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Henry Lee Stewart

@henryleestewart.com

We all dream down here.

Rough images, sentences, bits I come up with. Sometimes while free writing. Others are half remembered dreams or thoughts I've written down. All grist for the mill.

#amwriting #writerslife #writingcommunity #booksky

Fragment 6014

Should we just keep on this lonely road through the night and the ash and the cold the way the wind catches the flicker of your cigarette cherry red sparklers trailing behind us.

December 10, 2025 at 6:30 PM

Henry Lee Stewart

@henryleestewart.com

- About four hours on the short last week
- Couple hours on something new

Finished my garbage scribble draft of the short yesterday. My goodness, what a relief!

I like where it's going but it's going to take some work to get there....

#amwriting #writerslife #writingcommunity #booksky

A photo of stained glass with the date "2025.12.09" above

The Work

- About four hours on the short last week
- Couple hours on something new

Finished my garbage scribble draft of the short yesterday. My goodness, what a relief!

I like where it's going but it's going to take some work to get there. There's couple of bits that need some figuring out and reworking.

Then, there's a big bit in the middle that doesn't fit at all. Which isn't surprising because it was like an idea I had on hand, and I just stuck it in there. I'm going to have to seriously rework it, if not swap it out entirely.

The Work

I'm going to let the story sit until next month. I have another bad idea I want to try in the meantime.

The whole point of this little experiment is to learn to write prose, short stories. I feel this story, Control, has gotten a little "precious" and big for its britches.

Chuck Jones said, "Every artist has thousands of bad drawings in them and the only way to get rid of them is to draw them out."

So, while I'm learning a lot writing this story, I want to write more, shorter pieces to try things out, experiment, and figure out how to tell a tale.

The Work

I'm going to finish Control, but I'm also going to start and then spend 2026 trying to get the bad stories out of my system. Maybe I'll learn more and get better a little quicker than perfecting and polishing one precious story at a time.

We'll see what happens.

Listening to: Jerkin' -- Amyl and the Sniffers
Reading: A Manual for Cleaning Women -- Lucia Berlin

With hope for our work, HLS.

December 9, 2025 at 6:30 PM

Henry Lee Stewart

@henryleestewart.com

Tryin to catch the wind.

Rough images, sentences, bits I come up with. Sometimes while free writing. Others are half remembered dreams or thoughts I've written down. All grist for the mill.

#amwriting #writerslife #writingcommunity #booksky

Fragment 3274

the grippers grip and the pippers pip. blue stocking'd belles clack and titter. her hand in mine fingers interlaced she squeezes softly and everything's gonna be all right.

December 3, 2025 at 6:30 PM

Henry Lee Stewart

@henryleestewart.com

- Only a couple hours on the short over the last week.

Not much time in the chair last week, but that's not a shock what with the holiday. Made some good progress though...

#amwriting #writerslife #writingcommunity #booksky

A distorted photo of building lights at night with the date "2025.12.02" above

The Work

- Only a couple hours on the short over the last week.

Not much time in the chair last week, but that's not a shock what with the holiday. Made some good progress though.

Decided to dump the opening I had and come in later and just make that work. What I was trying to do didn't fit the rest of the story and was jamming me up. I think it works a little better now and I feel better about it.

The Work

Stepping back and trying to hork up the worst possible version of a zero draft I can was the move. I've got about a quarter of the story down now.

Just trying to keep it simple, really basic. Big nouns and verbs. Rough out the action, details. Placeholders for dialogue. Just get it down, out of my head, so I can make it all purty later.

Gotta go fill out some job applications, so that's it for now.

With hope for our work, HLS.

- The smell of dirt, oil, and gas seeps through; stings or burns her nostrils
- The car turns sharply, the trunk sways, pushes Ash up against the jugs and containers at one end.
- The thrum of the tires changes to a rattle and crunch. Gravel she thinks.
- Shoulders tense, strung tight. Heat running up the back of her neck. Prickling clammy skin. Sweat on her brow or her lip
- The car hits a rut or dip in the road. The trunk dips then jolts Ash and its contents upwards. Her head knocks against the lid.

December 2, 2025 at 6:30 PM

Henry Lee Stewart

@henryleestewart.com

Echo chorus lies.

Rough images, sentences, bits I come up with. Sometimes while free writing. Others are half remembered dreams or thoughts I've written down. All grist for the mill.

#amwriting #writerslife #writingcommunity #booksky

Fragment 6650

Into the white we drive, the ash thick and choking outside the car. She turns to me and grins. This is how you do the time, fucker.

November 26, 2025 at 6:30 PM

Henry Lee Stewart

@henryleestewart.com

- Couple hours on the short over the weekend.

Not much time in the chair. Moved some stuff around then printed out what I've got, read through it, and made some notes...

#amwriting #writerslife #writingcommunity #booksky

A photo of a birdbath with the date "2025.11.25" above

The Work

- Couple hours on the short over the weekend.

Not much time in the chair. Moved some stuff around then printed out what I've got, read through it, and made some notes.

I'm pretty happy with what I have so far. I like the idea. Sometimes I think it's a little basic, but I think it works. I like the pacing, the build, and how the parts are fitting together.

Again, it feels like it's longer than I was aiming for, but whatever. There's also a bit in the middle that I'm kind of second guessing, but I'm going to just roll with it and see what happens.

The Work

I'm trying to focus on just writing this story the best I can right now and finishing it, and not on any outcomes like quality or response.

The plan for this week is to get down as much of a garbage, vomit, crappy, worst possible version of a zero draft of this story as I can. I just want to get it out of my head and down on paper where I can work with it.

What's your writing plan for this week?

With hope for our work, hls.

November 25, 2025 at 6:30 PM

Henry Lee Stewart

@henryleestewart.com

Down to the well.

Rough images, sentences, bits I come up with. Sometimes while free writing. Others are half remembered dreams or thoughts I've written down. All grist for the mill.

#amwriting #writerslife #writingcommunity #booksky

Fragment 3357

Glass and chrome. Smoothed concrete and air conditioning. Pressed and neat and clean and crisp.

Appearances are everything, he whispers to himself, fake it till you make it that’s the only way to stay afloat.

November 19, 2025 at 6:30 PM

Henry Lee Stewart

@henryleestewart.com

- About three hours on Control since Tuesday (mostly this morning)

Rough week for words. Really struggled getting into this draft. Was way too much in my head -- lots of resistance and doubt ...

#amwriting #writerslife #writingcommunity #booksky

A photo of a reflector on the ground with the date "2025.11.14" above

The Work

- About three hours on Control since Tuesday (mostly this morning)

Rough week for words. Really struggled getting into this draft. Was way too much in my head —lots of resistance and doubt.

Debated shelving the story and trying another. Decided to keep at it and find a way to make it work.

Realized I wasn't happy with the structure. A couple of bits didn't quite line up.

The Work

Got up early this morning, tore it all apart, and tried jamming it together in different ways.

Eventually got it to fit better. There are a couple of bits I have to move or rework, but overall I'm much happier with the flow.

I'm still worried there's too much story for a short, but I'm just going to write it and see what happens. I don't mind if it's too long, I just want to finish it.

Currently

The weather is turning. We're supposed to get a storm this weekend, and the temps are heading off the cliff. My sinuses have not been happy about this.

When I have some time (or am procrastinating), I've been trying to figure out what else I could share here. I was thinking of writing some little essays, but I have no idea what to write about.

Would you all be interested in little standalone notes on writing stories or storytelling in general?

Listening to: Memories of Green -- Vangelis

With hope for our work, HLS

November 14, 2025 at 5:45 PM

Henry Lee Stewart

@henryleestewart.com

Digging for fire.

Rough images, sentences, bits I come up with. Sometimes while free writing. Others are half remembered dreams or thoughts I've written down. All grist for the mill.

#amwriting #writerslife #writingcommunity #booksky

Fragment 1564

She pulls at her lip then, decided, sets the shotgun on the table and picks up the circular saw.

November 12, 2025 at 5:49 PM

Henry Lee Stewart

@henryleestewart.com

- About three hours on Control over the weekend.

Printed out the draft I have, read through it, and marked it up. Felt better about it after that. I think it's pretty solid and kind of works.

#amwriting #writerslife #writingcommunity #booksky

A picture of trees with the date "2025.11.11" above

The Work

- About three hours on Control over the weekend.

Printed out the draft I have, read through it, and marked it up. Felt better about it after that. I think it's pretty solid and kind of works.

Now, if I could remember how to go from notes, placeholders, and hand-waving to actual narrative sentences, to putting down how it all goes down on paper, that would be great.

Currently

In a moment of inspired procrastination over the weekend, I once again attempted to install Scrivener on linux. Somehow, it worked this time?

I've tried Scrivener in the past on windows, and while I really like the concept and some of the features, it just didn't click with me. I may have been trying to use it outside of its intended scope.

Currently

However, this time after copying over my draft, I spent some time tweaking settings and playing around with it. It may be because my process has changed in the meantime, but I wasn't struggling with it.

I'm going to give it another shot and see if I can finish off this story using it. Wish me luck.

Reading: How to Read a Book - Adler and van Doren
Listening to: Some random lofi mix I found the other day

With hope for our work, hls.

November 11, 2025 at 5:45 PM

Henry Lee Stewart

@henryleestewart.com

Sharing something different today.

Rough images, sentences, bits I come up with. Sometimes while free writing. Others are half remembered dreams or thoughts I've written down. All grist for the mill.

#amwriting #writerslife #writingcommunity #booksky

Fragment 5178

She stands on the farmhouse porch and looks over the dead field, one hand shielding her eyes from the grueling sun overhead. He’s been gone for months. Gone to find work or something. It’s been so long she can’t remember what his story was. She gathers up the laundry and makes her way to the pump and line. One pump two and a wheeze then finally a trickle of water to fill the washtub. She wonders if she should get another mule, get some seed, and try the land again. She wonders what went wrong. Is the land dirty or poisoned? Or was he just as incompetent at plowing as he was at everything else? The water sputters then the pump hisses dry. She wonders to herself how much she can carry and if she should just call it and head over the dead field to the town over yonder.

November 7, 2025 at 5:45 PM

Henry Lee Stewart

@henryleestewart.com

• A couple hours on Control since Saturday

Still working on the opening. I think I know how it starts now, and I can kind of see and feel how it plays out.

#amwriting #writerslife #writingcommunity #booksky

The Work
• A couple hours on Control since Saturday

Still working on the opening. I think I know how it starts now, and I can kind of see and feel how it plays out.

But it's gonna be tricky, take some work to pull off. I'm further out of my depth than I've been before.

The Work

I've also realized, for some reason, I've been worrying about the outcome -- will it be "good," what will people think about it -- and that's been kind of hanging me up.

The last couple of days, I've been trying to focus just on finishing this draft, not on how long it takes, whether it's "good" or not, that sort of thing. Just focusing on doing the work the best I can, and that being enough.

I don't know if I got anything more done, but I'm feeling less stressed and enjoying it again.

Currently

I had one trick-or-treater on Halloween.

I live in the middle of nowhere, so I usually don't get trick-or-treaters. However, I always buy a bag of candy because the one year I didn't, like five kids showed up.

So I open the door. There's a kid on the porch. I shove the bucket at them and tell them to go crazy. And this little ghoul, bless them, politely took one piece of candy.

Currently

I said, Go on, take as much as you want. They paused, politely took one more piece of candy, and ran off.

I was able to pawn a handful off on their accompanying parent, but I was left with a nearly bucketful of candy at the end of the night.

I'm allergic to chocolate.

Still totally worth it, and I guess I'll be buying another bag of candy next year.

Reading: How to Read a Book - Adler and van Doren
Listening to: Hearts of Oak - Ted Leo and the Pharmacists

Kick it!

November 5, 2025 at 5:45 PM

Henry Lee Stewart

@henryleestewart.com

See you space dog

November 3, 2025 at 5:45 PM

Henry Lee Stewart

@henryleestewart.com

Happy Halloween!

Trick yer treats y'all

October 31, 2025 at 2:36 PM

Henry Lee Stewart

@henryleestewart.com

• About three hours on Control (short) over the last couple days

Restarted the rough. Had to go back and see how I did it the last time to get my head straight. Got three quarters of it down.

#amwriting #writerslife #writingcommunity #booksky

Photo of a animal skull with the date 2025.10.30 above

The Work
• About three hours on Control (short) over the last couple days

Restarted the rough. Had to go back and see how I did it the last time to get my head straight. Got three-quarters of it down.

The beginning is still giving me trouble. Been bouncing between two different opens; neither of them feels quite right. Prolly gonna wind up just picking one and seeing if it works.

Currently

Been low energy and out of sorts the last few. Don't know if it's stress, the weather, or *waves hands.*

The day job didn't work out, so I'm looking for another. I got my final paycheck today, but it doesn't look like they separated me, so I'm feeling better about my decision.

I've since heard that apparently Deezer's politics are sus. Qobuz's layout doesn't click with me, so I'm trying Tidal for now. I'm really enjoying the quality of their curated playlists.

*Reading:* How to Read a Book - Adler and van Doren
*Listening to:* An epic "New England Alt Classics" playlist on Tidal

With hope for your work, HLS

October 30, 2025 at 10:09 PM

Henry Lee Stewart

@henryleestewart.com

• About an hour on Control (short) today

Started the rough draft today.

Had some trouble getting going. I always seem to forget between stories how to begin. And then, each one winds up wanting to go on the page differently anyways.

#amwriting #writerslife #writingcommunity #booksky

A photo of a bunny lawn ornament that says "welcome."

The Work

• About an hour on Control (short) today

Started the rough draft today.

Had some trouble getting going. I always seem to forget between stories how to begin. And then, each one winds up wanting to go on the page differently anyways.

This one, for some reason, wants to be a messy vomit draft. I'm just going to run with that, free write a zero draft, and then revise and refine it.

I guess we'll find out how well that works.

Currently

I am having the damnedest time finding time to write with this new day job schedule.

I resorted to leaving notes and fragments to myself on my phone. I pasted those into my draft document today. Hopefully I can work them into the mix as I go along.

Deezer is a perfectly acceptable alternative to Spotify, if anyone is interested.

*Reading:* The Waves - Virginia Woolf
*Listening to:* Hey Sa-lo-ney - The Detroit Cobras

With hope for your work.

October 23, 2025 at 10:38 PM

Henry Lee Stewart

@henryleestewart.com

- About an hour on Control (short) today
• An hour, forty-five on Tuesday
• Another hour on Monday

Locked in a final outline I can start writing a rough draft from.

#amwriting #writerslife #writingcommunity #booksky

The Telling

- About an hour today
• An hour, forty-five on Tuesday
• Another hour on Monday

Locked in a final outline that I can start writing a rough draft from.

I think the story is mostly working. There are a couple of rough spots, but I'd rather keep moving forward than try to get it all ironed out.

I've been telling myself, It'll never be perfect. It doesn't have to be great. It doesn't even really need to be good. It just has to be genuine and sort of work.

Currently

Had our first rainy day of the season. The internet crashed, just as it does whenever there's bad weather, and I just wanna hibernate for the next five or six months.

Started the new day job this week. It's been a challenge not having as much time to dedicate to the stories.

Trying out Deezer. I feel like Spotify's algorithm is just spinning up the same twenty songs, no matter what I do to try to hear something new.

*Reading:* The Waves - Virginia Woolf
*Listening to:* Like a Lesson - Pillow Queens
*Recently watched:* Weapons
*Enjoying:* My coffee while the rain patters outside

October 17, 2025 at 12:11 AM

Henry Lee Stewart

@henryleestewart.com

Out of Office

I recently started a new day job. I'm orienting and training this week, so I haven't moved the story forward much.

#amwriting #writerslife #writingcommunity #booksky

October 9, 2025 at 2:34 AM

Henry Lee Stewart

@henryleestewart.com

• About an hour on Control (short)
• Twenty five minutes yesterday
• An hour and a half Tuesday

Figured out the impact character and a main beat. Bulked up the main character's conflict. Still feel like I'm behind where I want to be.

#amwriting #writerslife #writingcommunity #booksky

September 26, 2025 at 12:26 AM

Henry Lee Stewart

@henryleestewart.com

• About an hour and a half on Control (short)

Sorted out the two main characters a bit more. Think I may have figured out what the antagonist's deal is. I've still got a couple other things to work on and the opening hook to rework.

#amwriting #writerslife #writingcommunity #booksky