I hope y'all had a great weekend! Monday is almost through and while I was at work this morning, I had an idea for a fun and lighthearted writing activity.
As I stated in the title, this one has to do with putting your media player of choice on shuffle. If you fear the song titles that may come up in your library, Pandora works great as well. Using only the song titles, you must create a story and use that song title in the paragraph. Could be dialog, could be explaining the environment, whatever you want to do. I recommend at least 6-11 song titles (one for the title of your story, 5-10 for the actual telling) to get a fun story, but do as much as you want! I'd love to see what any of you come up with, so please comment or e-mail me and let me know how it turned out! I'll put what the song title is and who sings it if you get the urge to check any of them out. Here it goes...
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"Little Boxes" (by The Decemberists)
Billy closes the flaps on his last cardboard box and stood up with a great sigh. Looking around the small bedroom, a shimmering of tears starts to cloud his eyes.
"Billy, are you okay? Did you finish packing yet? The moving men want to finish before his rain hits."
An older woman, Billy's mother, swishes into the room with her customary floor-length skirts, her hair a large frizz of gray and auburn.
"Everything is alright, Mom. Just taking a few minutes to say goodbye." He rubs his eyes like he's tired, but his mother knows. better. (Everything is Alright by Motion City Soundtrack)
His mother gives him a bear hug, squeezing Billy's ribcage until it feels like it might burst.
"Come on, Billy. Let's move this last box together."
Holding one side of the bottom each, both manuever through the small apartment, the living room a clash of the past three decades. Burnt orange, custard yellow and moldy brown mingle with pastel pinks and blues.
As Billy and his mother put the last box outside, the moving men pick it up, practically throwing it in and shutting the door.
"Another one bites the dust boys." The largest of the movers say, spitting out some chewing tabacoo on the cracked sidewalk. "Let's get this puppy to the university." (Another One Bites the Dust by Queen)
Billy turns to his mom as the truck speeds away through the complex, almost hitting a faded blue Ford pickup parked near the entrance. At that same moment a messy girl of about eleven runs from behind the building, clothes and face smeared with dirt.
"Don't leave yet Billy!! I have to get my hug!!!" She slams into the older boy, almost knocking him on the concrete.
"Slow down, sister! You're gonna hurt someone." Billy ruffles the girl's hair, and gives her a hug, lifting her in the air and spinning. "I'm going to miss you Gracie. You need to look after Mom while I'm at college." (Slow Down Sister by Lady Antebellum)
A small pout splits Gracie's lips as she nods solemnly and hugs Billy's legs.
"And Mom, try not to get lost in the everyday combat at the hospital. I know you tend to go overboard."
His mom gives Billy a raised eyebrow and a chuckle. "Aren't I the one that is supposed to be telling you what to do?"
Billy smiles as a dented red coupe pulls up, his friend Trevor in the driver's seat. (Everyday Combat by Lostprophets)
Billy quickly hugs his Mom and Gracie one last time, promising to call as soon as he reaches his dorms. Yes, he will do laundry every week, and no, he won't waste his time partying and drinking.
"Gotta love that goodbye speech, Bill." Trevor smirks as he drives away, winding through the backroads to get to the interstate.
"Yeah, its a weird feeling though, leaving like this. I thought I would be..."
"Excited to get the hell outta Dodge?" Trevor laughs and pats Billy's arm. "It's a brand new day, man, and we have the world in front of us. You'll be back before you know it." (Brand New Day from Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog)
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Alright, I kept this one short, and I can definitely tell it's very rough. I have to admit I'm not very good at the "touching moments" scenes, so I thought this would be a good chance to flex those muscles as well as try the new exercise. Now if you try this, it's going to be rough and it won't feel like a smooth work of art, but it is a good way to strain your imagination and think on your feet, as well as try some genres or scenes that you have trouble with. And the best part is every time you do this exercise, it's a different story!
As always, let me know what you think in the comments. I'll be back tomorrow with some links to good reference materials for writing as well as a website that is having an open submission period beginning tomorrow. Godspeed and have a good night!!!
Monday, April 30, 2012
Friday, April 27, 2012
Three Things For The Weekend
Hello again guys and gals! Every Friday I'm gonna bring you three things to check out for the weekend. It'll be books, movies, videos, music, etc. Whatever strikes my fancy and I think you'll enjoy as well.
First, I want to thank Alison for showing me this awesome YouTube video. Lovey-Dovey is a video by t-ara (or T-ARA on some websites), a South Korean music group. It's a bit long, being a little over 20 minutes, but regardless of if you know the language or not, it's a beautiful video telling a compelling tale. I felt daunted the first time I watched it, feeling that 20 minutes was far too long, but before I knew it, it was over. The music is constantly shifting genres and it's just interesting and I highly recommend at least one viewing!
Second, whether your interests lie in writing, mythology, psychology or sociology, I highly recommend this book called "45 Master Characters" by Victoria Schmidt. The link goes to the Amazon.com website where they have it for FAR cheaper than I paid for it. It goes over the common archetypes of characters found throughout mythology and older tales that survive in modern literature and entertainment. It definitely goes along with Joseph Campbell's study of mythology and how all characters and people are some sort of archetype. (I'll get on that subject on another post, but he was an amazing and insightful scholar you all should check out). This was a book I scoured when I first purchased and through the years found it a solid reference when I wanted to get an idea on how a character should flesh out and feel more real.
Finally, I wanted to share some of my favorite music with all of you. I'm sure most of you have heard of Death Cab for Cutie, and if you haven't you are truly missing out! Their latest album "Codes and Keys" is another excellent album, their seventh studio album delivers just like all of the previous ones. The link leads to Amazon.com to purchase the actual CD (because to me they are worth the extra bucks to support), but you can also check out your iTunes for not only this album but everything else they've done as well. The lyrics are very poetic and fit the music expertly. This album seems more piano heavy than the ones previous, or maybe their lacking other instruments that seemed to stand out previously (I do not pretend to know music, nor do I have the fancy lingo down to make it sound like I know what I'm talking about). Either way, I've found that no matter where I was driving, whether to work, going home, going to get groceries, whatever, the songs seemed to go with whatever I was doing and the music felt "right," for lack of a more musically inclined response.
So those are my three for you all. As I stated previously, I will be doing this every Friday. Definitely check them out and let me know what you think in the comments section! Godspeed and have a great weekend!!
First, I want to thank Alison for showing me this awesome YouTube video. Lovey-Dovey is a video by t-ara (or T-ARA on some websites), a South Korean music group. It's a bit long, being a little over 20 minutes, but regardless of if you know the language or not, it's a beautiful video telling a compelling tale. I felt daunted the first time I watched it, feeling that 20 minutes was far too long, but before I knew it, it was over. The music is constantly shifting genres and it's just interesting and I highly recommend at least one viewing!
Second, whether your interests lie in writing, mythology, psychology or sociology, I highly recommend this book called "45 Master Characters" by Victoria Schmidt. The link goes to the Amazon.com website where they have it for FAR cheaper than I paid for it. It goes over the common archetypes of characters found throughout mythology and older tales that survive in modern literature and entertainment. It definitely goes along with Joseph Campbell's study of mythology and how all characters and people are some sort of archetype. (I'll get on that subject on another post, but he was an amazing and insightful scholar you all should check out). This was a book I scoured when I first purchased and through the years found it a solid reference when I wanted to get an idea on how a character should flesh out and feel more real.
Finally, I wanted to share some of my favorite music with all of you. I'm sure most of you have heard of Death Cab for Cutie, and if you haven't you are truly missing out! Their latest album "Codes and Keys" is another excellent album, their seventh studio album delivers just like all of the previous ones. The link leads to Amazon.com to purchase the actual CD (because to me they are worth the extra bucks to support), but you can also check out your iTunes for not only this album but everything else they've done as well. The lyrics are very poetic and fit the music expertly. This album seems more piano heavy than the ones previous, or maybe their lacking other instruments that seemed to stand out previously (I do not pretend to know music, nor do I have the fancy lingo down to make it sound like I know what I'm talking about). Either way, I've found that no matter where I was driving, whether to work, going home, going to get groceries, whatever, the songs seemed to go with whatever I was doing and the music felt "right," for lack of a more musically inclined response.
So those are my three for you all. As I stated previously, I will be doing this every Friday. Definitely check them out and let me know what you think in the comments section! Godspeed and have a great weekend!!
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Musings of a Mad Scientist
Okay, so this is a short piece I've been thinking on over the past day or two. Next time I'll get some more traditional exercises, but for the sake of getting used to submitting here and flexing my brain when its so near the end of the work week, I'll give you this!
This came about from my recent watching of the SyFy show "Eureka." (Good fun, you should check it out if you haven't already.) The town is full of these crazy smart scientists and their inventions that seem to always go arwy at the wrong moments. This got me thinking on the whole "mad scientist" theme in fiction and how it's a perfect blend of fantasy, science fiction and horror/suspense. Just look at Frankenstein, one of the most memorable books and movies of all time.
This little bit takes place moments before the mad scientist's creations/machinations are to make their debut. What led him to this moment physically and emotionally. What drives someone to cross that line from plain ol' scientist to the mad sort? So, without futher ado, I present "Musings of A Mad Scientist."
-----
There is solace in science. A quiet, calm place in the storm of the mind where emotion cannot exist. Science with emotion is dangerous, corruptive. It cannot happen lest the object of scientific study be corrupted in turn. It leaves room for bias and error to accumulate.
I stand in my laboratory, all thick machines with too many buttons and cold steel to encompass my cold mind, body and soul. The sun is setting, lightening the highest reaches through inches-thin slats in the stone, the warm orange and rose never quite reaching the floor or myself. Like much in my life, the fire and and warmth never seems to reach far enough to make a difference.
Two years ago is when the fire finally died in my heart. Two years since my wife Beatrice, with her playful eyes and thick lips forever smiling, was taken from me. She was on her way to the market, her weekly trip to sell my contraptions and pick up the necessities. Times were tough in those days. Skies seemed darker, colors seemed faded. But Beatrice's smile always fanned the fire of my soul and kept me going past all the rumors of brigands and taxes and war, to the end of the day when we would share our world together with idle chatter and playful games that only soulmates could understand.
Brigands must have not cared for fire in their souls, for on her way back to out remote cottage, she was stabbed to death and robbed of all our money. I found her near twilight, her body skewed in the dirt track as if a flimsy doll thrown carelessly to the ground. An irregular pool of crimson circled her body like a halo, the dirt giving it a grimy substance and the fruits and vegetables forever stained where they had been abandoned.
It was in that moment my fire was extinguised, replaced with a heaviness in my chest that seeped ice into my limbs, freezing my brain. Throughout the next few weeks that ice grew to a sharp point, piercing what was left of my humanity, draining it away. I don't remember much past the whiskey, its blurry edged memories blessedly comfortable.
After a time, I began to doggedly persue my inventions. First finishing the projects and ideas that I had entertained and thought out with Beatrice. But once they were finished I could do naught with them but destroy them, gleaming clockwork pieces of memory that should have died with Beatrice.
One night, in a drunken stupor so common in those days, I had an epiphany. The brigands wished to take my fire? I would take theirs for myself.
Night after night of toiling and experimenting, digging and scrounging, I finally found an old volume three towns over that would give me what I wanted. I would create the perfect weapon. For months I would haggle and barter for supplies, and grudgingly work for those I could not pay. But after what felt like eternity, I began my true experiments. Life would be in my hands, and people would live and die by my whim.
Between my experiments I slept little and ate even less. I would use the time to track the brigands, finding their lair and learning what I could of them. They were a cowardly bunch, thirteen strong with not a backbone between them. They harassed and murdered innocent women and children for easy pickings, then cavorted off to a neighboring town to spend their loot. Dispicable fools, thinking they could continue this practice indefinitely.
So now, on the eve of my revenge, I slowly flip switches, turn knobs, fuel machinery and triple check all of my readings for optimal performance. The slow hum permeating the chamber fills my bones with an odd sensation, pleasant but alien. Was this excitement? Pleasure? It had been too long since I had last known these emotions.
One last switch, and arcs of lighting race across the broad steel tabletop, the machine of a man twitching with the beginnings of life. The arcs and humming reach a crescendo, a cacophony so beautiful to my ears that I felt icy tears sliding down my cheeks. This was for you, my dear, sweet Beatrice. You will be avenged.
The electricity stopped, the metal man and his shaking limbs subsiding in the silence. Then, the metal man abruptly sat up, turned, and stood on the hard stone floor. Its gleaming mix of bronze, steel and iron a tapestry of beauty. The dark hollows where eyes should be reflected only a solid, bright ruby of intelligence as it got on one knee and bowed its head to me.
-----
There we have it. Please feel free to leave any comments or suggestions. I'm sure I misspelled some words that I was not able to catch, so just ignore those and look for the story behind the errors. Thanks again and I will see you all again soon!!!
This came about from my recent watching of the SyFy show "Eureka." (Good fun, you should check it out if you haven't already.) The town is full of these crazy smart scientists and their inventions that seem to always go arwy at the wrong moments. This got me thinking on the whole "mad scientist" theme in fiction and how it's a perfect blend of fantasy, science fiction and horror/suspense. Just look at Frankenstein, one of the most memorable books and movies of all time.
This little bit takes place moments before the mad scientist's creations/machinations are to make their debut. What led him to this moment physically and emotionally. What drives someone to cross that line from plain ol' scientist to the mad sort? So, without futher ado, I present "Musings of A Mad Scientist."
-----
There is solace in science. A quiet, calm place in the storm of the mind where emotion cannot exist. Science with emotion is dangerous, corruptive. It cannot happen lest the object of scientific study be corrupted in turn. It leaves room for bias and error to accumulate.
I stand in my laboratory, all thick machines with too many buttons and cold steel to encompass my cold mind, body and soul. The sun is setting, lightening the highest reaches through inches-thin slats in the stone, the warm orange and rose never quite reaching the floor or myself. Like much in my life, the fire and and warmth never seems to reach far enough to make a difference.
Two years ago is when the fire finally died in my heart. Two years since my wife Beatrice, with her playful eyes and thick lips forever smiling, was taken from me. She was on her way to the market, her weekly trip to sell my contraptions and pick up the necessities. Times were tough in those days. Skies seemed darker, colors seemed faded. But Beatrice's smile always fanned the fire of my soul and kept me going past all the rumors of brigands and taxes and war, to the end of the day when we would share our world together with idle chatter and playful games that only soulmates could understand.
Brigands must have not cared for fire in their souls, for on her way back to out remote cottage, she was stabbed to death and robbed of all our money. I found her near twilight, her body skewed in the dirt track as if a flimsy doll thrown carelessly to the ground. An irregular pool of crimson circled her body like a halo, the dirt giving it a grimy substance and the fruits and vegetables forever stained where they had been abandoned.
It was in that moment my fire was extinguised, replaced with a heaviness in my chest that seeped ice into my limbs, freezing my brain. Throughout the next few weeks that ice grew to a sharp point, piercing what was left of my humanity, draining it away. I don't remember much past the whiskey, its blurry edged memories blessedly comfortable.
After a time, I began to doggedly persue my inventions. First finishing the projects and ideas that I had entertained and thought out with Beatrice. But once they were finished I could do naught with them but destroy them, gleaming clockwork pieces of memory that should have died with Beatrice.
One night, in a drunken stupor so common in those days, I had an epiphany. The brigands wished to take my fire? I would take theirs for myself.
Night after night of toiling and experimenting, digging and scrounging, I finally found an old volume three towns over that would give me what I wanted. I would create the perfect weapon. For months I would haggle and barter for supplies, and grudgingly work for those I could not pay. But after what felt like eternity, I began my true experiments. Life would be in my hands, and people would live and die by my whim.
Between my experiments I slept little and ate even less. I would use the time to track the brigands, finding their lair and learning what I could of them. They were a cowardly bunch, thirteen strong with not a backbone between them. They harassed and murdered innocent women and children for easy pickings, then cavorted off to a neighboring town to spend their loot. Dispicable fools, thinking they could continue this practice indefinitely.
So now, on the eve of my revenge, I slowly flip switches, turn knobs, fuel machinery and triple check all of my readings for optimal performance. The slow hum permeating the chamber fills my bones with an odd sensation, pleasant but alien. Was this excitement? Pleasure? It had been too long since I had last known these emotions.
One last switch, and arcs of lighting race across the broad steel tabletop, the machine of a man twitching with the beginnings of life. The arcs and humming reach a crescendo, a cacophony so beautiful to my ears that I felt icy tears sliding down my cheeks. This was for you, my dear, sweet Beatrice. You will be avenged.
The electricity stopped, the metal man and his shaking limbs subsiding in the silence. Then, the metal man abruptly sat up, turned, and stood on the hard stone floor. Its gleaming mix of bronze, steel and iron a tapestry of beauty. The dark hollows where eyes should be reflected only a solid, bright ruby of intelligence as it got on one knee and bowed its head to me.
-----
There we have it. Please feel free to leave any comments or suggestions. I'm sure I misspelled some words that I was not able to catch, so just ignore those and look for the story behind the errors. Thanks again and I will see you all again soon!!!
Welcome!
Hey everyone, and welcome to my blog! It's still the process of adjustment and changes, but I wanted to share a few of my ideas for where this blog should go.
First, I plan to use this space as a way to document my writing exercises. Like everything else in life, writing only gets better with practice! I will be doing a weekly exercise, and if I'm feeling particularly inspired, maybe two or three. I will scour the internet for interesting exercises and will post them here so you can join in on the exercises as well!
I also want to share links to useful information for writers. Whether trying to publish, having troubling picking the right words for your work, or just general guidelines to let yourself go and not be too critical about yourself. It isn't too far off that most people expect every piece of work to be a New York Times Bestseller, but all authors will tell you it takes a lot of patience, time and practice to reach that level. As a writer, I always berated myself for my work not being of such a high caliber and would promptly rip out or delete anything I had written. Only recently have I (with a lot of effort) begun to set aside my ego and just write because it is an activity I thoroughly enjoy.
Finally, I hope to recommend some stellar novels and other media to all of you! I do not claim my tastes are the best thing since sliced bread, but maybe a few of the things I do enjoy will catch your eye and open you to a new world. I'm a bibliophile through and through, and I am always looking for new books to read. Please don't hesitate to recommend a book, game, movie or YouTube video that you think I may enjoy. I'm also a gamer to an extent (when time permits) and am a huge fan of RPGs and tactical games. However, I'm always open to a new experience and am willing to try some new stuff!
Thanks again for stopping by and check in later tonight for my first writing exercise!!!
First, I plan to use this space as a way to document my writing exercises. Like everything else in life, writing only gets better with practice! I will be doing a weekly exercise, and if I'm feeling particularly inspired, maybe two or three. I will scour the internet for interesting exercises and will post them here so you can join in on the exercises as well!
I also want to share links to useful information for writers. Whether trying to publish, having troubling picking the right words for your work, or just general guidelines to let yourself go and not be too critical about yourself. It isn't too far off that most people expect every piece of work to be a New York Times Bestseller, but all authors will tell you it takes a lot of patience, time and practice to reach that level. As a writer, I always berated myself for my work not being of such a high caliber and would promptly rip out or delete anything I had written. Only recently have I (with a lot of effort) begun to set aside my ego and just write because it is an activity I thoroughly enjoy.
Finally, I hope to recommend some stellar novels and other media to all of you! I do not claim my tastes are the best thing since sliced bread, but maybe a few of the things I do enjoy will catch your eye and open you to a new world. I'm a bibliophile through and through, and I am always looking for new books to read. Please don't hesitate to recommend a book, game, movie or YouTube video that you think I may enjoy. I'm also a gamer to an extent (when time permits) and am a huge fan of RPGs and tactical games. However, I'm always open to a new experience and am willing to try some new stuff!
Thanks again for stopping by and check in later tonight for my first writing exercise!!!
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Howdy!
- BCzubinski
- Hey everyone, and thanks for stopping at my small corner of the internet. I'm a budding writer, so I will be using this space to put useful writing links and tips, posting writing exercises, and any other thing that piques my interest. Hope you enjoy! You can also follow me on Twitter, Pinterest and Facebook: Twitter: @bczubinski, Pinterest: bczubinski, Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/brandon.czubinski