Hello, fellow wonderful Scholars and Scribes! Welcome to the weekly picks! This is where we go over which pieces were submitted to the Scholar and Scribe community that stood out and made an impression. I will give my subjective review on each piece selected in hopes of stimulating creativity and reaching our ultimate goal - becoming better writers.
This is a purely prose selection. No poetry I'm afraid.
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Congratulations @stuartcturnbull, @denmarkguy, @marcovalentim
Each will receive 25 Scholar
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These are not rankings. These are not ordered. Think of them more as shoutouts - pats on the back, if you will.
With all that being said, let's kick things off with @denmarkguy who wrote The Texas Chronicles - Episode 0 of a Series.
This skirts the line of what is allowed in the community, but it being a forward saves it. However, I do hope @denmarkguy delivers on what is surely an amazing real-life tale. In this preamble, he tells us that he will serenade the Scholar and Scribe community with stories of his youthful adventures. Traveling from Denmark to Texas, with nothing but the clothes on your back, sure sounds worthy of a memoir.
“What is to follow in the course of an unspecified period of time is essentially the tale of myself as a relatively naive 20-year-old from Denmark packing everything he owned up in a couple of suitcases (and a golf bag) and traveling halfway across the world to attend University in Austin, Texas.
The timeline of events starts in the 80s, a time when the world was smaller, and trips like these seemed possible. On another note, the guy from Denmark does string together sentences in an interesting way. The way he puts words together is appealing to read. At least I think so. Maybe this memoir of sorts has legs after all. 👏 Kudos.
As I implied in my original exploration (link at the top of the page) this is not born out of some ambition to write a great autobiography, but rather a desire to leave a story (perhaps?!?!) for our grandkids, for a time when my own memory of those days becomes even foggier than it is today.
Next up we got @marcovalentim with Sou de Orion - I'm from Orion.
Seeing as how this is translated, I cannot speak to the quality of the writing here. What I can speak on is the interesting world-building being developed. Even though it does read a lot like Scientology 😅 I doubt that's what @marcovalentim was going for when posting this.
We all came from another planet to experience life on Earth, in fact, we came from several planets but what I have been allowed to know so far is the origin of Orion, I always talk to my galactic family and I do see a better world in the near future.
I put a spotlight on this work since it's a great example of how one would start a 'World Bible'. For anyone curious, this is how you do it: start off by laying down the world's ground rules, and never deviate from them. These rules are the base upon which you build your world. This 'World Bible' is not meant to be read by others or sold commercially, it is for you and you alone, a safe space where you can develop your universe. @marcovalentim did a great job presenting the concept. 👏 Kudos.
Gaia is actually the spirit of the earth, Earth was the name chosen by humans but there are other names for the earth, each planet calls the earth by a name, I identify with the name Urantis, maybe on my planet that's what we call it, I don't know.
On a more technical note, full stops are important, my guy. 😁 Punctuation si important for your readability.
Third on the chopping block is @stuartcturnbull's Walking the Cat Forward.
An entry in the latest WOTW, @stuartcturnbull presents to us a 'fish out of water' story that nails all the points. I love how we see Irun in every light, her characterization is strong which allows us to connect with her. I love how we get a glimpse into her life before it gets upended.
Irun was on a call with marketing when the message pinged her phone. Forty-five minutes spent explaining why it would be at least six months of work to create and integrate the function some salesperson just promised was already part of the system.
'Time for a drink,' she muttered, and toggled the 'Away From Desk' message.
I also love the dialogue presented here. Very 'real' sounding. In my opinion, good dialogue can carry you way farther than a good plot, for example. Another thing I love about this story is that a lot is shown rather than said. The pacing is great, and the 'feel' of the story just leaves you with wanting more. Good stuff! 👏 Kudos.
While the two old friends, or at least acquaintances, made inconsequential small talk and fixed drinks Irun sat on a sofa and stared out the window, across at another apartment. She let herself drift between thoughts abought the Pixelverse, and wether she even believed it to be real, or an elaborate ruse to, well, she couldn't figure out a reason.
✍️ I hope the Scholars found something interesting to read, and the Scribes discovered something new about the craft. Thank you for stopping by - I'll see you all next week!
🖼️ Image Sources: 01 🖼️
Aw, thanks so much. Was v happy with the way this wrote out on a tight timescale.