07/13/2025 Jazz Session 11 – The Goal Game and Other Games for Discovering Your Story

We’ll explore various games, prompts, and exercises you can use to plan or discover your story and your world.

07/06/2025 Jazz Session 10 – How Long is a Piece of String?

We’ll examine story lengths by genre. We’ll also look at techniques for writing longer or shorter.

06/29/2025 Jazz Session 9 – Ruthless Consistency: World Building by Accretion

We’ll explore ways to do world building on an as needed basis.

06/22/2025 Jazz Session 8 – On Being a Dictator: Using Dictation to be a Better Writer

We explored methods, tools, and goals for dictating your writing.

06/15/2025 Jazz Session 7 – 12 Things That Aren’t Writer’s Block

We looked at the real problems commonly called “Writer’s Block”, including how to recognize them and how to address them.

06/08/2025 Jazz Session 6 – A Tribute to Dave Wolverton

This was our sixth Jazz Session. Our subject: A Tribute to Dave Wolverton. Also, sadly, to Barry Longyear, whom we lost last month.

06/01/2025 Jazz Session 5 – The Heart of the Story: Humanity in Science Fiction (and Beyond)

This was our fifth Jazz Session. Our subject: The Heart of the Story: Humanity in Science Fiction (and Beyond).

Excerpts from Niles

These are excerpts from my performance at the Niles Renaissance Faire. Recorded by Dana Jack.

A Handsome Thief with a Certain Charm

By Martin L. Shoemaker Note: This story was dictated by The Instant Bard (a.k.a. me) at the Niles Renaissance Faire on May 17, 2025. This is a cleaned-up version of that transcript, with only one small but crucial… Read More

05/25/2025 Jazz Session 4 – Not On Your Life! Why I’m Not Signing That Contract

This was our fourth Jazz Session. Our subject: Not On Your Life! Why I’m Not Signing That Contract.