writing other genres
Rusty DeWees on writing funny
Submitted by ggevalt on December 26, 2007 - 00:40.UPDATED LINK! Audio of Rusty telling Craig & Liddle story, click here.
By Rusty DeWees
When folks ask me how I come up with the story ideas, situations and characters I use in my show, I tell them about one of my favorites characters, Craig.
While driving along one day, a buddy of mine and I saw a three-legged dog running along the side of the road. My buddy said, “Hey, look at that one-leggid dog.”
He meant three-legged dog of course, but his Freudian slip made me think, a one-legged dog, hmmm. I thought about how interesting and unusual a one-legged dog’s life would be. I imagined a one-legged dog doing dog things like playing fetch, chasing cars and even sitting the way dogs do, propped up by their front legs. I thought if a dog’s remaining leg was one of it’s front legs, and you did that “shake-your-paw” thing, the dog would fall forward on its face.
Creating words that beg for music -- Young songWriters Project
Submitted by ggevalt on October 16, 2006 - 14:26.
Jon Gailmor
By Jon Gailmor
My songwriting history doesn’t even vaguely resemble that of Paul Simon, Smokey Robinson or Carole King. Would that it did. My first complete lyrics were “I wanna take a bath with Cath” composed in kindergarten, where we were on a first-name basis with our teachers and were encouraged to express our feelings. I was quite the child prodigy, except for the fact my next lyrics didn’t take shape until I was 23, out of college and hitchhiking through Europe.
Writing for radio -- Do it without your eyes
Submitted by ggevalt on May 7, 2007 - 22:32.Caleb Daniloff is a writer and radio commentator. To read his blogs or listen to his commentaries, go to www.calebdaniloff.com The YWP is partnering with Vermont Public Radio to help you produce radio commentaries for a series called "My Life." For more, click on "Radio Commentaries" in the left sidebar.
By Caleb Daniloff
Forget what you know about writing. Forget computer screens and words on the page. Forget about your eyes. Radio is all about the ears. You’re writing not to be read but to be heard.
Radio is a means of mass communication, but you want to write as if you’re talking to one person — your dad at breakfast or a friend over lunch. That’s what Betty Smith, longtime producer at Vermont Public Radio, tells her commentators.
“At its best, radio is intimate,” she says. “Don’t write a speech, a lecture or a press release. Write a personal narrative that sounds like your half of an informal conversation.”
Hints for writing lyrics from Pete Sutherland
Submitted by ggevalt on October 16, 2006 - 18:41.Pete Sutherland who has toured the U.S. in a variety of bands over the years, has a number of ideas for students to help them write lyrics. Here are his top hints:
Hints for writing lyrics from Diana Winn Levine
Submitted by ggevalt on October 16, 2006 - 14:54.
Diana Winn Levine offers these hints on songwriting by explaining how she goes about the discipline of writing songs:
