Do you like limericks?

The Washington Post limerick contest

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/22/AR2010102203147.html

choice of journal prompts and link to Gerard article

The Fact Behind the Facts by Philip Gerard. In our Creative Writer's Handbook on p. 252+.

http://www.creativenonfiction.org/brevity/craft/craft_gerard_26.html

1. Write about meeting a famous person. Even if it was only a handshake in a crowd, put the event on the page. Freewrite or cluster to stir your memory of the meeting. Tell it as a narrative, step by step, including as many details as you can recall. If you want, take time to do a little research on the famous person. Expand your piece by adding this information to it. What did this meeting mean to you, if anything? How did the person measure up to your expectations?

2. I once dated someone whose brother told me, "Friends are just people who borrow things." I remember thinking how incredibly lonely the guy must feel or how friends in his past must have disappointed him. Begin a piece of writing with a sweeping assertion about the nature of friendship, then develop your statement or refute it or just go where it leads you.

The above prompts are from The Writer's Idea Book by Jack Heffron, Writer's Digest Books, 2000.

today's journal prompt Tuesday Oct. 26

From The Writer's Idea Book, page 48, by Jack Heffron, Writer's Digest, 2000.

Mona Simpson begins her story "Lawns" with the sentence "I steal."

Begin a journal entry with the line "I ________________." Push forward from there.
If you can think of an action that speaks to who you are, what would it be?
Write at least a few paragraphs.
Try this experiment at a later date with different actions.

check out a Wilmington-based humor writer, Celia Rivenbark

Warning: Celia Rivenbark can be politically incorrect!

http://www.thesunnews.com/2010/10/17/1752258/waiting-for-my-wake-up-call.html

http://www.thesunnews.com/2007/01/21/35655/theres-no-test-for-southern-vocabulary.html

Her books include:
Stop Dressing Your Six-Year-Old Like a Skank
Bless Your Heart, Tramp
We're Just Like You, Only Prettier

Indian Pulp Fiction

I know you would never be interested in murder, sex, and love stories. And cobras. So whatever you do, don't check out this link about new translations of Indian pulp fiction.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130332973

Campus Event: New Moon in our Book-to-Film series Tuesday Oct. 19

In BT 101 on Tuesday, Oct. 19th from 2:00-5:00, we will discuss both the book and show the film of New Moon, by Stephenie Meyer. The film starts at 3:00. Join us!

typo cops

Check out this video about the typo police or TSI -- Typo Scene Investigators.


http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6944729n&tag=cbsnewsVideoArea;cbsnewsVideoArea.0

They corrected a typo on a sign in Grand Canyon National Park that got the feds knocking on their doors.

potentially offensive material-- you must be over 18!

But interesting.
Have you heard of the post secret project?
People write one of their secrets that will fit on one side of a post card and mail it anonymously to the post secret guy, Frank Warren. He writes books from all the mail he gets. Lots of mail.
He sells out multimedia lectures now too.
He's giving one at the other Coastal, Coastal Carolina University in Conway, SC on Nov. 3.

http://www.postsecret.com/

image courtesy postsecret blog by Frank Warren

your character's name

How do we know what name to give a character? What is the meaning or derivation of a name?

My first name, Melanie, means "dark lady." Even though I was not named for the character in Gone With the Wind, my name is almost always associated with that movie and book. Whether I like it or not!

We should carefully consider the naming of our characters.

How different would some of our favorite stories have been if the character had a different name?

Do you know/remember some of these characters? Can you imagine them having another name?

Willy Loman
Celie
Luke Skywalker
Scarlett
Romeo
Nick Adams
Tea Cake
Ophelia
Oliver Twist
Daisy Buchanan
Simon Legree
Harry Potter
Sookie Stackhouse


Does your first name have a long-standing meaning, or did your parents create a unique name for you? You can check on this website.

http://www.behindthename.com/

image courtesy google images

You know I have a thing about Hemingway...

Well, so does Kenny Chesney, country singer. His new CD is called Hemingway's Whiskey. Check out the NPR article:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130104926