by Naomi L. | February 17, 2014 | Blog, Word of the Week |
Word: litigious
Pronunciation: lə-TI-jəs
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: concerned with lawsuits or litigation
Source: Oxford Dictionaries
And finally, when I thought you were making sexual advances in the workplace, I said no and I was not litigious.
– Rachel Green, Friends (Season 5, Episode 17 – The One With Rachel’s Inadvertent Kiss)
If you’re as big a fan of Friends as I am, you no doubt remember this quote from an episode where Rachel is being interviewed for a job at Ralph Lauren. After humiliating herself by accidentally kissing her interviewer, mistaking a later gesture of his as a sexual advance, and yelling at him for his supposedly inappropriate behavior, she tries to convince him to hire her by listing all the qualities she had shown him up to that point. Among these was the fact that even though she had thought he was demanding a “bribe” in exchange for a job, she did not plan to sue him for it. And isn’t that something many employers hope for in a potential employee?
A “litigious” person is someone who is prone to settling disputes by going to law, especially unreasonably so. The word can be traced back through the Old French adjective litigieux to the Latin adjective litigiosus, which means “quarrelsome”. These, in turn, stem from the noun lis/litis, meaning “lawsuit”.
As far as I can remember, I’d never heard the word “litigious” before watching this episode of Friends, nor have I heard it used elsewhere since. Evidently, its use in speech has declined over time, though in my opinion, it doesn’t seem like the kind of word that would fit outside of legal commentary anyway. For that, you’ll probably never see it appear in my work, but you could easily make good use of it if your stories are themed around the practice of Law. If you write stories set in law firms and courtrooms, you already have a decent amount of “litigious” characters to work with!
What are your thoughts on this word? Any suggestions for future “Word of the Week” featured words?
by Naomi L. | February 14, 2014 | J.C. Wolfe's Writing, Poetry |
They say there’s nothing like
A first kiss,
And thinking back on ours,
I have to say they’re right.
Do you remember
The magic we felt
On that Valentine’s Day?
We stopped by the point
Overlooking the garden.
What a lovely view it was,
Full of trees that stretched out
To the horizon.
You took me in your arms
And whispered in my ear
The beautiful words
That made my heart
Skip a beat.
Then you moved
A little closer
Until our lips touched,
And the next thing I knew,
I was getting lost in you.
It was soft, gentle, passionate.
An absolutely perfect kiss.
Some might say it’s cliché,
But I swear that for
That one sweet moment,
The world really did
Stop turning.
As you looked into
My eyes again,
I could see
The joy in yours.
I smiled with you,
For I felt it too:
We were in Heaven.
There’s nothing like
A first kiss
With someone you already love.
Dedicated to that special someone whose kisses always make me feel so loved. Happy Anniversary, and Happy Valentine’s Day! I love you, sweetheart!
by Naomi L. | February 12, 2014 | Blog, Creative Writing, Tropes |
Ah, love at first sight. It’s a beautiful idea, and with Valentine’s Day fast approaching, it’s easy to get lost in such a romantic thought. This is a trope that’s been present in romance for centuries. Romeo and Juliet, Cinderella and Prince Charming, Sir Lancelot and Queen Guinevere; all are well-known examples of couples in fictional tales and legends who fell in love instantly. But is love at first sight just a myth fit for fantasy, or is it real enough to warrant a place in more naturalistic fiction?
What is Love?
What a complex yet simple question. If you were to ask several different people what love is, you’d probably get several different responses in return. Everyone seems to have their own explanation, and the most interesting part is that they aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive.
Socially, it’s a strong positive connection between two people. Psychologically, it’s a form of deep affection for another being. Biologically, it’s a chemical reaction in the body that creates a feeling of intense passion. There are many ways to characterize love; it all depends on your chosen perspective and your personal experiences with it.
So what about love at first sight? If love is clearly possible between two people, can such a powerful attraction happen instantly?
The Science of Love at First Sight
Romeo and Juliet fell in love the moment they first laid eyes on each other (Romeo + Juliet, 1996)
I asked a few people I know for their thoughts on love at first sight, and to my surprise, the answers I got came from both sides of the debate. On the one hand, my mom (as well as most other people I asked) believes that such a concept is impossible in real life because love is based on something more than physical attraction, something you can’t discover until you’ve really gotten to know the other person. On the other hand, my dad not only believes in love at first sight, but he swears it’s happened to him at least once in his life. To hear others tell it, it was mostly likely infatuation at first sight, but if he believes it was love, who are we to say otherwise?
Oddly enough, some studies seem to suggest that love at first sight is indeed possible. I’ve read some interesting takes on the subject on sites like HowStuffWorks, Psychologies and Daily Mail, to name a few. Of course, it’s worth noting that most arguments defending the concept refer foremost to the physical side of love, but then again, what are human beings if not mostly flesh and blood, right? What matters is that science seems to support the idea that two people can accurately size each other up within the first three minutes of meeting, and have a good chance at making a subsequent relationship work.
Fiction or Reality?
So what does all this mean to writers of romance? I suppose it means whatever you want it to. Characters in fantasy stories can certainly fall in love instantly without compromising the plausibility of the plot; at the very least, the attraction could be attributed to magic. Yet writers of realistic fiction could also possibly make their characters fall in love immediately and get away with it, provided the event is narrated well enough to work in the context of the story.
As for me, even though I’ve never really experienced it myself (unless you count my first crush in Kindergarten), I like to believe that anything is possible. I don’t normally write about it in my own stories, as I prefer to have my characters’ relationships develop over time, but I wouldn’t discard the idea for a future project. It might be fun to explore the possibilities that come with falling in love at first sight!
What about you? Do you believe in love at first sight? Would you impose such a fate on your characters?
by Naomi L. | February 10, 2014 | Blog, Word of the Week |
Word: histrionic
Pronunciation: his-tree-AH-nik
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: overly theatrical or melodramatic in character or style
Source: Oxford Dictionaries
“Histrionic” is one of those words that every artist should know, in my opinion. It’s especially relevant to those in the performing arts, as it can accurately define the level of work in which they’re involved. After all, it’s important for actors and writers alike to understand as much as possible about the spectrum of “drama”, right?
Actions described as “histrionic” are dramatic to an exaggerated degree. The word comes from the late Latin adjective histrionicus, which means something along the lines of “pertaining to acting”. This adjective stems from the noun histrio, meaning “actor” or “performer”.
This word is best known as the noun “histrionics”, which refers to theatrical behavior intended to draw attention. Notably, alternative definitions make references to acting and theatrics: as an adjective, it can be used as a formal word for describing things concerning acting, or in psychiatry as a type of personality disorder involving exaggerated emotions and attention-seeking behavior. It was also once used as a noun to mean “actor”, though that definition has since become archaic. Personally, I prefer to use it as the noun “histrionics”; there can be a lot of fun in writing about the absurdly dramatic behavior of fictional characters!
What are your thoughts on this word? Any suggestions for future “Word of the Week” featured words?
by Naomi L. | February 7, 2014 | J.C. Wolfe's Writing, Poetry |
I don’t know how I would get by,
I don’t know how I would survive,
I don’t know how I would face the coming days,
If it weren’t for you.
I tolerate their harsh words.
I endure the pain they inflict on me.
I swallow my sadness.
Because of you.
I do get by.
I do survive.
I do face the coming days.
Because of you.
I tolerate their harsh words,
Because I know you will speak to me with kindness.
I endure the pain they inflict on me,
Because I know you will help heal my wounds.
I swallow my sadness,
Because I know you will bring me happiness.
I come home at the end of the day,
I look through my window to the world,
And I smile.
Despite all the harsh words,
Despite all the pain,
Despite all the sadness,
I smile.
Because I know that somewhere,
On the other side,
There is someone who knows exactly how I feel.
Someone who has heard the harsh words,
Someone who has felt the pain,
Someone who has swallowed the sadness.
Someone out there knows me.
I look through my window to the world,
And I smile.
Because I know that I am not alone.
You lift my spirits.
You make me happy.
You save me.
I look through my window at the end of the day,
And to you, and you alone, I smile and say,
“My friend,
Thank you.”
This is an old poem I recently dug up. I wrote it at a time when I often found myself feeling sad, and someone who always helped me get through those blue moments was my best friend. Thankfully I’ve gotten past that phase in my life, but he’s still my best friend, and I love him very much!
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