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@lifeof katie Some of my favorites are:
– Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
– anything by Eleanor H. Porter
– (probably) anything by Lynn Austin…I’ve read a few of her books and liked them a lot, but I can’t speak for every single one…yet B-)@mariposa I love An Old Fashioned Girl!!!
You know you’re a writer when you’re getting the oil changed and decide to stay in the car when they give you the option of staying or going inside…because you can listen to the mechanics working and, therefore, be able to write that character better even though you will never, ever, *ever* be a mechanic because cars are confusing.
You also know you’re a writer when you’re sitting in the car, in the oil changing bay, with the windows rolled down, in near-triple-digit heat, and decide to pull out your handy notebook and start writing poetry about the sensations of summer because, let’s face it…the air conditioning inside has actually started sounding *really* nice but there’s no going inside now. XD
@mariposa Hello, hello! The Middle Ages dinosaur story sounds so cool!!! I would totally be raising a dinosaur if they were still living. *cries because there are no more dinosaurs* I had forgotten about this until just now, but I was going to write a book about a Depression-era preteen boy who ends up working on a kind of dinosaur ranch. Well…basically. There were a lot of plot and setting details that I was in the middle of working out when I abandoned it for a reason I have now forgotten. I still have my notes from prewriting, so I may resurrect it yet. 😉
@kate-flournoy YES! Her colored pencil drawings are ridiculously, amazingly gorgeous. 🙂@dragon-snapper what @kate-flournoy said! 😛 Projection/volume should come mainly from the abdominal muscles and not from the throat muscles. Throat muscles=yelling, abs/diaphragm=louder and clearer notes. Throat muscles are for pitch and vibrato, in my experience.
@dragon-snapper First, breath control! Both high notes and low notes need the support of your diaphragm. Lie down on the floor, on your back, and this will allow to you to get an idea of how proper breathing feels. When you breathe with your belly, instead of your chest only, you are able to control tone and projection much more. Second, enunciate, enunciate, enunciate. Singing in a way that people can understand your words pretty much feels ridiculous, because you have to over-enunciate. My mom taught me to sing, and the enunciation example I always remember is “in excelsis deo.” My mom taught me to sing it “een egg-shell-seese de-yo.” XD Maybe don’t go that far…but do pronounce the words more precisely than you do when talking.
@theliterarycrusader Oddly, I did not see that you said something here until just now. Weird. Anyway, I think it would be more accurate to say that I *pretend* to sing opera. XD Either way, I’m constantly humming. singing, or talking to myself while I’m working. I think it’s a habit I picked up from working with animals, because I always talk or sing or otherwise make calm sounds around them so they don’t forget I’m there. 😛@graciegirl Thank you!!! I’m glad you liked the blog. Instagram really is awesome for short pieces like my poetry, but it does present some logistical issues with longer things. :/ For me, I just figure that if a poem doesn’t fit well in an image for IG, then it’ll be a book-exclusive when I get around to publishing. Haha!
@theliterarycrusader That’s cool that Weebly is also cheaper. I’ve never never had a reason to pay for extra features so far, so I haven’t looked at prices. 😛 I’m hoping to need some of the extra features that go along with the store, though, so maybe soon. 😉@graciegirl Good questions! Here’s what my experience has told me:
1. I think a blog is a great way to create a writing routine…IF you set up a schedule and stick to it. I have a blog for my poetry…well, technically, I have an Instagram account that feeds into my website…and my goal is to post daily. That schedule was working really well for me until I had a lot of craziness going on with the last few weeks of my college semester.
2. YESSS! Blogging is a great way to have an everyday scribbling/skill-sharpening platform aside from your major writing projects. A journal (paper or digital) works well also if you’re not wanting to share the in-between writing.
3. WordPress confuses me, honestly. I really like Weebly because it’s all drag-and-drop, and I don’t have to deal with HTML if I don’t want to. That being said, you can still adjust the coding if you are so inclined (and know how). I’ve never needed to, though, because it always looks nice and functions smoothly. My poetry website is http://www.hazelstenographer.weebly.com if you want to see what mine looks like.
@clairec *also raises hand* I love using my opera voice, especially singing opera pop (yay non-Italian…sometimes) like Josh Groban, Il Divo, Il Volo, Chris Mann… All those. Oh, Sarah Brightman! Yeah… 😛
@theliterarycrusader Have I ever mentioned this side of me? XD@emma-flournoy I want to learn all the fiddling styles…Irish, English, Texas swing, Cajun, Spanish, etc. Basically I just love folk music, period. 😛 The crunching sound is a result of a softer bow, as well as really digging into the strings close(ish) to the frog. Another fun thing to try when playing quicker tunes is holding the bow about a third of the length from the frog. It feels weird at first, but it’s so much better for switching strings quickly!
@dragon-snapper Oh, who cares about fancy? It’s cool enough that you play the guitar, whatever the style. 🙂 I think you might like Ken Wood’s music. He basically plays a stripped-down classical style.
@clairec Singing…and also fiddling, apparently… That would be my fault. XD So my vocal range, taking into account that it’s probably a couple of steps lower and higher because I couldn’t sing in my full voice at the time, is E3 to G5. I think that makes me an alto?@kate-flournoy I totally misspelled your name. Oops. *sheepish grin* I will sing pretty much anything as well; my taste in music ranges from admirably tasteful and cultured to embarrassingly okay with on-trend pop. 😛 I draw the line if it’s a song with one annoying phrase repeated over and over, or one with enough percussion to totally hide what little melody there is, along with the yeller’s voice. Yelling is not my thing. At all. My absolute favorite thing to sing is probably opera pop.
@dragon-snapper I could see how melting things could be a problem. XD That’s cool that you play guitar. What style do you play?
@emma-flournoy On the fiddle, it’s grace notes, bowed triplets, slides, and cuts. Here’s a really good article on how to do these: http://www.mickconneely.com/ornamentation.html. Now, this is specifically Irish, but most American fiddling styles are deeply rooted in Irish music. (Possibly with the exception of Cajun fiddling…I believe that is truly more French in origin and style.) Another thing you can do is make sure your bow hair are loose (but not at all droopy, of course). This makes them extra grabby, so you can make that crunching sound on the strings with extra pressure, as well as being able to do double stops better and switch strings quicker.Wow. I just realized I really miss playing the fiddle. Summer project after graduation!
@kate-flourney *raises hand and hops around with a grin* I LOVE singing, and my mom was a vocal/piano pedagogy major in college, so she’s given me some training here and there. Mainly, she taught me breath control and enunciation. I’ve practiced ornamentation on my own. (Is that what you call it in singing? That’s what you call the little notes that depart from the actual melody when you’re playing the fiddle… Guess what instrument I used to play, haha! :P)
@dragon-snapper Did the Dragon used to sing? I’ve never heard of a singing dragon. *dozens of story ideas rush into brain*@dragon-snapper I think multiple POVs work best if they are contained in their own chapter, as you said. It also reads better when there’s a clear transition at the beginning of each chapter or some similar indication of the switch between characters. Dialogue tags or plain ol’ transitional phrases work well. One concern with switching person, no matter how you do it, is flow. I would suggest writing it the way you’re thinking, and then making sure it doesn’t sound jumpy.
I’d love to hear how you decide to do it, and how it works out! 🙂
@f5a8c3e92 Very true. I’ve never taken the time to learn much about the functions for each type, but that is a good point…they do differ for the types.
@f5a8c3e92 I’m an INFJ, but I used to lean more towards a T and get borderline results. I still have a very strong logical side, though, and sometimes it’s at odds with my emotional side. 😛