Character Recipe

By Cindy R. Williams

My son did a “People Recipe” project in his 7^th grade Creative Writing Class. What a fun way to hone the features of your characters.

Instructions:

Take information learned from interviewing your character. (Yes, sit back and talk to your character.) Create a fresh, fun recipe about him/her. Remember to use recipe-type words, but make your ingredients original and have them differ from the examples listed below.

Questions to ask:

                Character’s name

                Three physical qualities

                Include three other facts

                My ask about likes and dislikes, fears and ambitions

                End recipe with a two sentence set of directions

 

Chase Spaghetti

Serves 4 people

INGREDIENTS:

Two green eyes

Add some glasses

A bushel of blond hair

An ounce of hair gel

Several yards of light colored skin

Add a pinch of a shy personality

A spoonful of knowledge

A nightlight

A basketball

And a pair of running shoes

 Mix all but hair gel in large bowl and heat over stove. Stir constantly with a large spoon for eight minutes. Pour hair gel in the pot and mix well. Sump into strainer until liquid is drained. Enjoy!

Caitlin Cake

Mix:

1 head of shoulder length light brown hair

A pair of expressive blue eyes

One small gum-chewing metal mouth

A generous love of traveling

A dash of interest in the ocean

3 cups of books to read

 Combine evenly and sprinkle with family and friends. Bake for 30 minutes at 325 degrees and serve with mint-chocolate chip ice cream.

 

Harping and Writing

by Cindy R. Williams

Two of my favorite people, Tony and Joanni Judd, on their wedding day.

This is my magical harp, Arvilla. Did you know if you are the first owner of a harp, you have the privilege and responsibility of christening it with it's eternal name? Arvilla is the middle name of my favorite, and only dear mother. The name reminds me of vanilla, a yummy taste and a sublime smell. My mother doesn't like the name so much so it's fun to tease her a bit by using the name - not that I ever yanked her chain growing up or anything.

Playing the harp channels my muse and also calms my soul. I often play late at night in the dark. It's not like playing a trumpet so I don't wake anyone. If they do happen to stumble out of bed, they think they are hearing angels so it's all good.

I have found that writing harp music is pretty much the same process as writing stories. Sometimes the notes flow out and they sound wonderful, but other times, nothing comes. Nada, stone-cold dry. When that happens, I play whatever my heart desires and enjoy the lilting music that floats around the lofty ceiling. When nonsense or no sense comes out of my fingertips on the keyboard of my computer, I often dive into the pool and float on my back make cloud animals.

Just yesterday there were dragons swooping in and out of thunder clouds along with some slashes of lighting giving me two good reasons to slosh out the pool. The first and most important was to quickly jot down the dragon scene before it slipped away and the second reason was to avoid getting zapped by lightning. Maybe not in the correct order, but both important none the less.

The muse is a tricky little minx at best. I think I will try enticicing the muse with chocolate. Has this worked for anyone? What works for you?

Eat, Write and Be Merry For Tomorrow We Sleep!

by Cindy R. Williams

Eat, write and be merry for tomorrow we sleep. Do you live your life like this sometimes? Do you have writing jags that keep you flying and you stay up most of the night? Maybe you are in the re-writing stage, the editing stage. the proofing stage. No matter what stage, it can happen.

I'm guilty. Sometimes the world revolves around my manuscript. I have decided it is NOT good. Oh, once in a great while it's okay, but for the most part NOT! I believe it's possible to go off the deep end if we don't learn to balance the writing life. It's far healthier for mind, body, emotions and spirit to live with a good dose of the staples of life. "Moderation of all things" is my new motto.

Read up on some of the big name authors, and you'll find that many of them plant themselves in their chair anywhere from two to eight hours a day, on a regular basis. They respect their writing and treat it as a job. Then they STOP! They enjoy the other wonderful things in their lives.

Sounds like a plan, a good plan. No need to sacrifice all sanity nor my lovely family. It can all work together with moderation in all things.