serendipity (sèr´en-dîp´î-tê) noun
The faculty of making fortunate discoveries by accident.

Isn't it fascinating what washes up on your shores while surfing the web? The flotsam and jetsam can sometimes make the wasted time seem worthwhile...

I would like to recommend a website I chanced upon a few years ago while I was surfing and browsing at one of my online haunts. There, I clicked on a short story written by a Pulitzer Prize winning author named Robert Butler. I had never heard of Robert Butler. The story was a piece of science fiction--the idea of which, coming from a Pulitzer winner, truly piqued my curiousity. Intrigued, I did a search on him and soon found myself reading more of his stories in the Web Del Sol chapbook.

I enjoyed his work so much that I went back to the search engines to learn more about him. He turned up easily enough, but the search engine also offered up a delightful new link, Inside Creative Writing, which I eagerly clicked on. My browser presented a treat. Dr. Butler, it turns out, teaches creative writing at Florida State University, where he holds the Epp's Professorship. During the fall of 2001 he undertook to write a short story from scratch and allow the world to watch it happen, live, via webcast. Over the course of seventeen two-hour sessions Butler created the story, fielded e-mail questions, and gave over-the-shoulder 'play-by-play' commentary on the creative process as he wrote and polished the story. FSU has archived the whole project so that anyone who missed the live webcast can watch the sessions at no cost.

I recommend checking them out. Those of you who have taken writing workshops or creative writing classes may very well find this material old hat; it isn't for everyone. Dr. Butler does and says things utterly strange and challenging to me--for example, ten minutes into Session One he got my full attention by saying, "The creation of a work of literary art is not a collaborative art." He also does and says things at which I nod my head vigorously, like reading aloud works in progress to help shake out the snags, or like letting characters grow out of the writing itself instead of locking one's self into an overly-detailed pre-fab character sketch.

Again, here is that link to the archive: Inside Creative Writing. I suggest just plunging into the first session and letting Butler introduce the project, but the 'Butler Welcome text' link works, as do each of the 'Who? What? When? Where? Why?' links, which give collectively a more comprehensive explanation for the project than I've managed here.

Lastly, a pair of caveats. He is a rather meticulous teacher and therefore repeats himself often, which can sometimes get tedious, but I learned anew in every session. Also, what he creates is a piece of short fiction, and the methods he employs may not necessarily apply to the creation of longer forms of fiction.

If for nothing else, enjoy the novelty.