You are currently browsing the The Wild Quills Blog weblog archives for October, 2006.
- A Muse U Can Use (11)
- Craft Caddy (8)
- Fine 'n Feathered Articles (7)
- Lani in the news (4)
- Li'l Ditties by Famous Scribes (6)
- Quill Quickies (4)
- Quill Quotes (20)
- The Broad Appeal Column (9)
- September 2, 2009: The Broad Appeal: Plugging the leaks in the D.I.Y. philosophy
- August 5, 2009: The Broad Appeal: Back to school? A loony tune for me
- July 1, 2009: The Broad Appeal: Weighing in on Monday mornings
- June 3, 2009: The Broad Appeal: It's time to swoon for June
- June 3, 2009: Learn to "Write Like a Rock Star!" at Gilford, NH's Public Library's 2009 writing camp
- May 6, 2009: The Broad Appeal: The inner battle of the ‘active woman’ (and how to win the fight)
- April 1, 2009: The Broad Appeal: Sowing seeds, sprouting fears, growing ch-ch-ch-children
- March 4, 2009: The Broad Appeal: Yummy thoughts for delicious dames
- February 4, 2009: The Broad Appeal: The sappy ‘n syrupy truth about love and romance in New Hampshire
- January 7, 2009: The Broad Appeal: In with the old, out with the new
Blogroll
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- July 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
- July 2006
- June 2006
- May 2006
- April 2006
- March 2006
Archive for October 2006
Mix ‘n match for fresh, surprising sentences
October 22, 2006 by Lani Voivod, Chief Scribbler.
This one is from Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones, in a three-page chapter entitled “The Action of a Sentence.”
THE DIRECTIONS:
To begin, simply fold a sheet of paper in half the long way.
- On the left side, list ten nouns. Any ten. (Her examples? “Lilacs, horse, mustache, cat, fiddle, muscles, dinosaur, seed, plug, video.” But go on – come up with your own!)
- Now turn the paper over to the right column.
- Think of an occupation (i.e. a doctor, a carpenter, a cook, etc.)
- List 15 verbs on the right half of the page that go with that position. (A cook = sauté, chop, mince, slice, cut, heat, broil, taste, boil, bake, fry, marinate, whip, stir, scoop.)
- Open the paper.
You’ve got a bunch of nouns on the left, and a slew of distinctive verbs on the right. Now take a word from each list and fuse them together to create fresh, surprising sentences, such as…
- Dinosaurs marinate in the earth.
- The fiddles boiled the air with their music.
- The lilacs sliced the sky into purple.
Go ahead – try this one. Watch how your brain is forced to go places it hasn’t gone before. Make imperfect connections. Combine metaphors. Mix it up! Add some verbal Tabasco to that simmering soup of yours – you’re bound to find a few exotic flavors you’d like to keep in your cookbook.
Posted in Quill Quickies | 1 Comment »
A Quill Quote sent in by the astounding Adonna Kokx
October 15, 2006 by Lani Voivod, Chief Scribbler.
“Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.”
-William Wordsworth
Posted in Quill Quotes | No Comments »
Stick THIS in your “Craft Caddy”!
October 2, 2006 by Lani Voivod, Chief Scribbler.
WRITING DOWN THE BONES
Freeing the Writer Within
By Natalie Goldberg
First published in 1986, this little book may well be the official handbook for SHOWING UP. Its author – a Zen practitioner who’s been teaching, writing and Zenning for more than a quarter of a century – demystifies the writing process with short, self-contained essays and anecdotal meditations. Befriending us with her intimate voice and naked style, Goldberg explains and demonstrates how the awesome act and power of writing is also the easiest, simplest pleasure to embrace.
Posted in Craft Caddy | No Comments »