metal screen, pondering at the strange creature inside, cooing and singing, doing everything it can to entice the cat to stay a little longer. How interesting it is to find the […]
Read More Progression of a Writer; Day 17I left a conversation today as if I had escaped a predator. Exposed and vulnerable, I walked away doing my very best to make clear what had just transpired. The words that I spoke were of my voice and mood, but seemed completely foreign to me in reflection. It was as if I had stepped […]
Read More Progression of a Writer; Day 16It is early in the morning in late December. Almost 10 years have passed. What was I doing at the beginning of this last decade? I was a young fool. And I write that word with a smile! I knew little of the world yet expected so much from it. Since then I have traveled […]
Read More Progression of a Writer: Day 31
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