Today is the last day of the Index-Card-a-Day Challenge and World Watercolor Month. For 61 days (okay, in the interest of full disclosure, I missed six days) I created a little piece of art just big enough to fit on an index card. It was a stretch for me, and some pieces were a lot less successful than the others, but 55 little artworks in the space of two months is a lifetime record for me. Fun, and challenging, to be sure–and it proved to me that I can acquire a new skill, even at my advanced age.
Search for the hashtags #icad2016 and #WorldWatercolorMonth on social media if you would like so see what other participants are doing.
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It’s time for Weekend Writing Warriors! Every Sunday, a bunch of writers post 8-10-sentence snippets from their WIPs on their blogs. There’s a lot of reading, commenting and great writing. Click on the link to see the full list.
Today’s excerpt comes on the heels of last week’s. Hillary took Robin and Allie deep into the forest to see the unicorn. Robin saw him, but Allie didn’t–and, thinking that Hillary and Robin are pranking her, she storms off in a huff.
While munching cookies (the dessert of their picnic lunch), Robin asks Hillary what she’s learned from her research about unicorns. She reminds him of the Unicorn Tapestries they saw on their field trip to The Cloisters, and she tells him the medieval allegory the tapestries illustrate (actually, in this 10-sentence excerpt, you only get a small portion of the allegory).
“The story is called The Hunt of the Unicorn as an Allegory of the Passion. Do you remember the tapestry with the fountain? It’s called The Unicorn is Found. A stream flows out of the fountain, and the unicorn sticks his horn into the stream. The hunters see this, and instead of catching the unicorn right then, they stop and watch. Other animals are waiting and watching, too.”
“Why? What’s happening?”
“People believed serpents released their venom into streams, and any animal or person who drank it would die. The unicorn purified the water with his horn. That made it safe to drink again,” said Hillary.
This is the tapestry the passage describes:
I know it’s short (the limit is ten sentences), but what do you think of this small excerpt from Chapter 11? Any suggestions on how I can make it better? Please leave your comments below.
P.S. If you’d like to read the entire allegory of the unicorn, click here.
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Zentangle and watercolor. Patterns: Lacy, Bamboo, Hollibaugh, Emilie, Heartline, Puff-O, Pollen, DotnDash, and Flutter.
I am participating in the Index-Card-a-Day Challenge and World Watercolor Month. For the rest of July, I intend to paint a little watercolor every day, just big enough to fit on an index card. Search for the hashtags #icad2016 and #WorldWatercolorMonth on social media if you would like so see what other participants are doing.
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Carl Orff (born July 10, 1895; died March 29, 1982), the prolific German composer, is perhaps most famous for his secular oratorio Carmina Burana, based on medieval poetry. Listen to the opening chorus, O Fortuna:
If you’re an elementary general music teacher, you’re probably familiar with, and possibly using, his Schulwerk, the process he devised for teaching music.
The music he composed for Schulwerk uses layered repeated patterns that make it possible for even young children to play parts in ensembles.
From 1924-1943, Orff served as the music director for the Güntherschule, a training school for dancers and gymnastics teachers which he cofounded with Dorothee Gunther. His goal was to help dancers become more musical in their movement. After the school dissolved during World War II, he began synthesizing his technique as a way of teaching music to children.
Orff Schulwerk employs a combination of improvisation, ostinati (repeated rhythmic, melodic, or harmonic patterns), speech, rhythm, play, singing, movement, and use of instruments such as recorders, xylophones, metallophones, glockenspiels, drums, and other percussion. It is used in music training from preschool through junior high and beyond, and in music education programs in colleges and universities world-wide.
Four well-known quotes from Carl Orff help illustrate the ideals at the heart of Orff Schulwerk.
Tell me, I forget, show me, I remember, involve me, I understand.–Carl Orff
Since the beginning of time, children have not liked to study. They would much rather play, and if you have their interests at heart, you will let them learn while they play; they will find that what they have mastered is child’s play.–Carl Orff
Elemental Music is never just music. It’s bound up with movement, dance and speech, and so it is a form of music in which one must participate, in which one is involved not as a listener but as a co-performer.–Carl Orff
Experience first, then intellectualize.–Carl Orff
In Schulwerk, students learn musical principles by first making music, then generalizing what they’ve experienced over time. It is guided discovery.
Listen how simple musical motifs are layered to create a complex piece. This approach lends itself beautifully to student composition. Dance is also a part of the full performance.
Variations on Hot Cross Buns:
Here are some older children performing at an Orff Schulwerk convention:
Though he passed away more than forty-four years ago, Carl Orff’s legacy lives on through his own compositions and through the millions of musicians who learned how to play, improvise, and compose as a result of the process he founded.
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I am participating in the Index-Card-a-Day Challenge and World Watercolor Month. For the rest of July, I intend to paint a little watercolor every day, just big enough to fit on an index card. Search for the hashtags #icad2016 and #WorldWatercolorMonth on social media if you would like so see what other participants are doing.
If you like this post, please spread the joy! Share on all your social media.
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When you’re looking for a cutting edge way to build your brand on social media, sometimes the answer is found by stepping outside yourself—and into the persona of your book’s main character!
Why, you ask? Just like trying to get an excerpt of your novel published in a literary journal, setting up a Twitter account with a good-sized following can show agents and publishers that your story has mass appeal. Each new follower your character accumulates can grow into a potential reader, so you can build up a fan base before your masterpiece even hits the shelves!
Here’s What You Need To Know About How To Tweet As Your Character:
All the same rules apply. Even though your character may be fictional, the Twitterverse operates under real life “laws.” Tweet regularly with original well-thought-out content. Follow accounts with similar interests/themes. Respond to others and try for retweets. Check out our article for Twitter Tips: 11 Ways To Gain More Followers.
Come prepared. If you want to create a successful account, you need to have a REALLY good sense of your character’s background and voice before you start tweeting as him/her. While you may find that your character will develop and evolve with time during this endeavor, you’ll run out of material after a while if you don’t master the subtle nuances of their personality from the beginning. (For more on this, read Character Development In Stories and Novels and 5 Ways To Make Your Characters More Three-Dimensional.)
Get in his/her head. People will identify with what they feel is a believable persona, even if they know it’s just a character. Try your best to remove yourself from the experience for the purest level of expression. Have him or her talk about what’s going on that day in regular, day-to-day situations.
Don’t feel limited by the story. Just because your book is set in another time or an unusual place doesn’t mean that your character isn’t right for Twitter. Your character can tweet from another planet or a medieval courtyard. In fact, exotic settings may drum up intrigue. On a related note, don’t feel as though you have to confine what he/she is saying to the parameters of the book itself—it can take place before or after your story, or be completely removed from it altogether.
Respond to trends. Because Twitter is the most fast-paced of the social media sites, you have the opportunity for constant “tweet-spiration.” For example, if you’ve written a romance novel, have your young female protagonist live tweet during episodes of Girls. If your protagonist is a CEO, comment on the latest business news. If you’ve got at YA book, you’re especially lucky because you can chime in on a lot of the teen culture trending topics. The possibilities are endless.
Don’t get in trouble. Twitter does, in fact, have its own policy in reference to “Parody, Comedy, and Fan Accounts,” so be sure to get familiar with these guidelines if what you’re going to be tweeting could be controversial.
With the popularity of parody accounts like Lord Voldemort and Fake AP Stylebook, you can hop onto this trend while simultaneously building interest in your book. Granted, while those big names attract a lot of attention because they’re well known, that doesn’t mean your main character can’t rise up in the ranks among them. Ultimately, what sets the best tweeters apart from the hundreds of millions of active users is how compelling and original your contributions are.
QUESTION: What would your main character’s Twitter persona be like?
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My husband is a tropical fish hobbyist. In fact, when I first met him 44 years ago, he invited me to his place to see his…aquarium.
A few years ago, he raised oscars, carnivorous fish who particularly enjoy eating goldfish.
Photo of oscar by Jon Helgi Jonsson
Pet stores sell “feeder” goldfish for exactly this purpose, and they are usually less desirable specimens, inbred, with wonky fins and droopy eyes. Every week Greg bought a bunch of feeders for his oscars.
And then, one day, a goldfish emerged from the rocks landscaping the tank. He had apparently hidden within the caves formed by the rocks until he was too large for predators to eat. He was not your typical feeder goldfish. In fact, his fins were magnificent.
He thrived in the tank for several years, growing to about six inches in length.
I am participating in the Index-Card-a-Day Challenge and World Watercolor Month. For the rest of July, I intend to paint a little watercolor every day, just big enough to fit on an index card. Search for the hashtags #icad2016 and #WorldWatercolorMonth on social media if you would like so see what other participants are doing.
If you like this post, please spread the joy! Share on all your social media.
When you’re looking for a cutting edge way to build your brand on social media, sometimes the answer is found by stepping outside yourself—and into the persona of your book’s main character!
ARHtistic License 