The Marketplace of Technique: Open to All

I've seen that. This girl was reading it in eglish class because we have quiet reading time at the begining of eac english class and it's not a "proper novel" and she got kicked out of class for it. she should allow it,get familiar with different formats.

I'm listening to i will possess your heart (AKA the new single) right now. the intro is looong. 4 mins. im like...where are the lyrics. What Sarah said made me cry. I actually cried. Very imspiring lyrics. My T.A.G./homeworoom/ anouncment readin/ registration wtv you call it teacher who is an english teacher and was my english in the begining of this year UNTIL i got switched out (FUMES) listen to death cab. he sounds different in this song though.

Copperfox, Do you tell Jan you're writing something for her or do you just randomly present it when you're done because i you do that then her reaction to it must be quite something
 
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I normally make it a complete surprise for Jan when I write something for her. She has the cutest smile.

Also a surprise will be the CLEAN limerick I am sending to my mother in honor of her _____ birthday. Mom keeps herself busy taking care of Dad, and helping to run a local-history museum in Rockford, Illinois, the city where both Jan and I grew up. This museum is called the Tinker Swiss Cottage; it was the home of a highly talented (if somewhat eccentric) businessman and builder named Robert Tinker, who was an important figure in the 19th-century history of northern Illinois. Mom was the inspiration for my Talking Koala character "Tinkswid" in "Southward the Tigers." Here is the limerick:


There once lived a fellow named Tinker,
Who was odd, but by no means a stinker.
Now an elegant dame
Is preserving his fame
Through her gifts as a writer and singer.
 
It is my mother whom I was honoring by calling her an elegant dame.

"Tinker" was the last name of a 19th-century man who was important in the local history of my old hometown: Rockford, Illinois. Robert Tinker, whose parents had been Christian missionaries in Hawaii, served his town in several government offices, helping the small prairie city to grow and modernize. He designed and built a house patterned after houses he had seen in Switzerland; thus his home, which has been preserved as a kind of museum, is called the Tinker Swiss Cottage. One of the things my Mom does as a museum worker is to sing songs that were popular in Mr. Tinker's lifetime. She also writes historical articles which have some connection or other with Mr. Tinker or his family members.
 
First entry here after Jan's homegoing

Alas! My thread "A Christian Life In Lyrics" appears to have disappeared! I had other songs yet to post in it, but Jan's abrupt reassignment to the headquarters staff of the Supreme Commander deferred that.

So I will post here the first fully NEW song (meaning my own original melody besides lyrics) that I have written in about eight years. I never tried to stir my songwriting muse while Jan was with me, because her poor struggling brain had all it could do to cope with known, familiar things. Now, however, she can comprehend ANYTHING; so I hope she'll be listening when, in the near future, I give my first public performance of the following. Some will recognize my reference to the vision God gave "Umbrella" of Jan in Heaven.


"LADY JANALEE WAITS"


Under dark brown hair, green eyes are aware
Of all others do to love and to care.
When I step away, she waits for me there; I always have returned.
In her chair she waits, with trust on her face;
The carriage will come, to find her in place.
Her body so frail will feel my embrace, my love once more confirmed.

Lady Janalee, you came to me afflicted by your burden;
When I met your need, I gained indeed, loved by a fellow servant.
I'm so glad we had our dance while your strength remained;
Your sweet hands could knit romance from the yarn of pain.

Maidens who are wise, as mentioned by Christ,
Will watch for the groom with oil for their lights.
And my love as well, through uneasy nights, is waiting for her King.
I can see the haze of pain in her gaze;
She needs help to walk; she totters and sways.
But almighty love has numbered her days, and soon her soul takes wing.

Lady Janalee, your faith in me inspired me to be worthy.
Would that God on high would say just why He called you home so early!
But it was your setting free, never your defeat.
Henceforth, there'll be fruit to see from your grain of wheat.

Now the other side is home to my bride;
From there, ever since the day she arrived,
She can, when she likes, behold him who tried to lighten her hard load.
On a mountain fair, with breeze in her hair,
She waits for the day when I'll be up there.
For now, Janalee can still offer prayer to help me on the road.

Lady Janalee, eternity has been made even richer
Since your childlike heart became a part of Paradise's picture.
Taste and see that God is true, till I find you there;
Those green eyes will prove it's you, under dark brown hair.


(c) Joseph Richard Ravitts
 
hey everyone. I don't feel like I have anything to offere here for one becouse I am still trying ot catch up and the other is there are writers here that are SO good and what could I say that they haven't said already.
 
I hope that this is the right kind of question to post here, but I am currently writing a story, and I am having trouble developing my characters. I have their personalities in my head but it is hard for me to get that on the paper. any tips?
 
Have you ever seen the "MAKING OF--" bonus features on movie DVD's, where they show camera auditions, and trial scenes that never made it onto the screen? Something like that could be done with your story project: "deleted scenes" with your characters, as if the characters were alive and were auditioning with you in the director's chair.

Suppose, for instance, that you have invented two characters who are cousins, Ashley and Miranda, who only see each other two or three times a year. Sit them down together in the acting studio of your mind and your computer; then tell them to talk with each other, even if the particular subjects they end up discussing on this occasion DON'T become part of your final narrative.

If they happen to discuss music, you might "discover" that Miranda loves country music, while Ashley prefers 1970's retro rock. If Ashley reveals her plans to buy a bikini, Miranda could reply that she's too shy ever to show that much of herself. God willing, the more you do this, the more your characters will begin to have their own opinions and hopes.
 
In my own Byron on Wells stories, I have an extremely consistent back story for all the main characters and many of the secondary characters. I know how most of them died and under what circumstances. I know their parents and what they do for a living when they're not involved in the plot, etc etc. It basically comes down to PLAYING with the characters, DANCING with them, getting to know them as people. If you genuinely love your characters, so will your audience.
 
Copperfox, this thread's founder, will be unable to respond to questions or comments until he is released from the hospital. Let's all pull for Joe's swift and full recovery.
 
Magister, you are nothing if not thorough! As has been said elsewhere by now, I seem to be okay. I found the energy to pray that LionCon goes well. For myself, Sunday will be the fourth anniversary of my Mary's departure homeward. I _still_ hope to write my projected biography of her, to be titled "My November Rose."
 
Thank you, my very dear Amanda-Panda. The idea for the title comes from the fact that Mary always loved to grow roses, and one fine pink rose of hers remained whole and sound in her back-fence garden far into the autumn after her homegoing. (It also ties into the fact that our marriage was unconventional, Mary being 15 years older than I.) I finally presented that last blossom in a vase to a neighborhood couple who had been particularly loving and helpful to my valiant honey-bunny.
 
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No thanks needed my very dear Copperfox, I was only speaking of the truth. You're welcome, however. :] That was very sweet of you to present that lone rose to your neighborhood couple.
 
How stories open and close are extremely important in determining how your reader will enjoy them. Setting the scene for a great opener can be a lot of work, but it puts the reader in the right mood and makes them stay.

This is the first paragraph of a chapter of a new story of mine. See how vividly it paints the scene.

It was nearly midnight. Westie sat at the tiller in a warm pool of lantern light as his barge drifted lazily through the moon rich waters. Above, stars played hide and seek among a few scattered patches of clouds. The boat gently parted the laughing ripples that teased and caressed the stout oak planks. All in all, it was the perfect end to a perfect day.
 
o.0 Someone has a great talent for writing [Mr. Badger?]. I must say that this thread has already helped me, in that I need to revise and review the story that I am writing. There are many lessons that I have learned in here just by reading a few pages. Thanks.
 
Magister John, it would be a fitting gesture for my 37th spiritual birthday if you were to get that whole story sent to me as we discussed by phone yesterday.
 
wow, oh blond badger, that excerpt was really good!:eek::D i especially liked the part about the stars playing hide and seek. very neat detail.

and joe, happy birthday in Christ!:D
 
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