Author: Cid Van Zwol
Date: 2009 - 07 - 29
Title: The Devil You Know
Word count: 1137


A snippet from a fantasy piece I'm working on. This is the second chapter. The title is not the title of the story in its entirety, just this piece.


( The Devil You Know )

Author: Cid Van Zwol
Date: 2009 - 06 - 19
Title: A Love Story
Word count: 327


This is probably one of the most emo stories I have written, but everyone's entitled to indulge their emo side once is a while.  Besides, he's mentally ill, and those people don't always think clearly...



( A Love Story )

Author: Cid Van Zwol
Date: 2009 - 05 - 28
Title: Ruby Tuesday
Word count: 976


I totally, and without a doubt am in love with this story.  The silver screen starlets from the 1940's to the mid 1960's were some of the most interesting, classy women (as were a lot of famous women of the time).  There was so much style to them, and layers beyond the red lips and curled hair.

So many rich and powerful men fell in love with these women, and this is a story about one of those.



( Ruby Tuesday )

Author: Cid Van Zwol
Date: 2009 - 04 - 21
Title: Baba Yaga's Door
Word count: 600

The second in my series of New World stories about ancient gods and creatures in the modern world.  Baba Yaga is one of my favorite mythical characters -- anyone with a house that runs around on chicken legs (or leg, depending who you ask) has just got to be interesting. 



( Baba Yaga's Door )

Author: Cid Van Zwol
Date: 2009 - 04 - 20
Title: Mary Jane
Word count: 99


One of my practice exercises is to give myself a topic and try and write a complete story in 100 words or less.  Sometimes the stories I come up with are actually kind of cool, like this one.  The topic was 'guitar'.   Mary Jane is the name of the guitar.    ;-)

I've given up on having a 'genre' section on this thing for the simple fact, that I could care less about genre writing. 

Also, I've decided this is no longer a Friends Only journal.  I know, there is creative property here, but I also HATE friends only journals. 

I'll just post a simple request and ask that you please don't steal my work. 

I've worked hard to write every story on here, and I post them for storage, comments and critiques not so someone can come along and just take one.  This journal is not a free sample stand. 

Honestly, it really doesn't benefit a person to steal a story and claim at as their own.  Sure, people may think you wrote it, for a while, but even if you change things, eventually your readers will come to know that what you are claiming as yours is not.  People aren't stupid. 

Besides sooner or later someone that knows the actual story will see it, and make a huge deal, and then the secret will be out anyway.

My point; it's easier to learn to write then to steal stories from others, even if it doesn't seem like it at the onset, as the years go on, it is.

So there, I guess that's my copyright.  Besides, I like to hope people are still worth trusting.  =)

Genre: --
Author: Cid Van Zwol
Date: March, 2009
Title: Harlequin
Word count: 2150

The first in a series of short stories all sharing the same world and theme.  The theme is mythological beings, old gods, and magic in the modern world.  Old World is the title of the series, I don't much care for it, it's only a working title.  :-)


( Harlequin )

Genre: Suspense
Author: Cid Van Zwol
Date: March, 2009
Title: White Room
Word count: 1269


I really like this one.  A mysterious fog rolls in, and suddenly the strangers are no longer on a cruise ship in the Caribbean.  Interesting idea, I think.  

The two names at the end of the story do have significance.  :)

( White Room )

Genre: Horror
Author: Cid Van Zwol
Date: February, 2009
Title: Worth The Wait
Word count: 635


This one is a little twisted.  I don't have much to say about it.  Complete as is.

( Worth The Wait )

Genre: None
Author: Cid Van Zwol
Date: January, 2009
Title: The Worst Kind of Torture
Word count: 352

Another story done for musemuggers for the prompt "The worst kind of torture."

I've decided that I'm going to add to this one. I like the main character too much not to do something with him. Poor Eddie. I have this vision of him, in his late thirties -- maybe even early forties, Italian but has never been to Italy, misses his dead mother, a few pounds over weight -- but still with a full head of hair.
I don't know why, but I really like the idea of Eddie, with all of his repressed feelings and emotional confusion despite his age.  I like Eddie.

 

( The Worst Kind of Torture )

Genre: Horror
Author: Cid Van Zwol
Date: November, 2008
Title: One Hundred Years
Word count: 1,392


 A piece I wrote for the musemuggers community based on this image www.flickr.com/photos/leatherdykeuk/3017149250/ .  It's had no editing done to it, and came out really fast.  Nonetheless, I really like it, and I might go back soon and fix it up.  I may even turn this into something longer at some point.  Maybe not; it stands really well on its own.

 

( One hundred Years )

 

All characters (c) Cid Van Zwol

Genre: Crime
Author: Cid Van Zwol
Date: November, 2008
Title: Up In Smoke
Word count: 671


A piece for musemuggers  based on the prompt "alone in her weirdness".  Wrote the whole thing in under an hour.  Very little editing done.  I'm not sure what to make of it, and not sure if i like as a whole.  Still, there are parts that I like, and I may rewrite this at some point

 

 

All characters (c) Cid Van Zwol

Genre: ---
Author: Cid Van Zwol
Date: November, 2008
Title: Fridays
Word count: 70

I wrote this for a writing contest I found on the musemuggers community.  The basis of the contest was to write a complete story in 70 words or less.  I hit exactly 70 (after the editing process, that is).  It was really hard to trim down the original story, which ended up being about 130ish words.  Still, it was helpful to see how many of the little extra words and phrases you could cut out of a piece and still get your idea across without losing much. 

I don't think I will ever be the type of writer that doesn't throw in some extra details, mostly because of how I write, but over the years I have learned that there is a balance between the necessary things you mention to further the plot of your stories, and the extras you toss in to add a little more depth and color what you've written. 

The important thing to remember, I think, is that your readers have to be entertained by what you write, and they have to be able to place themselves into the world that you are writing, but not get lost, bored or caught up in too many details.  The plot still has to move forward, so you have to weave in the extras in a way that will still progress the plot.  As example, instead of using many words to describe a room that your character has just entered, use rich, descriptive 'feeling' words.  But, off on a tangent, and I digress.

This contest really helped me learn that though I've come a ways, there is still more to learn, so expect to see a few more of these are writing exercises through out the journal.



All characters (c) Cid Van Zwol

Genre: ---
Author: Cid Van Zwol
Date: October, 2008
Title: Afraid of the Dark
Word count: 1,004


This is a piece I wrote for the Musemuggers community.  I looked at one of the posted pictures and thought of 'darkness'.  I didn't plan it, or get any ideas of what I would be writing, whom would be in it, or anything.  I opened up the writing program and thought, 'darkness', and away I went.  I'm very happy with the results.

I've done no editing to this one what-so-ever, and I doubt that I will.  I like how it feels.  That seems to be what works best for me as far as short stories go. 





All characters (c) Cid Van Zwol

All of these stories are old. 

All of my new ones were lost in a hard drive crash.  I know it's my own fault for not backing them up.

I will write something new... at some point. 



((Edit:  Newness posted!  Yay!))

Genre: Narrative / Romance
Author: Cid Van Zwol
Date: 2006
Title: All of This


This is a reflective piece from the point of view of a character named Axe Stone.  He was a subject of many stories when I was younger, along with the subject of his affection, Rea.

This was never meant to become a story, but was supposed to be a few warm-up paragraphs before I started another story involving Axe.  The other story never took off, but this one came about in under an hour.  There has been almost no editing done to this piece - it's very 'raw', but I like it as it is because it so accurately represents Axe's state of mind.

It does come off a little 'emo', and I acknowledge that.  =)   Still it's good to remember that he an immortal.  A very sad, maschochistic immortal - and, he's in love.



( All of This )

All characters (c) Cid Van Zwol

Genre: Fantasy
Author: Cid Van Zwol
Date: October 2006
Title: Sacrifice
Status:  In major editing

Yet another fantasy piece (I've almost exhausted my supply).  Yet, I had to post it because it is a follow up to the previous story, Like A Stone.  It also inspired me to paint the picture used in the "Fantasy" icon for this journal, so it seemed fitting.


This piece technically counts a fan fiction being that it takes place in a universe I didn't create. That universe is Dragonlance.. Little about the world or any characters would be recognizable to any Dragonlance fan, but I do use the world itself and the deities in this piece, so I thought I would mention it.

I'm not posting this as a piece of fanfiction.  If that is what you're looking for, you won't find it here.



( Sacrifice )

Due to the fact I will be posting creative property here, this journal is friends only. Other posts may or may not be public, depending on their content.

Comment if you would like to be added.



This is not my personal journal; that can be found here.