Category Archives: about me

TIP ~ INKAS ~ #4

Posted on by
Reply

A quick reminder to followers, and an introduction for new readers, INKAS are a way I created to list the essentials of certain types of writing.

inkasImage

There are roughly 20 different INKAS, and I’ve been introducing them one by one for writers who are unclear about the differences amongst them. (What are INKAS? …..  TIP ~ INKAS ~ #1) Collectively, for me, Story refers to any tale told – orally or in writing – and told in any form. It can be a true story, it can be done as prose, poetry, or in song. But breaking Story down into its different forms is necessary so that writers put the correct “ingredients” together, and also know when to break the rules a little. That’s how cooking works. You follow the recipe until you understand that type of cooking, then you experiment with other ingredients. Sometimes the cake rises, and sometimes it falls, but you’ve become a cook – or even a chef – who knows what they’re doing.

Here are links to the previous posts about specific INKAS.

Short Story …..TIP ~ INKAS ~ #1.1

Children’s Story & Children’s Story with Illustrations ….. TIP ~ INKAS ~ #2

Poetry …..  TIP ~ INKAS ~ #3

Today I want to talk about INKA #4:  Song Lyrics

songwritingINKA

Like poetry, songs express our innermost thoughts and feelings; they just do it with musical accompaniment. And sometimes the music is all there is.

Songs can tell a story or  describe a single moment hidden a person’s soul. However, song lyrics can’t be written same way as a poem. Song lyrics must go with the music, coordinating rhythm and mood so that the song makes emotional sense. Not to say a poem can’t become a song. It’s often a good place to start. But there are other considerations.

The various styles of music – country, jazz, opera, popular, show tunes – use different styles of lyrics in their songs. Some jazz songs have no specific lyrics at all but rely on improvised sounds from the performer, referred to as ‘scat’, that may or may not have included actual words. Modern hip hop combines vocal sounds – or beats – with  lyrics that are spoken rather than sung, rap. These lyrics are vastly different in both content and style from other styles.

There are even further breakdowns within the main genres. County includes bluegrass. Jazz includes blues and Motown. Opera encompasses a lighter version, operetta, and a more modern style, rock opera. Music keeps evolving, too. A writer wanting to write lyrics for a particular style needs to study that style for length, emotion, pace, and even the types of vocabulary most often used.

It only makes sense. I’ve belabored the point a bit, because it seems to be what new writers forget. If you want your writing to succeed in a given genre (musical or otherwise) you must first get to know that genre inside and out. Then, when you can’t get the sound of it out of your head, sit down to write.

Time for a commercial:      “Do You Know Where YOUR Story Is?”

Is it a germ of an idea? Is it a rough draft or work-in-progress? Is it on its way to a publisher? Writers need to keep track of their work, and knowing where you are in the process is part of it.

I’ve started a free newsletter on Substack  that will cover all aspects of Story – where it begins, where it goes, and how it gets there. Topics will delve into the purpose and value of writing groups, and the newsletter will feature guest posts from members of Off the Page & Under the Radar. the writing group I’m part of.  In addition, there will be samples of our writing, maybe even a serialized story for your entertainment.   Please take a look at “Do You Know Where YOUR Story Is?” today.


Once Upon a Time….

Posted on by
Reply

In what might be considered another life, I volunteered as a writing coach for elementary and middle school students at my children’s schools. For the younger students, I ran a Writing Club. We’d meet once a week and work on stories and writing exercises. They’d write their stories, and I’d act as editor to help them see how to make them better.

It was exposure to the ‘grown-up world’ where kids who liked to make up stories got to see what that could mean if you did it in real life. Some years we ended the year creating a magazine to pass out that showcased the students’ work. And we always entered the local Student Writers Showcase, usually bringing home winners in more than a few categories. The day the winners were announced, students from all over the city attended workshops run by different kinds of writers, even songwriters (this was in Nashville, TN after all), and heard a well-known writer speak.

And they’d fill these lines with words to put the pictures from their heads inside their friends’.

My older students, particularly in grades 7 and 8, produced a newspaper, 4 to 8 issues a year, writing the sorts of sports, music, and school activity stories their classmates would like. These students were also encouraged to participate in the Student Writers Showcase.

My motivation was – to be honest – partly guilt. I had my own children in these schools, each with innate writing ability, and they had me as guide and editor. It seemed unfair that other students at our school might not have that advantage. I offered my services to teachers and principals of the two schools. They were happy to accept.

I’m not a teacher. In fact, I’d say I’m not even a good substitute for one. But I know writing; I love writing. I can coach the thing I love. So I would find or devise word and writing exercises for the kids. I’d answer questions and explain what it was like to have real deadlines and editors and how you got a book published. I encouraged them to write the stories they wanted, and pushed to get them to be able to share their stories by using words that would transfer the picture in their heads into the heads of their classmates.

I didn’t focus on deep grammar, sentence diagrams, or conjugating verbs. Instead I went with things like word choices, active tenses, flow and continuity. They learned to uses their senses and then describe what they detected with them. They learned it was okay to use fragments and run-on sentences. Sometimes. They learned about dialogue and paragraphs, about how to choose what to put in and what to leave out. They learned that some editors, teachers, and even readers don’t want to read bad language and how if you want these people to read your story, you’ve got to stretch to think of other words to use. They learned they could write about anything. They could write in any genre or style. They could write fact or fiction, poetry or prose or song. They could even write plays.

I like to think most of the kids enjoyed it – they were only supposed to be in the Writing Club if they wanted to write. I like to think I helped some of them become better writers, and I know a couple at least have taken on careers that make use of their good writing skills.

Re-energizing this blog means re-dedicating myself to sharing writing craft. Over time I’ll post some of the exercises and workshop ideas I used in Writing Club. Maybe they’ll help some writers out there – or some writing coaches. If you’d like to get an idea of some things we did, check out one of my previous posts:

Tip ~ INKAS ~ #1 April 24, 2019 In “INKAS”

‘ta