Rod Collins's Blog
May 20, 2016
A Well Turned Phrase
The first lines of an old cowboy song, "The Zebra Dun," say this: "We were camped on the plains at the head of the Cimarron, When along came a stranger and stopped to arger (argue) some."
That's as original as it gets. "And stopped to argue some" has stuck with me for many years.
Another I like is from "The Camas Place" by Alex Lafollette. Windy Bonner, one of the main characters in the tale is described as "thin and sere as a winter wolf."
I read that and thought, "Nicely done." That, too has stuck with me over the years.
Which has me thinking we readers and writers might like to find a place to share well-turned phrases, our own or something read someplace, heard in a song, that kind of discovery.
And I thought I'd send a copy of my novel "Spider Silk" along to the first three or four people who join me in my appreciation of the magic and power of a well turned phrase.
Rod
Disclaimer: This is just for fun. I'm not looking to steal the work of other story tellers, and I never use anything written by another writer without permission. As far as that goes, I don't think I've ever used another writer's "stuff" anyway.
That's as original as it gets. "And stopped to argue some" has stuck with me for many years.
Another I like is from "The Camas Place" by Alex Lafollette. Windy Bonner, one of the main characters in the tale is described as "thin and sere as a winter wolf."
I read that and thought, "Nicely done." That, too has stuck with me over the years.
Which has me thinking we readers and writers might like to find a place to share well-turned phrases, our own or something read someplace, heard in a song, that kind of discovery.
And I thought I'd send a copy of my novel "Spider Silk" along to the first three or four people who join me in my appreciation of the magic and power of a well turned phrase.
Rod
Disclaimer: This is just for fun. I'm not looking to steal the work of other story tellers, and I never use anything written by another writer without permission. As far as that goes, I don't think I've ever used another writer's "stuff" anyway.
