For Writers
Prompt-ly: Quick Writing Prompts to Prime the Pump
You Outta Be in Pictures! Biopics are the rage, these days. If an actor wants to win an Oscar, starring in a biopic is the way to go. But casting is the key to success. It’s one thing to create a fictional character on screen. It’s quite another to transform oneself into an actual person.
Prompt-ly: Quick Writing Prompts to Prime the Pump
Space Cadet You have a chance to go to space! Will you do it? Why or why not?
Prompt-ly: Quick Writing Prompts to Prime the Pump
Pecking Order–It’s a Thing If you watch the birds on a backyard bird feeder, you’ll notice that while some perch right up there at the feeder, others nibble at fallen seed on the ground and still others wait watchfully in nearby trees. When the perchers leave the feeder, the smaller birds take over the spot.
Prompt-ly: Quick Writing Prompts to Prime the Pump
“I thought it would be easier.” Write about something you tried that you thought would be a breeze–but wasn’t. How did you handle this realization? Did you stick with it or did you walk away? How do you feel about the fact that you had to struggle through something that you thought would be easy?
Today’s Fabulous Visiting Writer is…
JENNIE NIMTZ! Jennie, a native Connecticuter, has both a scientific side and a creative side. Recently retired from a career in the field of Mineral Processing, she is thrilled to devote more time to creative writing. Her main focus, at this time, is telling the stories behind things in her possession–stories to be passed down
Today’s Fabulous Visiting Writer Is…
AMY NICHOLSON! Amy lives with her family by a waterfall in northwest Connecticut. Her garden is wild and wonderful, a source of eternal inspiration. She often needs to abandon pruning shears for the sake of pen and notebook. . . leaving her little time for weeding. She has words in Clerestory, Country Women, and Today’s
Artfully Said–Portrait of Mrs. William Man Godschall
John Russell, 1791. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY. There is so much that I love about this painting. Mrs. Godschall’s kind eyes, the blue tint of her hair, the metallic edging on her ruffles, the bold strokes of paint that give movement and swishiness to the copious layers of fabric, the massive
Comma Down—Commas After Nouns and Pronouns of Direct Address (Introductory and Otherwise)
It’s customary to follow an introductory phrase with a comma unless it’s really short and doesn’t seem to need one. You’re never wrong to use one, so I would recommend taking the guesswork out of the whole ordeal by just using one there. This one is pretty easy. A noun in direct address just means
Etudes–George Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue (1924)
New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein–Conductor, Pianist and All-Around Amazing Human Gasp! This one is a stunner. In this 1975 performance with the New York Philharmonic, Bernstein conducts from the bench of the grand piano THAT HE IS PLAYING. He is conducting WITHOUT A SCORE and playing WITHOUT SHEET MUSIC. Seventeen some-odd wildly complex minutes committed
Etudes–Edvard Grieg: In the Hall of the Mountain King
There are all kinds of ways to create, perform and react to art. Edvard Grieg’s “In the Hall of the Mountain King” (1875) from Peer Gynt is just a few measures of notes played over and over again. How could it possibly be interesting? Close your eyes. Listen to the music through a couple of