Every light
moving on the streets
blinking in the buildings
Every light
a life
story.
poem- city lights November 22, 2013
Every light
moving on the streets
blinking in the buildings
Every light
a life
story.
quote- Jodi McIsaac on truth in storytelling November 7, 2013
“So it’s not just stories you want, then” Maggie said, eyeing Cedar keenly. “You want the truth. Well, there is truth to be found in stories, that’s for certain.”
“Not all stories are true,” Eden piped up from her father’s lap.
“They’re always true about something, little one,” Maggie said, passing Eden another cookie. “If not about what actually happened, then maybe about the person telling the story–or about the person hearing it…”
(Jodi McIsaac Into the Fire p. 136)
I particularly like the last sentence there, because half of the story is in the reader, and the connections s/he makes with it. More than that though, is the very fact that the reader picked that story says something, as does that the writer wrote that story. Subconsciously intentional choices are all around us. 😉
on being thoroughly mused June 30, 2013
For Outlander author Diana Gabaldon:
.
You
were not
just kissed
by the muse,
Diana, huntress,
goddess of the moon.
You were ravaged.
You were embraced;
your buttocks clutched
and hoisted high,
as the muse impaled you,
roughly pierced your soul,
raised hairs the whole length of you.
Seized by such divine inspiration,
you stretched, back arching,
and received the pulsing
thrusts of
.
w
o
r
d
s
,
w
o
r
d
s
,
w
o
r
d
s.
.
Excruciating
ecstasy
that called forth
rippling quivers,
left you heaving,
complete,
replete,
and pregnant
with story.
.
.
This post began with a random comment made on Diana Gabaldon’s Facebook page yesterday, and here we are! My first erotica! ((blush)) lol
.
For those who wondered, yes, Diana has seen this, and I even have a recording of her laughing lustily about it, as we were wrapping up our blue pencil at SIWC 2013. 🙂 Her comment, should you not be able to read the image is, “Wow! That’s a GREAT poem Shawn! I’m truly honoured #mindIusuallyhavetodomoreofthework”
In August 2013 she dedicated her Daily lines to me:
The daily lines in question can be read here:
http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1rlp46l
And if you’re a fan of Outlander and are now watching the TV series, you may enjoy the poem Dear Sam Heughan from August 2013 when Sam was first cast to play Jamie: Diana has seen this one as well, and coached me through some necessary vocabulary alterations (see notes at the end). 😉
in essence… January 11, 2013
Madame Arthurson brought word tattoos for the Creative Writing Club meeting today. Cool! 🙂
Story November 26, 2012
From Three Views of Crystal Waters by Katherine Govier:
There are stories. Stories that are told and told. They belong to the people who tell them, not the people who are in them. The one who is the storyteller is the one who collects. Maybe he is lame. Maybe he lives alone and has no one to talk to . Then he will remember them, go over them in his mind, so the stories are not lost. This is an old tradition. Now not so many will follow. When the story teller is ready, he will tell the story. You may be in the story. It is not finished. You may be part of the story…
.
NaNoWriMo Day 26 1537 words (November total: 36888 13,112 to go in the next 4 days!)
story or death August 28, 2012
If the other fellow can’t tell you his story, you can never be sure he isn’t trying to kill you.
Orson Scott Card. Ender’s Game. NY: Tor, 1991. p.253.
This quote is either really profound or hilarious. There is a bit of a truth here though. If you know nothing about someone else, you may distrust his motives, and perhaps for good reason. However, if you know where someone has come from, have heard history and story, well, then you might be absolutely certain that he’s whacked out and you’re in danger every moment you’re with him! Or not.
479 June 8, 2012
Pondering short story ideas and this patch of dialogue came to me. I thought I’d write it down. Not sure what I’ll do with it, if anything. Where would you take it?
.
“I wouldn’t marry you if the flames of hell were devouring Aunt Ida’s apple tree, and copulation could save the human race, do you hear me Billy Killswell? For the four hundredth time, the answer is no!”
I had meant it, too. I’d meant it the three hundred and ninety nine times previously, and the seventy-eight times after. So what was I doing here in this damn white dress standing beside him?
Four hundred seventy nine is a charm, apparently.
Billy grinned over at me.
I snarled back.
His grin widened.
If I only I’d held out for four hundred and eighty. Four-eighty is definitely a number full of secure denial.
Damn Billy Killswell. Damn him from now ’til eternity.
“I told you I’d get you here, didn’t I?” Billy whispered.
“To hell with you, Billy.” I muttered back.
Pastor Griffith gave a little start, and looked down his bi-focals at me. I scowled as he cleared his throat and motioned the congregation to sit down. The congregation was half-blind Brody Turner and my cousin Lula, who were the designated witnesses to this farce.
“Dearly beloved…” Griff intoned solemnly.
“Stop!” bellowed a voice from the back, and all nine eyes in the church turned to stare at the door.
.
So you tell me, who’s at the door? Leave a suggestion or two in the comment section below, and I’ll pick one and see where we go from there!
I Heart You, You Haunt Me June 1, 2012
My review of I Heart You, You Haunt Me by Lisa Schroeder, in verse. Of course.
.
A verse novel
is like dessert.
Not double chocolate fudge cake
or creme brulee.
More like
lime jello
or
custard.
You want to love it
because it’s dessert,
but somehow
it doesn’t quite satisfy.
There’s a lack of depth here.
The message is simple
and the path is straight.
Apparently,
I like more
complexity
in relationships
and characters.
More conflict.
Something
more.
.
Lest you think I’m just negative toward all verse novels, here’s my review of Wendy Phillip’s Fishtailing, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
write on the page April 13, 2012
“We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day.”
Edith Pierce
Our life is a story. Some are romances, some are adventure stories, some are didactic, some are political thrillers, some are fantasies… What’s yours?
Shawn L. Bird 
Storycube challenge #1 September 13, 2012
Tags: cubes, dice, Rory's, story, writing
I came across this nifty item on a plane to London last year. The Irish game has three versions, and thanks to eBay, I have them all. I like to mix and match them, though I like the ACTIONS set best. I use them in my class room, both for English and Drama.
Here’s an example of a little story I came up with for fun.
Now it’s YOUR turn!
Here is a photo of a roll of Rory’s story cubes. Write a story using the first row as the beginning, the middle row as the development point of your story, and the bottom row as the end of the story.
Interpret each cube to mean whatever you want. For example, ss the lock a literal lock, or is it a prison? a riddle? an obstacle? a place of security? a lock of hair? an opportunity?
In case you can’t make them out, the images are as follows:
closed lock, an abacus, masks of comedy and tragedy
an upward facing arrow, a rainbow with one cloud, someone sleeping
dice, a bed, a shooting star
Post your results in the comment section below! 🙂
RORY’S STORY CUBES are an excellent tool for story telling, idea generation, discussion for everyone from pre-schoolers to senior stroke victims to writers. This roll is from the Apple app.
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