The Solid Wall of Writing — Mostly words. On purpose.

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Warning: I don’t do Spoiler Alerts. But, if you’re reading an essay or an article about any sort of story then you’re going to find spoilers. You can’t disucss any story and completely leave out what happens. I will ruin Oliver Stone’s JFK for you now by saying that there is no way Oswald acted alone.

Where are we going?

Everything written for this site can be read in any order.

Read any article at random.

It’ll lead somewhere.

If it makes sense, keep going.
If it almost makes sense, keep going.
If it doesn’t make sense at all, you’re exactly where you should be.

Keep going.

Or…If you want things to make sense quicker…

Things make a lot more sense when you start reading those first.

If you’re not sure why any of this matters, start here.

Or start here. This is closer to what it feels like.

If you’re wondering what this is, this is where it starts.

If you want to get somewhere in a hurry…

Just take your time when you get there.

Read Me?

Handwritten notes and manuscript pages Writing

Essays about storytelling, language, and the craft of writing.

Ally writing in St Louis, circa 1998 Fiction

Original stories from the Wall.

Cookie Monster cupcakes in a Warhol-inspired pop-art style Culture

Writing about film, television, sport, music, and meaning.

You can also check out the obligatory About Page

If the writing resonates, there is also an Old Fashioned Letters Page, where you can sign up to hear when there's something new to read.

Read Everything

For those that don’t need categories: All essays, stories and ideas — in one place.

Culture Ally Chisholm Culture Ally Chisholm

Does a stuffed bear need to get the credit for his work?

Creativity is more than the final product. I can’t separate the endeavour from the final product. Even writing this, stringing the ideas and thoughts together, knowing that a change of mind here or there, a mad whim this way or that way, makes something different. That’s completely different from a set of programmed instructions.

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