The Balancing Stones Sculpture Writing Project

~ FEBRUARY 2017 ~

Good Afternoon all Writers, Authors, Poets, aspiring authors, and those with literary interests participating in Our Balancing Stones Sculpture Writing Project.

We are back!

Here is where we left off -- We all placed the condensed word that we came up with from our individual Research that we did on our personal Stone 1 word on our Balancing Stones Sculpture print-out.  We placed the condensed word on our Stone 4.  I've taken the liberty to number the Stones in my Writing Project results for an example for everyone...

 

 

Next, we left off each doing further Research:

We did Research on the word written on our Stone 4.  For myself it was Research on my Stone 4 word, which is "Novels".  In my case, I was to come back with a short list of three genres that interest me from my Research Studies.

 

For you -- you should now have three areas (of your choice) about the word that you chose for your Stone 4.  You had the option of choosing your Research Studies for your Stone 4.  Remember, you are encouraged to share what you came up with here on the Blog.  (Don't be shy).

 

Here are the three genres that I came up with in relation to my Stone 4:

 

1)  Historical Fiction

2)  Drama

3)  Self Help Journal

 

REVIEW:  The object of this Writing Project is to encourage you to expand your mind with regard to your writing path using your own choices and a little Research -- which will lead you to self-discoveries.

 

Using myself as an example, I started out with my Stone 1 (Novelist).  Which in turn led me to Stone 2 (the year "1728").  The year 1728 is when the word, "Novelist" was first used in the English language.  After further Research on the specific year that my word on Stone 1 was first used, I then added Stone 3 (Opera) because I discovered in the year 1728 a certain Opera entitled, John Gay's, "The Beggar's Opera" first premiered in London.  I found that to be fascinating, primarily because I was not at all thinking in that direction when starting my Research.  Then after doing more Research on the word on my Stone 1, I came up with a condensed word for Stone 4 (Novels).  Novels is what I personally seek to Author.  Naturally, we know that a Novelist is an Author of Novels.  Remember, this is all about your personal writing interest(s). 

Now onward to where we are now:  Your three (3) Research choices?  What did you come up with?  What are the results?

I've listed my three results above -- 3 Genres for Novels:

1)  Historical Fiction

2)  Drama

3)  Self Help Journal

 

Add your Research to your trusty Notebook.  Question for you:  For the three areas that your Research led you to, which is the one that you are most drawn to? 

Your responses will be entirely different from mine.  That is why it would be fun to hear what you came up with, and to see your Balancing Stones Sculpture print-out with your four Stones.  Everyone will not have the same placement or words on their Stones as we continue with our Writing Project.  [If you have missed any of this Writing Project, you can just read the previous Blog posts to catch up].

When we come back, you will have narrowed your three research results down to one (1).  The area you are most drawn to.  Think about it overnight, and we'll all meet back here with our Balancing Stones Sculpture print-out.

 Peace, Love & Light,

René

© Copyright - René Allen - FEBRUARY 2017 - All Rights Reserved

~ The Balancing Stones Sculpture Writing Project ~ FEBRUARY 2017

And, we are back!

 

We left off thinking about what we were going to put on our 4th Stone.  Stone 4 will contain a condensed word that identifies what you thought about in relation to your Stone 1 word.

 

Remember, your Stone 1 word is a description of your area of writing that your soul identifies with.  For this Writing Project, I chose the word, "Novelist".  For you, it may be  "Short Story Writer", or "Script Writer", or "PlayWright" . . .

 

What we are doing now is condensing the Research we conducted in relation to our Stone 1 word into one word that we will each place on Stone 4 of the Balancing Stones Sculpture print-out.

 

As an example for all followers of our Writing Project, I chose the word "Novelist", and my Research led me to condense my research into the following word for Stone 4:  "Novels"

 

I picked Novels, because a "Novelist" is a writer of "Novels", and the end result of what my soul would like to do is be an Author of Novels.

 

Your Stone 1 word is a word that resonates with your soul in relation to your writing path.  With that in mind, make sure that your condensed word from your Research also resonates with your soul.

 

Whatever your Research led you to, condense it to one word, and place it on your Stone 4 -- which will be the Stone below your Stone 3, or in the case where you will need to go to the left or right of your Stone 3 ~ like such . . . 

Now that you have placed the condensed word that you came up with from your Research on your Stone 4, it should look something like the example above (which is my Writing Project results).

 

Here is what we will do next:

We will do Research on the word written on our Stone 4.  For me it will be Research on my Stone 4 word, which is "Novels".  In my case, I will write a short list of three genres that interest me for my Research Studies.

 

For you, it will be three areas (of your choice) about the word that you chose for your Stone 4.  You can chose your Research Studies for your Stone 4, and feel free to share what you came up with.

 

We'll see each other back here for the next step tomorrow!

 

 Peace, Love & Light,

René

© Copyright - René Allen - 2017 - All Rights Reserved

~ The Balancing Stones Sculpture Writing Project ~ FEBRUARY 2017

Good Evening Balancing Stones Sculpture Writing Project participants ~ We are back here again with our next step . . .

Grab your Notebook, your pen, and your print-out of your Balancing Stones Sculpture.  Your print out of the Balancing Stones Sculpture should look like the example above.  Your three stones should have the following:

Stone 1)  Your word that describes the area of writing that captures your soul -- i.e.,  Author, PlayWrite, Script Writer, Poet, Novelist, CopyWriter, Film Writer, Journalist, etc.;

Stone 2)  The year that the word that you chose was first used; and

Stone 3)  The word that you chose from the Research that you conducted on the year that your word was first used.

When we were last here, everyone was working on researching the word that they chose for Stone 3.  The word that I chose was, "Opera".  I chose the word "Opera", because my research was based on the year 1728, and what I found was information on John Gay's "The Beggar's Opera" that first premiered in London on January 29th, 1728.

Whatever word that you chose for your Stone 3 is what we are now focused on.  We did further Research on our word choice.  What I found in my research was a photograph of the Opera that took place in the year 1728 (which was the date entered on my 2nd Stone)...
 

 John Gay's "The Beggar's Opera"

Premiered in London on January 29th, 1728

 

You may have found further information in your research that interest you other than a photograph like I did.  Whatever you found that grabbed your attention, make a note of it in your Balancing Stones Sculpture Writing Project Notebook.  If you happened to have found photographs like I did, you can print out a copy of them and tape them or glue them in your Notebook.

Giving you an example of  other information that I found out:

John Gay's "The Beggar's Opera" had an Adaptation in 1953; there was a 1963 BBCtv Broadcast of The Beggar's Opera; there was a 2009 presentation of John Gay's The Beggar's Opera directed by Chris Rovers; The lyrics of the opening song in John Gay's The Beggar's Opera established the main social conflict of the play; there was also a Website created by the students of the University of Michigan about the exploration of John Gay's The Beggar's Opera; and there was also plenty of information on You Tube about this fabulous Ballad Opera.

You may want to write down the links that you found during your Research so that you may go back to them.  I saved several links, and the one link that I'd like to share with everyone here is this one . . .

http://umich.edu/~ece/student_projects/beggars_opera/

The focus of this Writing Project is to turn your attention to your writing and your specific literary area of interest.  It helps to get you inspired to research your area of interest, and to go off the beaten path to expand your mind.

Our next step:  Stone 4

What shall we place on Stone 4?

Think about the word that you have on Stone 1.  If you have the word "Author", the question becomes for you what is the title of what you will Author?  The same holds true if you have the word "Novelist", or "PlayWrite", or "Script Writer", or "Film Writer", or "Poet".

If you have the word "Editor", the question for you is what type of Editor?  News Editor, Sports Editor, Financial Editor, or Fashion Editor.

If you have the word "Journalist", the question for you is what type of Journalist?

Stone 4 will contain a condensed word that identifies what you will come back here with after you have thought about the question that relates to your Stone 1 word.

If you have any questions, please feel free to write them in the comments section here.

I'll see you back here tomorrow!

Have a good night thinking about Stone 1 . . .

 Peace, Love & Light,

René

© Copyright - René Allen - 2017 - All Rights Reserved

The Balancing Stones Sculpture Writing Project ~ February, 2017

Your Notebook

Good Afternoon Everyone ~ If you are following along with The Balancing Stones Sculpture Writing Project then you will have your trusty Notebook filled out with the steps that we have taken thus far.  When we were last here, you were told to come back here, and have your notebook and the information from your Research (the year that your writing word that you chose from your soul was first used)...[my word was "Novelist", and the year my word was first used was 1728]...and then we would proceed to the next step of our Writing Project.

So here we are ~ You should have written in your Notebook information about the year that your word was first used.  I posted my Research about the year 1728 in the last Blog post.  What I found the most eye-opening about the year 1728 was one simple fact that caught my eye . . . The Historical Event that caught my attention about the year 1728 was The Beggar's Opera by John Gay, which premiered in London on January 29th, 1728.

You will have found out very interesting information about the year your word was first used that will catch your attention.  Personally, I had never heard of John Gay's "The Beggar's Opera".  So in doing my research on the Opera, I found out where it premiered -- London.  Since I was not even a thought in 1728, everything that I found out about the year 1728 was noteworthy.

Feel free to add your word (relating to writing), the year it was first used, and the interesting facts you found out about the happenings that took place in the year your word was first used in the comments section here on the Blog.  That should be fun for all of us!


RECAP (See previous Blog posts): 
1.  We each picked a word that related to Writing, such as Author, Journalist, PlayWrite, Novelist, Editor, Script Writer, Instruction Manual Writer, Copywriter, etc.

2.  Then we defined the word (in our own words)

3.  Then we looked our word up in the Dictionary of our choice

4.   Next, we printed out the Balancing Stones Sculpture photo from the first Blog post, and wrote our word on Stone 1 -- which was the 1st stone on the Balancing Stones Sculpture that attracted our attention.  [For each of us, the word, and the 1st stone is different].

5.  Next we all Researched the word that we chose, and wrote out all of the interesting information about our word in our Notebook.  (or printed it out if Research was done on the Computer).

6.  Then we looked up the year that our particular word was first used.

7.  Next, we wrote the year our word was first used on the 2nd Stone on the Balancing Stones Sculpture (to the right of the 1st Stone that we picked out with our word on it).  [If the Stone you chose for your 1st Stone was hanging off to the right, you would then place the year your word was first used on a Stone to the left of your 1st Stone].

8.  Next, we researched the year our word was first used, and wrote out all of the fascinating things, events, and/or happenings that took place during that particular year that caught our attention.

9.  NOW, here we are with all of our Research in hand written inside our Notebooks, and the print out of the Balancing Stones Sculpture with our word that resonates with our soul relating to writing on the 1st Stone of our choice, and the year the word was first used written on the 2nd Stone to the right of our 1st Stone (like the example above on the Balancing Stones Sculpture photo).

What you will do next is place your printout of the Balancing Stones Sculpture photo in front of you, and concentrate on where you will place your next word on the Sculpture (The spot will be on the Stone below your 2nd Stone choice). . .

Your next word will be the one piece of information that resonates with you from your Research.  For me it is "Opera".

Then you will place your Research word on the 3rd Stone, which should be just below your 2nd Stone.  Like so . . .

 

Current Balancing Stone Sculpture in our Writing Project process should have three Stones with information on them:  

1st Stone:  Your writing word that resonates with your soul

2nd Stone:  The year that your writing word was first used

3rd Stone:  The Research word that captured your attention from your Research Studies.

(Pictured above is my example of my writing process in our Project).

Our Writing Project utilizing our Balancing Stones Sculpture will continue with our next step after you have done further research study on the word you have written on your 3rd Stone.

Using the Computer (or your phone), Google your word.  Write down all of the information in your Writing Project Notebook.  Then we will see you back here for the next step!

 Peace, Love & Light,

René

© Copyright - René Allen - 2017 - All Rights Reserved

 

The Balancing Stones Sculpture ~ Writing Project ~ FEBRUARY 2017

Writing Project in progress . . . 

Here we are again Writers ~ Another day working on our fabulous Writing Project using the Balancing Stones Sculpture as our backdrop.

If you are just joining us, you will need to take a look at the two Blog posts before this one.  Then you will need to print out the Balancing Stones Sculpture, and you will also need to pull out your Dictionary and get your notebook out.  Be sure to have your favorite writing pen ready, and a Sharpie marker to write on the Balancing Stone Sculpture.

As an overview for everyone participating, here is what we have done thus far . . .

Everyone has identified their first stone on the Balancing Stones Sculpture that attracted their attention first; then we each identified the word that resonates with our soul about our writing path and we placed that word on the 1st stone (which is the first stone that attracted our attention); then we came up with a definition from the top of our head about the word that we chose personally; next we went to the Dictionary and wrote down the definition of the word as it is in the Dictionary (utilizing the Dictionary of our choice) -- [For the record, I used Merriam-Webster Dictionary]; after doing that, we all found out the year that the word we chose was first used.  We took the year that our word was first used, and wrote it on the stone to the right of our 1st stone (where we wrote the word descriptive of our writing path).

Here is how my Balancing Stones Sculpture paper looks thus far:

 

Please Note:  This is an example (above).  The stone that attracted my attention first is the top stone, and the word that resonates with my soul with regard to my Writing path is "Novelist".  The year that the word 'Novelist' was first used is 1728, which you see above to the right of the 1st Stone.  [Remember, there are nine stones].

Your Notebook should be out at this time, and remember to title this Writing Project:  Writing Project - Month of February 2017 - Balancing Stones Sculpture.

Continuing on . . .
Hopefully you have printed out the Balancing Stones Sculpture and chosen your first stone and placed the word that resonates with your soul about the path you are focused on in relation to your writing at this point in time.  You've also completed all of the steps we've gone over here on the Blog.  And for those of you who are just joining us, you can easily catch up by reading the previous two Blog posts.

REMEMBER:  If the stone you picked happens to be a stone hanging on the end, place the year your word was first used on the stone to the left of the stone where you've written your word.  Write the year down on your photograph as instructed, and place you notes as instructed in your trusty notebook.

Now, onward with the FUN part -- Research Time!

It is now time to research the year that your word was first used.  For me, the year was 1728.  You will see I have placed my writing word ("Novelist"), and the year it was first used on the Balancing Stones Sculpture on the example above.

What we all will do next is take the year that we have placed on our 2nd stone (to the right of our 1st stone) and do our research.  Whatever year your word was first used is primary to this Writing Project.  Taking my example of the year 1728, next I researched what happened in the year 1728.  I used the following resources to do my research on the year 1728:

1)  www.brainyhistory.com
2)  www.onthisday.com
3)  www.google.com
4)  www.eventshistory.com
5)  www.hisdates.com
6)  www.whatwhenhappened.org
7)  www.wikipedia.org

There are also other sources you can use, and you are welcomed to share them with all of us here on the Blog by leaving a comment.

What I came up with is many different Historical Events.  What I noticed was that there were a couple of common threads between all of the resources that I used.

The Historical Event that caught my attention about the year 1728 was The Beggar's Opera by John Gay.  Here is what I found out (Resource Wikipedia) :  The Beggar's Opera^[1] is a ballad opera in three acts written in 1728 by John Gay with music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch. It is one of the watershed plays in Augustan drama and is the only example of the once thriving genre of satirical ballad opera to remain popular today. Ballad operas were satiric musical plays that used some of the conventions of opera, but without recitative. The lyrics of the airs in the piece are set to popular broadsheet ballads, opera arias, church hymns and folk tunes of the time.

The Beggar's Opera premiered at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre on 29 January 1728^[2] and ran for 62 consecutive performances, the longest run in theatre history up to that time (after 146 performances of Robert Cambert's Pomone in Paris in 1671).^[3] The work became Gay's greatest success and has been played ever since; it has been called "the most popular play of the eighteenth century."^[4] In 1920, The Beggar's Opera began an astonishing revival run of 1,463 performances at the Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith, London, which was one of the longest runs in history for any piece of musical theatre at that time.^[5]

January 29, 1728 ~

John Gays' "Beggar's Opera," premieres in London [1728 in History]

What you will need to do for the year that you wrote on your 2nd stone is research that year.  You'll find out some interesting information that you would not have otherwise ever thought about.  What will be even more fascinating is that you will find that the historical event will present many things about Writing in relation to the Arts.

We must remember that Writing covers all areas of life.  We have people who write the News Stories, Newspapers, Plays, Film, Books, Songs, Poems, Instructions for machinery, Manuals, Laws, Business Plans, Magazines, Computer Code, Patents, etc.


Here is your challenge for this Writing Project for today and tomorrow:  Do your Research on the year that your writing word was first used.  The Dictionary will give you the information on the year your word was first used, or you can ask Google or Alexa (smile) for the information associated with the year that your word was first used.  After you have started your Research, write down any interesting information that captures your attention in your notebook about the year you are researching.

When you come back here, you will have your notebook and the information from your Research, and then we will proceed to the next step of our Writing Project.  Have a blessed evening everyone.

Research underway on our Writing Project ~ The Balancing Stones Sculpture

Peace, Love & Light,

René

© Copyright - René Allen - 2017 - All Rights Reserved

 


 

The Balancing Stones Sculpture Writing Project - FEBRUARY 2017

 

Writing Project in progress . . .

It is a new day, and we are back to our Writing Project.  Hopefully you have printed out the Balancing Stones Sculpture and chosen your first stone and placed the word that resonates with your soul about the path you are focused on in relation to your writing.

Remember, there are nine stones.  We are focusing on the first stone that you've placed your word on.  Your stone may be different from the one I picked.  And, of course, the word you have chosen may also be different from the word that I chose.  This is what we will each need to do next . . .

Taking my example from yesterday --

Pull out the copy of your Balancing Stones Sculpture that you printed out, with your first stone, named _____________.  (Fill in the blank with your word).  Place the word that you chose on the stone that you picked.

My first stone that I chose is pictured above with the word that resonates with my soul at this time -- "Novelist".

Now, take out your notebook, and write down the word that you chose for your first stone.  Your paper should be titled, Writing Project - Month of February 2017 - Balancing Stones Sculpture.

Using another example, let us say you chose the word, "Short Story Writer" -- On your printed out paper of the photo of the Balancing Stones Sculpture, you will write "Short Story Writer" (or the word you chose) on the first stone that attracted your attention.

After you have written down your word on the first stone that attracted your attention, you will then turn to your notebook, and you will write down your word once again.

Following your word, insert the definition of your word from  your mind (simply put).  For example, the word I chose is "Novelist" -- Definition:  The writer of a Novel.  

On the next line, write the definition of your word from the Dictionary.  For example, using my choice word:

Novelist:  a person who writes novels (Merriam-Webster)

On the next line of your notebook, write down the first known use of the word you chose.  For the word Novelist, the first known use of it was in 1728.

Now, here is where our Writing Project gets interesting.  Keep in mind the word you chose for your 1st stone, the placement of where that stone is on the Balancing Stones Sculpture, and the year that your word was first used.

Go back to the photo of the Balancing Stones Sculpture, and write the year of the first known use of your word on the stone to the right of the first stone that you picked with the word of your choice on it.  Like so . . .

If the stone you picked happens to be a stone hanging on the end, place the year your word was first used on the stone to the left of the stone where you've written your word.  Write the year down on your photograph as instructed.

As you go to sleep this evening, keep in mind the word you chose, and the year that your word was first used.

We will continue tomorrow with our next step. . .

[Remember to follow along with this Writing Project, because we are going to make good visual use of those nine (9) stones in relation to your Writing, and you'll be amazed at what you learn about yourself!]

You are welcome to leave comments here on the Blog about this Writing Project . . .

Peace, Love & Light,

By René Allen

© Copyright - René Allen - 2017 - All Rights Reserved

 

Good Afternoon Everyone ~ It is a new day, and we are going to get rolling with a Writing exercise for all Authors, Aspiring Authors, Emerging Authors, Poets, Journalists, Editors, Short Story Writers, Book Cover Designers, and those who have the "gift" of the pen and need to get going with a new writing project.

Above you will see the "Balancing Stones Sculpture".  Why?  Because, I'd like for you to try something new and exciting!

Last time you were here on my Blog, you probably saw the post about National Novel Writing Month -- NaNoWriMo.  And, hopefully, you participated and completed a Novel or at least a draft of a Novel to go back to and edit.

So, today we are going to take a good long look at the Balancing Stones Sculpture for a minute.  Notice there are nine stones.

I'd like for you to follow along, because we are going to make good visual use of those nine (9) stones in relation to your Writing...

First, since I'm not one to tell you what to do (smile), this writing exercise will primarily be based mainly on decisions  that you will make concerning how you work the nine (9) stones.  Now, simply take another look at the Balancing Stones Sculpture again, and pick out where you will start --which stone attracts your attention the most?

If you can print this page out, please do, because you can use this Blog page for your Writing Project Notes.

Now that you have identified the stone that attracts your attention the most, I'd like for you to place a name on that particular stone -- such as Novelist, or Author, or Poet, or Journalist, or Short Story Writer, or Editor, or Book Cover Designer, or another name that you identify with in relation to a Writing career.  [You are welcome to leave comments here on the Blog about your choice].

If you draw a blank, just sit for a minute and "think".

Here is my example:

 

Stone 1 has been identified.  It is the stone for me that attracted my attention the most. My focus for this writing project is the area of a Novelist.  Your primary focus may be something else.  Whatever your primary focus is, name your Stone 1 that name.  Your Stone 1 does not have to be in the same spot as mine.  It can be another stone on the Balancing Stone Sculpture.

The idea is to expand your mind, and to get you thinking about your writing "gift" that is patiently waiting on you to pull it out.

See you back here on your next visit for the next step to this Writing Project.  No time to be sleepy . . . 

Peace, Love & Light,

René