Story Institute Imagine, Enhance, & Grow Your Stories

Read monthly inspirations and topics from Story Institute in RamblingVerses.

Welcome to the sixth Story Institute newsletter…No time for wasting…let’s rambling on through the storylines…

Empowered Writers…

As we began our journey into the Netshow/Podcast world, bigger things had to move and adjust. One of the things that moved was this newsletter. So, since we are a little behind on sharing and growing, we are dedicating this issue to the many poems and short stories we have received for our contests. Remember, the deadlines for each contest are:

Poetry Contest Deadline: March 15, 2009

Short Story Contest Deadline: April 15, 2009

If you have not entered yet, or know someone who will be entering, please be sure to check out the guidelines for each contest.

Poetry Contest Guidelines:
http://www.storyinstitute.com/poetry-contest-guidelines/

Short Story Contest Guidelines:
http://www.storyinstitute.com/short-story-guidelines/

We have some great bonus prizes for those who do not reach our top honors. So, stay tuned into our site, your email if you have entered our contest, and our podcast, RamblingVerser….

Listen to RamblingVerser…

Story Institute has a new netshow about writers talking about writing and their books…no, not those who get the major marketing budgets, those who are looking to share a little more insight into the world they ventured into of sitting in the bookstores signing books, contacting friends and family to tell others about their work, and, yes, even those writers using the massive internet web to share interesting ideas about their craft…
Find RamblingVerser on iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=301942371

OR, on Story Institute:
http://www.storyinstitute.com/category/ramblingverser-podcast/

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Welcome to the fifth Story Institute newsletter…No time for wasting…let’s rambling on through the storylines…

Engage a New Outlook…

Ahh, the new year…full of fun, full of frenzy, full of excuses not to write that new story, poem, novel, play, or check…There are always resolutions around writing if you are a writer. There are also at least double the excuses for every resolution going unfulfilled. The only one who can build the story you need to tell is you. You neighbor, your writing group or buddy, your small pet can only encourage the story to start, stop, or spin. You must engage in the actual writing. The inspiration was not meant for anyone else. Need to choose and write.
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Welcome to the fourth Story Institute newsletter…No time for wasting…let’s rambling on through the storylines…

Evoke the Holiday Angel…

With each new holiday, a new memory is created. The old ones do not just disappear. They simply blend together making new memories that grow to be more impactful on our lives. We live through each new event as if it is an expected occurrence. Think about why the holidays are celebrated. Think about the intensity each family member adds to the time together. Think about the connections you miss due to random memory lapses or holiday induced emotive moments.
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Welcome to the third Story Institute newsletter. We’ve waited until now to release this edition, so…No time for wasting…let’s rambling on through the storylines…

Writing through the words…

Now is the time to write. Empower yourself to deliver the stories that lie within. November is National Novel Writing Month. So, break out the scrap paper, the simulated, onscreen paper, or the trusty, somewhat dusty notebook and write. Just sit down and do it. So far, we have focused on your muse…so, you should have the inspiration…and belief…without which your characters would not be real…wait a minute, they are characters…
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Welcome to the second Story Institute newsletter. No time for wasting…let’s rambling on through the storylines…

During the autumn of inspiration, it is important for the belief to change colors, but remain attached to the base from which it sprouted. You read it correctly…the autumn of inspiration…Belief is an important part of any story. If you don’t truly believe in your characters, your story fades and falls just like leaves as the dye before winter. As you write, read, or just ponder your ramblings, take a step back and ask if you believe enough to be engaged for the duration of your piece. If it is just a temporary sprinkling of tasty water for the tree, reconsider where your thoughts are planted and move on.

Believe in More Than The Words…

Saint Augustine – De Libero Arbitrio:
Unless you believe, you will not understand.

David Dale:
If you believe in your characters, they will be believable to your readers.

Robert Fulghum:
I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge — myth is more potent than history — dreams are more powerful than facts — hope always triumphs over experience — laughter is the cure for grief — love is stronger than death.

D.H Lawrence shares some basic, though powerful and connected thoughts on what it takes to believe…read carefully, and re-read it. We all miss something the first time…

Belief
By: D.H.Lawrence

Forever nameless
Forever unknown
Forever unconceived
Forever unrepresented
yet forever felt in the soul.

Engaging the Beast of Belief

So, you have invested much time in coming up with the plot, character names, and even the house that your grandfather Jack built. You begin writing. You get through chapter 1, move to chapter 2, and reach chapter 3 when that moment hits…the moment, during a normal dream when your characters your characters are sitting in the corner booth at the local diner and look up at you and have a conversation with you on their past, their future, and better yet, ask to be written out of the scene that you left them in for the last month. If you reach this point, you have stared into the beast of belief and entered the conquering stage. If you are still waiting for an insight other than what you have outlined, keep looking. Once you start to believe, engage yourself in the storyline. Bring your thoughts and passion back to the ramblings your characters and readers will thank you.

Children are the greatest source of belief. They not only make up good, simple stories, but they believe them. They believe in their imagination so much, it is difficult to avoid being pulled in yourself. When you are within the inner confines of belief, stay there for a while and watch the children. Watch how they play and interact with their imagination. Watch and listen to the conversations they have in their own little world. Then, step back a little. Watch other people interact with each other. When you return to your writing share what you observed with your characters. This will allow you to continually breathe life into your story and shake the tree just enough so that some of those beliefs fall and become replanted in the minds of your readers.

Clouded Resources – Belief

Here are some of the many resources found on the web for keeping your belief engaged…Good luck…
Getting to Know Your Characters – Marg McAlister
http://www.writinginfo.org/Getting-Know-Characters/196

Visit us at Story Institute for other ideas and ties to belief…
http://www.storyinstitute.com/

To take RamblingVerser with you or read it offline, download the PDF version here:
ramblingverses-episode-2-august-2008

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Welcome to the first Story Institute newsletter. No time for wasting…let’s rambling on through the storylines…

Whether you are composing a poem, scribbling a short story, or scratching out a novel, an inspiration is needed to get you going and maintain the explosions of creativity throughout your piece. Sometimes, we wonder where to find the missing muse. Sometimes, we think we see them, but become tricked by the lure of another voice. In the sections that follow, search for your muse. If you do not find him/her there, check out our website: http://www.storyinstitute.com/storylines/ or go on a mental walk-about, but find the inspiration before continuing. Otherwise, your verses, stories, and endeavors will become random ramblings lost without a muse…

Evoking Inspiration – Verses Inspired

A muse is as important to poetry as the poem itself. In Greek, the word mousa is a common noun as well as a type of goddess that means “song” or “poem”. While our ancestors may have believed in a celestial being that would inspire them, our muses can been seen in true physical forms amongst the many things that would evoke an emotion. Don’t search too long or hard for the muse though. If you miss her/him, the emotions that will be evoked are frustration, anger, anxiety, or despair…of course, you may want those…and, TADA! your muse has arrived…

Muses can be found in the strangest of places…under an old pile of clothes…around buildings…under your desk…behind the eyes of a new friend…in the mirror…or, in your left pocket…in fact, you had better check your pocket now…go ahead…we’ll wait…

You didn’t really check did you…oh well, maybe someone else will find that one…

Great writers have used many techniques to invoke a muse. Here are a couple of examples. Maybe, they can help you as well…

William Shakespeare – Henry V:
Chorus: O for a Muse of fire, that would ascend
The brightest heaven of invention,
A kingdom for a stage, princes to act
And monarchs to behold the swelling scene!

Dante Alighieri – The Inferno:
O Muses, O high genius, aid me now!
O memory that engraved the things I saw,
Here shall your worth be manifest to all!

For a more in-depth look into the muse, Lord Byron shares some good thoughts…read carefully, and re-read it. We all miss something the first time…

Farewell to the Muse
By: George Gordon, Lord Byron

Thou Power! who hast ruled me through Infancy’s days,
Young offspring of Fancy, ’tis time we should part;
Then rise on the gale this the last of my lays,
The coldest effusion which springs from my heart.

This bosom, responsive to rapture no more,
Shall hush thy wild notes, nor implore thee to sing;
The feelings of childhood, which taught thee to soar,
Are wafted far distant on Apathy’s wing.

Though simple the themes of my rude flowing Lyre,
Yet even these themes are departed for ever;
No more beam the eyes which my dream could inspire,
My visions are flown, to return,—alas, never!

When drain’d is the nectar which gladdens the bowl,
How vain is the effort delight to prolong!
When cold is the beauty which dwelt in my soul,
What magic of Fancy can lengthen my song?

Can the lips sing of Love in the desert alone,
Of kisses and smiles which they now must resign ?
Or dwell with delight on the hours that are flown ?
Ah, no! for those hours can no longer be mine.

Can they speak of the friends that I lived but to love?
Ah, surely Affection ennobles the strain!
But how can my numbers in sympathy move,
When I scarcely can hope to behold them again?

Can I sing of the deeds which my Fathers have done,
And raise my loud harp to the fame of my Sires?
For glories like theirs, oh, how faint is my tone!
For Heroes’ exploits how unequal my fires!

Untouch’d, then, my Lyre shall reply to the blast—
‘Tis hush’d; and my feeble endeavors are o’er;
And those who have heard it will pardon the past,
When they know that its murmurs shall vibrate no more.

And soon shall its wild erring notes be forgot,
Since early affection and love is o’ercast:
Oh! blest had my Fate been, and happy my lot,
Had the first strain of love been the dearest, the last.

Farewell, my young Muse! since we now can ne’er meet;
If our songs have been languid, they surely are few:
Let us hope that the present at least will be sweet—
The present—which seals our eternal Adieu.

Clouded Resources – Muse
Here are some of the many…many resources found on the web for finding your muse…Good luck…
Creativity – Dr. Leslie Owen Wilson
http://www.uwsp.edu/education/lwilson/creativ/muse/idmus2.htm

The Voice of Your Muse – Mark David Gerson
http://markdavidmuse.blogspot.com/

A Muse for a Friend – Story Institute – For the remaining newsletter and ideas…
http://www.storyinstitute.com/storylines/

To take RamblingVerser with you or read it offline, download the PDF version here:
ramblingverses-episode-1-july-2008

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