Dead Language

The beggar standing on the corner was holding up a cardboard sign I drove past too fast to read. I heard a red alarm bell ringing when one of my students, a college junior, spelled “toxin” “tocsin” in an essay. In the surviving fragment of his book, On Analogy, Julius Caesar tells us to “Avoid strange and unfamiliar words as a sailor avoids rocks at sea,” which, I admit, seems like sensible advice. But even so, I’m not about to take writing tips from the man who started the fire that in 48 B.C. destroyed the Great Library of Alexandria. From Guest Contributor Howie Good

Howie is the author most recently of Famous Long Ago (Laughing Ronin Press).

Please Let Us Know How We're Doing

Hey everyone,

After some time where I let the website coast, I've refocused my attention on making sure I post stories on the regular. Thanks to everyone who's been submitting stories even when I was slow about getting them posted.

It's always been my dream that A Story In 100 Words would be a community exercise, where authors can come together to share their work and improve their writing. I really believe in the 100-word exercise and I want to share that with everyone, whether you're a professional writer, an aspiring creative, or just someone interested in telling stories as part of their personal journey.

With that in mind, I'd LOVE to hear from you about what else you would like to see from the website. Is there anything besides stories you think would be useful/interesting?

A few ideas I've had:

• Story Prompts
• Featured Authors
• Writing Tips
• Contests

I'm sure that you creative people have your own ideas. Please feel free to write in the comments or drop me an email at doc@entropy2.com and let me know what kind of content, in addition to more stories, you'd find valuable.

I've also started a new mailing list after allowing my last one to lapse (it had been so long since I sent out an email, that MailChimp deleted it). That means I'm starting over completely and all those people I had signed up have been lost to the ether. I'd really appreciate you taking a second to sign up here. There will at most be one message per month (and likely a lot fewer). While we're at it, you can also follow me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/entropy_squared. I promise at least one cute photo of my beagle every week.

Thanks as always for your continued support, whether you are sending in stories, or just reading them. I think the fact that we're creating a global community of writers is extremely meaningful.

That is all.