Thursday, April 28, 2011

X is for Xylophone...

Hi, there.  :)  I'm likely on the road somewhere between home and Colorado Springs, today.  Headed to the Pike's Peak Writer's Conference and SOO "X"-cited about it!!  I'll be sure to report all the writerly goodness I learn about in a post in May.

But, today... food for thought:


I wrote a passage in one of my stories where I compared something else to the sound of a wonky xylophone.  I didn't think anything about it at the time.  But, reading over the passage later...I started to think;  Am I sure I know what a wonky out-of-tune xylophone really sounds like?  Am I sure I'm even thinking about the right instrument?  Does this comparison really work?

Do you ever do this in your writing?  Something to think about, for sure.

Have an X-tra happy Thursday!!  :) 

14 comments:

Juliet Boyd said...

I'd be worried that people these days might not even know what a xylophone was. As for out of tune, how would you tell? I guess you could always ask Patrick Moore.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JH9L6VonhQc

And no, I didn't know what I was going to get when I searched for Patrick Moore Xylophone, but I think this might just be the answer!

Donna K. Weaver said...

I hate trying to desribe sounds.

Unknown said...

What a very clever use of the letter X and brings back happy memories of my years teaching.

Jess said...

This post totally made me flashback to elementary school music class--in a good way! Have so much fun at the Pikes Peak Conference (can't believe you get to meet Andrea Brown!!!).

Stephanie said...

Have fun at the conference!!!!!

Sounds are tough. I love playing a xylophone though...my daughter has a book with a xylophone attached and the book has songs and had color coded notes! We used to play songs and sing before bedtime!! :)

Jessica Bell said...

Definitely. And then I go an try to find out for real. Have fun at the conference!

Susan Kane said...

A xylophone?! My grandmother had one, and I played with it all the time. When we were closing down my mother's house, we found pieces of it. Felt so sad that it couldn't be salvaged.

Michael Di Gesu said...

I was going to use that one, too, but decided it would be too easy to guess.

HAVE A GREAT TIME!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

You're the first I've seen today using that word! And I thought they all sounded wonky.

Tiger85 said...

I think sounds can be hard to describe sometimes. =)


Poetry, Quotes and Book Reviews.

Trisha said...

This reminds me of a scene I had where my character was talking about a guy who was playing a harmonica out of tune...then I thought of what I know of harmonicas, and had to look them up on Google to find out if it's POSSIBLE to be out of tune with them :D

Bish Denham said...

Oh sure, I used wonky zylophones in my stories lots of times! When I do I stop and go research and get to spend lots of time doing something else!

Hope you are having a wonderful time.

kjmckendry said...

A wonky xylophone....hmm don't they all sound kind of wonky?

Samantha Sotto said...

Describing sounds is tough. When you figure it out, let me know! (But, yes, I think I can imagine what a wonky xylophone sounds like. I think. ;-) )