Welcome to Wordplay Thursday!
Here’s a writing prompt for you. It’s a simple fill-in-the-blank. You can use one word or several. Feel free to get as crazy, genre-appropriate, or as imaginative as you want. The point is to get the creative juices flowing. And it’s a good thing to dig deeper, so don’t stop at the first idea that hits you. Try coming up with at least five things.
And this week, let’s try to get at least ONE IMAGE in at least one of your plays.
“Country is _____.”
I’ll give you an example to get you started:
“Country is pickin’ ticks off your dog’s ears.”
I’d love to hear what you come up with, so please share in the comments. Oh, and please keep your posts below an R-rating. It’s a family show, after all!
And thanks to Dionne Kumpe, Joe MacKennon, Ken Matthiesen, Bill, Schan, Barney Coulter, Todd, Bill, Larry M Clark, Debbie Convoy, Nick S, Billy Sweeney, Brandon Tijolo Russ, Kim Kondrashoff, Todd Dickinson, Ty Devine, Jennifer Thurston, Dave Edwards, Steve Brackin, Joe Slyzelia and everyone else for your great additions to Wordplay Thursday #141 (read it here)! Great job!
Since strong imagery is such an important part of professional-level songwriting, I’ve put together a course on imagery. It’s called, “Use Imagery To Supercharge Your Songwriting (Like The Pros Do)” and it’s available now!
The course guides you as you learn to:
- Hook your listener in the song’s first few lines using imagery.
- Make your story come to life.
- Make your characters come to life.
- Make your listener connect to your character’s emotions.
- And begin more songs (more easily) using imagery exercises as the start of your songwriting process.
- And more!
And since we’re all songwriters, that means you might not have the means to pay for the full course right now. Not to worry. I’ve made three packages of the course available. Each one has great, helpful content. Just choose the one that works best for you by CLICKING HERE.
And there is an upcoming LIVE imagery workshop on Tuesday, May 17. Not only does it come with all the course materials, I’ll be there to answer your questions and walk you through some great material not covered in the course!
If you’re ready to “Use Imagery To Supercharge Your Songwriting (Like The Pros Do)” CLICK HERE or on the image below.
God Bless and Enjoy the Journey,
Brent
Country is looking at the clear starry sky, surrounded by the singing of the natural world.
Country is a sweet sunset after a hardworking cold sweat!!!
Country is ________.
– the music of Waylon and Merle.
– a barn full of freshly cut hay.
– that morning walk to the milking barn.
– a one-lane dirt road highway.
– a hard-working hand, whose boots are always dusty but he owns no land.
This is a song I wrote called, “All Things Southern”
https://youtu.be/-7PjTqQcMkQ
Kinda sums it up for me. Hope you like it.
Thanks,
Tamanie
Great song and video
Thanks so much!
Country is _____
…living life unplugged
… songs that make her heartstrings twang
…the open road to heaven, a four-wheel drive, and Jesus behind the wheel
…a paycheque stamped with forty-hour sweat
…a song sowed in pay dirt
That’s some pretty strong stuff there brother… Well done!?
Thanks Todd!
Country is:
-mama cooking up squirrell for the evening meal.
-front porch pickin’ and mason jar sippin’.
-switching the TV to Old Hee Haw reruns and being as giddy as a coon dog on scent.
-is what happens when a red neck settles down.
-a moon lit tear in the corner of her eye when you kiss her good night.
Country is sittin on the front porch on a hot summer night listening to the sounds of “crickets” and a Haggard tune.
Country is rod and reel in the back of your pickup bed.
Country is cornbread cooked in a,cast iron skillet.
Country is a farmhouse with a full size windmill in the front yard.
Country is black rubber chore boots covered in mud.
Country is me. Sitting on a porch swing strumming Grandpa’s old guitar.
Country is ____
…takin’ your dog to go catfishin’
Country is as country does.
Country is…
…spittin’ tobacco in a jar and bettin’ nickels on just how far.
(This one is from Marty)
…downright gritty, one thing tho’, it sho’ aint city.
(Marty)
…your dog in the back, with your gun in the rack.
…Saturday night drinking and betting, with Sunday morning church regretting. (Marty)
…all week long dreaming and wishing to take a day off and just go fishing.
These are really good Linda (and Marty)! :))
Country is:
Swimming in the creek on a hot Summer day.
Turning the churn for Grandma’s Ice Cream.
Running barefoot through the mud puddles after a rain.
Sleeping on a pallet at Grandma’s house.
Going to school barefooted.
Courting the girl down the road.
Smoking behind the barn.
Country is a warm piece of cornbread,
In a cold glass of buttermilk
Under the stars on the back porch
Listenin’ to a whippoorwill…
Country is:
-the slamming of an unlocked screen door on your way out for the day
-when your barn cat is best friends with the piglett
-gathering fresh warm eggs in a basket
-giving your favorite cow a back scratch with the leaf rake
-you and your friends riding to the county fair in the back of your Dad’s pickup
is all about what Waylon said …of a little ol’ town called Luckenbach.
is down to earth, good hard honest working folk…who like to shake up it at the old town hall on a Saturday night!
is NOT playing a country record backwards…so that your truck that won’t start…fires up on the 1rst turn of the ignition,..your dog that died…comes back to life…& your soul mate…that you divorced….is now happily back in your arms.
Country is that quite pensive moment when one is thinking about all the people they love so dearly & all the comforts of home…only to be reminded…they’re so far away from home…somewhere in some desert the middle east.
Country is real, it’s fun, it’s sad, it’s what I listen to …& Country…well that just me!
Country is buttercup dust powdering your nose, cool, damp grass between your toes,
trailing a stick along the pasture fence as you make your way back home.
Country is…
… what cities need
… dirty callused hands on a man with a clean soul
… muddy pair of jeans with a Copenhagen ring.. Oh Wait.. that one’s taken.. 🙂
… having to go to town, pretty much for civic activities only
… a genuine smile with a straw of grass hanging out
… men and women who respect Mother Nature, who nurtures their families.
.. .pure as the sky is blue and the Lord loves me and you
Country is…
A place that fills my senses..
I see a flag on every house.
I hear a yes ma’am from children’s mouths.
I taste the best fried chicken I ever ate.
Chase it with a tall, sweet, fragrant lemonade.
It makes me feel..like America is great.
Country is Moonrise in the back yard while the sunsets in the front.. (That’s my real life)
Good job keepin’ it real, Steve! Or is that, “keepin’ it rural?” (And don’t ya’ll get excited- I’ve already written that!)
Country is …. senses and feelings
a change of color of orange and red trees in the fall to bright white , blue and yellow flowers in the spring
a winter walk with your dog through the woods ..and a cold blast of air in your face
a foot on a rail fence watching spring foals prance around their quiet mothers
a quiet night and cricket music
Country is the soft green grass underneath my bare feet
Country is ____
…a Southern sunrise tappin’ at my front door, and Mother Nature ready with her fiddle and bow.
Entering four-forty parkway …Berry Hill…listening to Maren Morris singing “My Church” on the Music Highway in South Nashville
Country is entering four-forty parkway on a lazy Sunday…Berry Hill… listenin’ to Maren Morris beltin’ out the chorus to “My Church” ‘n barrelin’ barefooted down the Music Highway …south Nashville
You can say that again.. (But don’t need to) 😉
Country is a couple kids chasing fireflies across from the lawn to the meadow.
Country is the inside of an oak barn with tools hanging on nails in the wall.
Country is a sing-off between whippoorwills and peeper frogs every starry night.
Country is a circle of acoustic instruments and people singing harmony on bluegrass gospel around a bonfire.