Exercise #137 : "Wedding Plans" Betty's mom, who has big ideas, meets with the wedding planner. Write the scene with (all or mostly) dialogue. Keep in mind that the best dialogue usually shows character, mood, relationship, and/or conflict. Why is Betty's mom and not Betty meeting with the wedding planner?? Call me crazy, but if I were getting married, I'd definitely want my mom involved, but - and I love my mom - I tend to disagree with her style choices. I must make sense of this, though, before I begin. Betty is multitasking. While she is meeting with her hairdresser, she has sent her mother to meet with the wedding planner. They already have a feel of what she wants her wedding to look like, so her mother can't make any drastic changes. Yeah... Let's go with that, shall we? 1,2,3, GO!!!! Donna, the Wedding Planner: Hi, Mrs. Davis! It's lovely to see you! How are you? Mother of the Bride: Hello, Donna. I'm well. And yourself? D: I'm

So, as I stated in my last post, I went out of town this weekend to participate in the National Association for Teachers of Singing Competition in Cleveland, TN at Lee University. Well, guess what? I got third place in my division! Woot! There were more divisions than I can count on my fingers and toes, but I feel really good about it. My group - Junior Women - started with approximately 50 young ladies, and they narrowed it down to 20 or so. After that, they narrowed it down to 3, and, to my surprise, I was included in that final three!! I was so proud of myself. Anyways, the final performance didn't go as well as I had hoped, which ended up leaving me in 3rd, but I still feel really good about it. Go Stefers! Just in case you were wondering, normal posting will resume tomorrow. Yay! Peace. Stef.

So I'm going to disappear until Monday. I'm going to Lee University for the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) and competing for moolah, etc. Woohoo! Anyways, that's why there haven't been any blog posts as of late. At any rate, I will be returning on Monday. Much happiness to you all! I'll be back soon! Peace. Stef.

This is yet another writing class assignment that I turned in a week or so ago. I got it back, and... duhn, dah, DAHHH!! I got an A! Woohoo! Anyway, it's a creative response to the book, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian , which is a story about an Indian boy named Arnold Spirit who gets out of the Spokane Indian reservation in Washington instead of being stuck there for the rest of his life. And without further ado... The overhead lights burned hotly into my forehead as I shuffled calmly through the papers in my hand. The studio was set up like an elegant living room, a place where not only I could feel comfortable, but where my interviewees and audience could relax as well. A beautiful, ornate Persian rug graced the wood laminate floor below me, making the cream-colored armchairs - on one of which I was sitting - pop out to the observing eye. A false wall was standing several feet behind me, painted a warm, hunter green and sporting a few classy black and white

Exercise #138 : "The Character's Car: Inside & Out" Take 1 or 2 of the following characters and describe in specific detail what their car would look like, inside and out. Try to avoid stereotypes. The trick is to create a deep sense of character by describing only their car. an unsuccessful painter a rock musician who will soon get famous a high school senior about to flunk out a gym teacher with an attitude a Christian fundamentalist who works at a Walmart a nun a businessman with a serious drug addiction a gay but closeted construction worker a yo-yo dieter a paranoid schizophrenic a cleaning woman who just won the lottery a former Enron executive who has just been sentenced to hard time 1,2,3, GO!! a rock musician who will soon get famous This rock musician - let's call him... Clyde -owns a 1982 Buick LeSabre with faded, cherry-red paint. It used to be a nice-looking car - albeit a bit boxy - with chrome trimmings and fresh color, but over the years lack of

This is going to be a super short post, but I'm going to ask for you guys' advice. I am not sure what to do, and my neurotic little brain is going crazy thinking myself in circles. So there's this guy friend I have, right? We've been friends for a long time (as in since high school), but lately I've been getting these... vibes from him. Weird, I-may-be-interested-in-you vibes. Now, I've gotten these vibes from him before, and they tend to disappate, but here's the kicker... I don't hate it. [insert girly squeal here] I'm not normally a giddy person... Ah, hell... Who am I kidding? I'm totally a giddy person. I'm a big lover of romantic comedies, and nothing makes me happier than a good love story. I mean, I get my rocks off giving people relationship advice, because it helps me live vicariously through these people. Hello, my name is Stefanie, and I am a giddiness junkie. But that's not the point... The point is this guy. As I s

2 posts ago , I told you guys that I was reading a book called Animal Husbandry by Laura Zigman. Well, I finished it. In a total of 2 days. Whoops. I had planned on taking a bit more time with it, but I found myself reading scads of pages each time I sat down to read it. The strange part is that I can't really pinpoint what it was that made me read it so voraciously. It was an interesting idea. I'll give it that. But other than that, it wasn't as amazing as I had hoped it would be. Cute, yes, but completely mind-altering? No. But I guess that's what you get with chick lit, and I'm ok with that. The story picks up just as Jane Goodall (not to be confused with the monkey scientist; pictured right) has been dumped by her boyfriend for no apparent reason. She begins explaining that she has concocted a theory - The Old-Cow-New-Cow Theory - which explains men's behaviors while in a relationship. The basic idea is this: Bull meets New Cow. Bull and New Cow mat

Exercise #136 : "Tough Grandma" This is an exercise to help make a character more vivid. In what ways is "Grandma" tough? Make a list; be as specific as you can. Then, once you have finished, go back and circle the three best items on the list. I've had a picture collecting virtual dust on my computer's hard drive for I don't even know how long (I thought it was humorous), and I have finally realized that I have kept it (unwittingly) for the purpose of this very post. Now, it might be a bit crude for some of you, but I guess I'm willing to run that risk. Ah, classic. I love it. There's nothing better and more hilarious than a bad-ass Grandma. Anyways, here goes. 1,2,3, GO ! She uses the finger liberally. She goes out and does extreme sports like snowboarding surfing, and she does it well. She can out-surf and out-snowboard even the locals. She was once almost mugged, but she scared him away by simply giving him an evil glare (and making us

You know how you sometimes buy books with the full intention of reading them but never actually get to them? I'm notorious for this. I have a personal library of a few hundred books, and I have decided that I will not buy a single book until I have read all of the books in my possession. That being said, I won't be buying new books in a very, very long time. :( Sigh... BUT! It means that I won't be running out of things to read for a very, very long time! There's nothing bad about that! Right? Anywho, I have started this excursion with a book that I have had for several years. I got it back when I saw the movie Someone Like You (I actually like this movie a lot.) starring Ashley Judd and Hugh Jackman. I had just begun my mild obsession with Mr. Jackman and wanted to watch every single movie he had ever been in, and so it was only natural that the movie ended up on my list. I found out, though, that the movie was based on a book by Laura Zigman called Animal Husban

Exercise #135 - "Bread" Make a list of all the breads you can think of (i.e. Wonderbread, bagels, pita bread, etc, etc, etc). Then, next to each one note the color, texture, flavor, and smell. GO! I must first state that I LOVE bread. It may sound a bit strange, but there is something so wonderful about walking into a kitchen that has just produced some fresh, heavenly bread. You might say it's a passion of mine... But anyways, on with the list! sourdough - With a honey-colored, hard crust, sourdough bread has dense inside. True to it's name, the bread both smells and tastes sour in comparison to most breads, but it's quite delectable. croissant - This bread has a flaky outer crust that, once bitten, reveals a slightly less flaky interior that is spongy to chew. It tastes like heaven. rolls (specifically those O'Charley's ones... mmmmm) - A light golden brown, unsliceable crust is only the beginning of this magnificent roll. Inside is the fluffiest of

Exercise #134 : "Barrel, Mirror, Telephone" In three sentences or less, describe the barrel. In three sentences or less, describe the mirror. Where is the telephone? Describe what happens. GO! Barrel - It's round - of course - and wooden, but it looks as if it has weathered decades of wear and tear. It is held together by iron hoops and bolts, but it doesn't appear to hold anything despite its obvious sturdiness. Mirror - It's not a typical fairytale mirror with a gilded frame or a translucent face hovering in the glass. Instead, it is a worn panel of glass without a frame. Scratches cover the surface. The telephone is at the far end of the room, next to the doorway that leads into the kitchen. Yvonne impatiently paced up and down the length of the living room. It was wrong, and she was going to be held accountable. What do I do? she thought. She took a moment to stop and look at the barrel standing ominously in the corner of the room. Its simple existenc

I was reading through my current work in progress, and, as I was reading, I realized that, while I went into great detail describing the people and places that my main character was coming across, but not once did I talk about my main character's looks. Oy. How did I let that happen?? I guess part of it was because I have such a clear image of my main character in my head that I have never thought to describe her. How silly of me. So instead of a writing exercise today, we're going to do a little character development prompt. What does your main character look like? What are his or her distinguishing features? Does he / she have any tattoos or piercings? Scars? Is he / she tall? Overweight? Etc. Be as specific as possible. If you must, be as precise as his or her pore size. Leave nothing to the imagination. GO! Natalie Rose Hansley is a 24 year old woman with red hair, green eyes, and a round face. She has a light dusting of freckles across the bridge of her nose, and the

Exercise #133 : "Jacket Lust" Our clothing serves as a kind of mirror that shows us who we are. It also serves as a potential signal to others about status and values. Write a brief scene using dialogue using this prompt: In the shopping mall, Diane sees the jacket of her dreams; Frankie is repulsed. Frankie sounds like a jerk to me. Either that, or Diane has terrible fashion sense. I can't imagine that a jacket can be that bad. After some preliminary research, the internet has once again proved me wrong, and I have found an awful jacket to inspire my writing. Here it is in all it's glory: Now, I'm sorry if any of you think that this jacket is cute - and I will admit that it does have a certain potential - but the pink / camouflage combo is just wrong. It's like their saying "Women can hunt! See? We put pink next to camo! That makes it feminine!! SEE?!?!" No, thank you. I do believe this is a racing jacket, though, which explains the #5...

Ah, it feels good to be back on the radar of the blogosphere. It's been too long, too long... I've missed you all!!! In the spirit of returning to the schedule, here's a writing exercise!   Exercise #132 : "Humbuggin' Dry Leaves" Write something - anything - that includes dry leaves and the word "humbug." GO! Ernest sat alone on his porch in his hand-made rocking chair and surveyed his lawn. It was completely covered by the dried leaves that had fallen from the ancient oak that was rooted stubbornly in his front lawn. He had tried to have it removed several times, but each time an activist of some sort did something drastic such as chain themselves to the trunk in hopes of "saving such a beautiful testament to nature."   He scoffed at the leaves. "If that damn tree weren't there," he said aloud, "then I wouldn't have to deal with these damn leaves."  With a decided hmph , Ernest stood up from his rocking cha

This screenplay was for an assignment for my English class. We were supposed to study aspects of flight - it's inception, wing walking, barnstorming, etc - and writing something on it. It could be a normal 5-paragraph essay, but my teacher didn't encourage that. She wanted us to be creative, to think outside the box. So think outside the box I did. One of the topics to study was Bessie Coleman, an African American pilot. I thought her story was interesting, so this is what I came up with. The format is not going to be correct because I can't really format a screenplay on here, but I'll do my best. :) INT. WHITE SOX BARBER SHOP - AFTERNOON The front room of the barbershop is empty, save a lone man in his Sunday best who is leaning backward in one of the pristine, black barber chairs, his face covered with a white towel. CHARLES SMITH (O.S.) Bessie? CHARLES SMITH emerges from the back of the shop holding a stack of envelopes. He is a tall, lean man with a ni

I'm finally back! It's been a while, hasn't it? I'm sorry for my absence, but I had to deal with dumb ol' midterms. All of that is over and done with, however, and I am now on Spring Break. It's a lovely feeling, not having any homework due on Monday. No papers, no tests, no nothing . Of course, this feeling will be short-lived and will disappear once school starts back up again next Monday, but I'm not going to think about that. I'm going to sleep in, relax, read, and veg out all week long. It's going to be epic. Epic and wonderful . Let me just tell you about last week, though. It was AWFUL. Really and truly awful. And that's big coming from me, because I try to make sure that I have at least one positive thing to say about stuff like this. But there was nothing. Not a single thing went right. First off : I ordered a dress for a recital I have coming up in April and for a competition in late March, and when it got here I tried it on. It