Writing Must Now Change

-- By Stephany Aulenback (re-printed from here)

You may write about what you now see, and what you saw. You may not write about what you think you see, or what you thought you saw. You may not write about what you plan, or hope, to see in the future. You may not write about what you imagine you might have seen in the past, what you imagine you might now see, or what you imagine you might see in the future. You may not write about what you imagine others see, have seen, or will see. It is important to be exact, to be precise, and to be completely truthful.

There shall be no more telling of tall tales, no more whopping lies, no more slippery half-truths. Stop skittering across the surface of things. Listen, don’t speak. Go deep and narrow, not far and wide. Stay inside the house and lock the door.

After all, a thing like this has never happened before and it could happen again.

Stephany Aulenback is excellent.