Verb Challenge

Our second challenge this month, to go with the SURE Challenge (see previous post), is the Verbs Challenge.

Write something following these verb rules:

• No "to be" verbs
• No unhelpful helping verbs
• No adverbs
• No buried verbs

Actually, it's probably easier to write something just trying to follow those rules but then revise the piece.

Remind me, what are the "To Be" verbs we can't use?
Let's conjugate!

infinitive: be
past tense: was, were
present participle : being
past participle: been
present tense: am, are, is (I am, they are, she is)

What are Helping Verbs again?
Here's a good explanation of helping verbs. Have, Be, Do, Can .... these are helping verbs. They have no meaning of their own and are used only to help the main verb in the sentence. Remember, you can use some helping verbs but only ones that are actually helpful. Don't just throw them in there for the fun of it.

Just for the heck of it, What's a adverb?
Adverbs modify verbs: Rachel spoke quickly. Quickly is the adverb telling us how Rachel spoke-- for this exercise we want to say Rachel prattled, or Rachel blurted. Find verbs that don't need help to convey your meaning.
Adverbs can also modify adjectives: It's a strangely orangish bird. Strangely tells us that this bird wasn't just orange, the orange was a strange orange.

Okay, but what's a Buried Verb?
I have my suspicions. Suspicions is a verb that has been buried in a noun. Instead let's say: I suspect.
Buried verbs end in -ment, -tion, -sion, -ful, or -ance.
Don't have investments, invest.
Don't make commitments, commit.
Don't be joyful, rejoice.

After all, "I hope you enjoy this challenge" is much clearer and easier to read than " I am really hopeful that you will have enjoyment when working on this challenge."

SURE Challenge

Bring with you to the next meeting an older piece of writing. Pull out something that's been sitting in the drawer unedited.
Look at it to make SURE it's as tight as it can be:

S -- are the words you chose Simple and Straightforward?
U -- if you use a big word is it Unique? There's no other way to say it?
R -- are you using a Rich vocabulary, or just showing off your vocabulary?
E -- are your sentences Economical? Have you used a phrase where a word would do?

Next Meeting

February 16th, Monday from 6-8. Hope to see you there.

We are writing Something Happy for our challenge.

Poetry Contest and Scholarship Deadlines

If you are a Christian poet now is a good time to enter the Utmost Christian Poetry Contest (follow this link to Utmost Christian Writers Homepage). They've had fewer entries than in past years, not that I want any extra competition (I entered again this year) but Check It Out. The deadline for entries is Feb. 28th.

Thinking of deadlines -- If you're wanting one of those scholarships for BRMCWC 2009 better hurry up. (Go to CWFI, the instructions are under "Member Benefits" but anyone can apply) That deadline is Feb 15th. So if you haven't applied yet, you'd better hurry.

Symbolism Challenge Poem

.
The Owls

These do
dip and glisten,
fog and sway,
pass and dwell.

Tell secrets to the saw-whet owls.
Fogs shift, stars convene, and forests listen.

These do
blue and silent,
stark and gleam,
moon and wise.

Find a place among the pines.
Summer wanes and long eared owls lament.

These do
past and prelude,
green and still,
grey and soon.

Leave the ghost owl to its logic.
Forests settle, reveal, and are renewed.

These do
cloud and bare,
new and night,
glide and know.

Scholarship for Writer's Conference

Any one interested in attending the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference at Ridgecrest (in North Carolina) May 17th -21st, 2009?
If so you should check out CWFI (Christian Writer's Fellowship International) -- they're offering scholarships for the conference from the Cecil B. Murphey Foundation.

Literary Symbolism Challenge (continued)

Okay, are you ready for the next part of the challenge?
Have you chosen a color (see previous post) and a number between 1 and 12?
Great.
Here are the numbered lists -- remember in whatever you write you are to use at least three of the symbols that correspond to the number you chose (the color being one of the symbols).

Animals:
1) Cat: familiars(witchcraft), magic, cunning, forethought
2) Dog: loyalty, faithfulness (snarling dogs: ingratitude)
3) Dove: peace, purity, simplicity
4) Fox: slyness, cunning, cleverness
5) Lamb: Spring and renewal, innocence, sacrificial element
6) Lion: the sun, power, pride
7) Mouse: meekness, timidity
8) Owl: wisdom, logic, messengers of death
9) Peacock: pride, vanity
10) Raven: death, destruction, prophecy
11) Salmon: instinct, ancient traditions, perseverance
12) Snake/serpent: temptation, evil


Compass Points and Seasons:
1) North: coldness, alienation, hostility, death
2) South: warmth, comfort, relaxed attitude
3) East: renewal, youth, celebration, song
4) Far East = exotic mystery
5) West: evening, age, decline, ending
6) American West = lawlessness, unconquered or unexplored territory
7) spring: birth, newness, beginning
8) summer: maturity, knowledge
9) autumn: decline, age
10) winter: death, sleep, stagnation
11) Easter: rebirth, hope, salvation, miracles
12) Christmas/Advent: expectation, wonder, miracles, birth

Jewelry and Climate:
1) diamonds: romantic love, hardness
2) gold: wealth, perfection
3) pearls: associated with water as in life or as in tears, also knowledge, or great worth (not wealth)
4) rubies: good fortune
5) sapphires: contemplation, purity
6) silver: object of desires
7) snow: covering, obscuring, blinding
8) fog/mist: isolation, muddled thinking, indefinite (as in waiting, or prelude to a decision/revelation)
9) rain: sadness, despair, or bringing life
10) wind and storms: violent human emotions
11) lightening: power, strength, spark of life or death, suddenness
12) thunder: the voice of Deity

Nature:
1) Darkness: evil, ignorance, danger
2) Dawn: beginnings, promises, freshness, time of blessings
3) Flowers: beauty, youth, gentle strength
4) Forests: secrets, hidden things, often evil or fearful places
5) Light: truth, safety, knowledge, warmth
6) Moon: change, women, passage of time
7) Mountains: the meeting of heaven and earth, pride
8) Pine Tree: immortality (evergreen)
9) Rainbows: heralds of rebirth or change, promises
10) Sun: heat and light, source of life, royal power (usually masculine)
11) Water: regeneration, origin of life
12) Weeds: outcasts, disorder, wildness (not of society)

So if your number is #2 then you could write about this faithful little Southern dog -- warm and comforting to his mistress Dawn, as she begins to seek her blessings and search for the great golden wealth she has been promised but encounters difficulties from the menacing man in the solid black suit.

Whereas the #11 might opt to go with a sci-fi story about blue waters coming to life after being struck by lightening... Or something more poetic, like the using the "ancient traditions" symbolism of salmon, plus their seasonal upstream antics, to connect the life/rebirth symbolism of Easter and Water against a background of blues.

The possibilities are endless.

If you're not a blog author, please feel free to participate and publish your writing to the comments section of this post.