by Naomi L. | August 31, 2016 | Blog, Creative Writing |
It’s been a while since I last participated in Silver Threading and Ronovan Writes‘s Writers Quote Wednesday Writing Challenge, so I’m jumping back in with a new piece today! With everything that’s been going on in my life lately, I really needed some creative inspiration this month. I hope you’ll enjoy my post for this challenge!
The theme for this week was strength. I know I usually pick author quotes for these challenges, so just for fun, today I went with a quote from a popular fictional character instead:
We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided. – Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (J.K. Rowling, 2000)
Harry Potter has been one of my favorite book series since I was a child, and I remember always admiring Albus Dumbledore for his wisdom. Though the context of this quote is the foreshadowing of a war against Dark magic, Dumbledore’s words are just as relevant to the real world trials of good versus evil. So on that note, here’s a short poem I wrote inspired by these wise words. Enjoy!
Stronger United
How strong can we be
When we stand on our own,
When we pull our own weight,
Face our problems alone?
We may each try to be
The strongest at heart,
But with more foes than friends,
We will all fall apart.
How much stronger are we
When we all stand together,
Like brothers in arms
And birds of a feather?
When we fight the same battles
And chase the same dreams,
In the end we will prove
That true strength is in teams.
We are only as strong
As we are united,
And only as weak
As we are divided.
Victory comes
When no one gives in,
For divided we fall,
But united we win.
I hope you enjoyed my poem! Be sure to join the Writers Quote Wednesday Writing Challenge and share your quote-inspired works! Thanks for reading!
Writers Quote Wednesday Writing Challenge is a weekly blogging event by Colleen Chesebro of Silver Threading in collaboration with Ronovan Hester of Ronovan Writes. Be sure to check out both these authors’ blogs for your weekly dose of inspiration! Happy writing!
by Naomi L. | August 29, 2016 | Blog, Word of the Week |
Word: bucolic
Pronunciation: byoo-KAH-lik
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: of or relating to the pleasant aspects of the countryside and country life
Source: Oxford Dictionaries
If you find much of your creative inspiration in nature, then today’s Word of the Week is for you. I’ve most often come across this word while reading poetic descriptions of the countryside or stories that take place in rustic settings, and I admit that while I didn’t really care for it at first, it’s been growing on me the more I’ve read and heard it. You could say it’s one of those adjectives that says it all; whenever a writer mentions the “bucolic” scenery in their work, you know to envision lovely images of country life!
Anything described as “bucolic” refers to the pleasant aspects of country life and the countryside. The word arose in the early 16th century and traces back through the Latin adjective bucolicus to the Greek adjective boukolikós, both of which mean “pastoral”. The latter adjective stems from the noun boukólos “herdsman”, which in turn derives from the noun bous, meaning “ox” or “cow”.
Interestingly, the original use of “bucolic” was as a poetic term to refer to a pastoral poem, and can still be used as a noun today in the same sense. “Bucolic” as a type of poetry is also another word for “eclogue”; the Eclogues of the Latin poet Virgil, for example, are also known as the Bucolics. Note that the adjective’s definition specifically mentions pleasant aspects of the countryside, so I would recommend using this word exclusively with a positive connotation. For those of you who write stories or scenes set in more rural areas, “bucolic” is a perfect word to describe the beauty found in the country!
What are your thoughts on this word? Any suggestions for future “Word of the Week” featured words?
by Naomi L. | August 26, 2016 | J.C. Wolfe's Writing, Poetry |
How long would I wait
To be with you?
I asked myself this question
Before I started playing
This waiting game,
Knowing it would all be a test
Of how much I love you.
How have I waited
So long for you?
It hasn’t been easy at all,
Being so far away,
Longing every day to be
By your side again,
But if I’ve learned anything,
It’s that our love will always
Overcome the pain of distance.
I see your sweet face,
Your kind eyes,
Your gentle smile,
And I feel content.
I listen to your voice,
To your music,
To your laughter,
And I feel at peace.
I talk to you,
Laugh with you,
Share my world with you,
And my heart fills with joy.
The adoration you show me
Brightens my darkest days.
The way you smile at me,
Listen to me,
Encourage me,
Say sweet words to me,
Makes me feel so loved.
Thinking about you,
Dreaming of you,
Caring for you,
Loving you,
Brings me happiness
Like I’ve never known before,
And knowing I’ll be
In your arms again soon
Makes it all worth the wait.
How long would I wait
To be with you?
I know now I can play
The game for years,
Waiting patiently every day
For the chance to be
With you again,
Because I know that
Someday soon,
The wait will be over,
And I’ll finally win.
Happy Birthday to my wonderful boyfriend! Thank you for waiting for me all these years. I promise we’ll be together again soon! I truly love you!
by Naomi L. | August 24, 2016 | Blog, Creative Writing, Featured |
No Man’s Sky came out this month, ending a three-year wait for the biggest space exploration game ever made. Published by indie studio Hello Games for PlayStation and PC, the game is set in a massive open universe (read: 18 quintillion planets) that procedurally generates almost everything from star systems and planets to the alien lifeforms that occupy them. I haven’t played it myself yet, but I have been watching someone else play, and if nothing else, it’s definitely creative and makes for great artistic inspiration, in no small part for its representation of the endless possibilities in space.
So today, I’d like to dedicate this creative writing post to that someone special who keeps on inspiring me with his passion for space. There’s a lot of creative inspiration to be found out there in the Universe, so let’s explore! Enjoy!
Tales in the Sky
Since the time of ancient civilizations, human beings have been fascinated with the stars and the mysteries hidden among them. Early cultures associated celestial bodies with divine beings and used the study of the stars to understand the phenomena of Earth, making astronomy the oldest natural science in history. Constellations have been a big part of mythology and storytelling throughout much of history, while modern science continues to make a splash in nonfiction by unraveling the great mysteries of the Universe. Whether you’re an artist or a scientist, there’s always something exciting to find in the cosmos!
The twelve signs of the Zodiac
The stars have always inspired me with their mysterious beauty. Sometimes when I’m feeling starved for creative inspiration on a clear night, I like to look outside at the sky and get lost in daydreams (nightdreams?) about space and all the amazing things that could be waiting out there in the Universe. I’m fortunate to live in a suburban area where there’s a good view of the stars at night (not as perfect as in unpopulated deserts, of course, but much better than in big cities), so I’ve had many opportunities to enjoy open skies with countless stars and bright moons, which often make excellent inspiration for poetry. So beautiful!
Stargazing is extremely relaxing, and an excellent practice for artists who either need inspiration to overcome a creative block or simply want to unwind after a busy and tiring day. If you’re lucky enough to live in an area without too much light pollution, I recommend taking the occasional break in the evening just to gaze up at the night sky. You may find it’s exactly what you need to spark your creativity!
“To Infinity and Beyond” / “It Came From Outer Space”
Mention “science fiction” and the first images that come to mind are usually alien lifeforms, spaceships, distant planets, and intergalactic exploration. With its continuing popularity from the old Star Trek series to the new Star Wars films and beyond, outer space often seems to be the poster child of the genre, and it remains one of the most well-known themes of science fiction today.
Science fiction is one of my favorite genres, and some of my favorite sci-fi stories use space travel as a major theme. Films like Interstellar and The Martian fascinated me with their use of real science to tell amazing stories, while The Force Awakens blew me away with its creative and exciting contributions to a classic sci-fi saga. A couple of the reasons I love science fiction are its infinite possibilities and its power to reconcile science and art, and some of the best examples of science fiction stories encompassing both these points are the ones with themes related to outer space.
Naturally, space-themed stories don’t always have to involve traveling outside Earth; sometimes it’s fun to imagine what would happen if space came to us instead. Alien invasions are another popular theme and often come up in lists of science fiction writing prompts. Outer space also contains plenty of dangers that could threaten life on Earth, making it a great source of inspiration for apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction as well. There’s no end to the strange things that could come from outer space; the only limit is the imagination!
With all the writing ideas it provides, it’s no surprise that space is such a popular theme in science fiction. After all, why limit your stories to Earth when there’s an entire universe out there to explore?
Exploration Beyond Earth
Circling back to the introductory topic, I’ve been watching my boyfriend play a lot of No Man’s Sky lately, and I have to say it’s been quite an interesting journey so far. Mixed reviews aside (because of course there was “too much hype” around it), the game does offer a relaxing atmosphere in which creative introverts like my boyfriend and me could easily get lost for hours. We’ve enjoyed discovering different kinds of planets and especially naming the strange creatures we find together, which has turned out to be a great exercise for me as a sci-fi/fantasy writer. Maybe I’ll even use some of those alien names for a future novel!
While it may not be everything it supposedly promised to be, my impression is that part of the appeal of a game like No Man’s Sky must come from a fascination with space in general and its infinite potential stories. These don’t have to be entirely fictional, of course; another game my boyfriend loves is Elite: Dangerous, a space exploration game which, despite being set over a thousand years in the future, is heavily based on the real Milky Way galaxy, even containing a handful of real star systems alongside the procedurally generated ones. He loves how relaxing it is to explore deep space alone, and in a 1:1 scale open world galaxy, he’ll never run out of space to discover!
Elite: Dangerous screenshot taken by my boyfriend
From constellation mythology to science fiction to astronomy, space is full of inspiration for creative writing. Whether you’re a poet seeking that perfect verse in the stars or a speculative fiction writer doing research for your new novel, your next spark of creativity could be waiting for you among the stars. So the next time you find yourself at a creative block, why not take a break to explore the stories in the Universe? It’s the only other source of inspiration as infinite and boundless as the human imagination!
What about you? How do you find creative inspiration in space? Have you ever incorporated elements of space in your writing?
by Naomi L. | August 22, 2016 | Blog, Word of the Week |
Word: prestige
Pronunciation: pre-STEEJ
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: widespread respect and admiration felt for someone or something on the basis of a perception of their achievements or quality
Source: Oxford Dictionaries
But you wouldn’t clap yet. Because making something disappear isn’t enough; you have to bring it back. That’s why every magic trick has a third act, the hardest part, the part we call “The Prestige”.
– Cutter, The Prestige (2006)
Since I covered magic in last week’s vocabulary post, why not continue on that theme with a related word this week? The above excerpt may seem like an odd choice of example for the given definition of today’s Word of the Week, but I promise there is a connection. The Prestige, a 2006 mystery/thriller film about a dangerous rivalry between two magicians, takes its title from the original usage of the word, which was not so much about reputation as it was about illusion. So perhaps it does make sense that this archaic meaning morphed into the definition we know today; it is, after all, only our perceptions (and in some cases, delusions) of quality that give others their “prestige”!
“Prestige” is admiration and respect felt for something or someone based on a perception of their quality or achievements. The word arose in the mid 17th century in the sense “illusion” or “conjuring trick” and is originally a French noun, also meaning “illusion” or “enchantment”. This noun may stem from the Latin noun praestigium (“a delusion”, “an illusion”) or the verb praestringere (“to blind(fold)”, “to dazzle”).
As hinted above, the word “prestige” has undergone an interesting transformation. What started out as a word for magic tricks and illusions eventually underwent a transference of meaning through the sense “dazzling influence” or “glamour” to become the term for respect and admiration that we know today. The original definition has since become obsolete (read: appropriate for historical writing), while the modern definition seems to appear most often in the adjective form “prestigious”. It’s worth noting that despite their similarities in meaning and phonetics, “prestige” actually has a different root than “prestidigitation”, though at least you could use the latter to remember the old definition for the former. If your characters are revered for their (supposed) merits or are simply masters of illusion, there may be room for plenty of “prestige” in your stories!
What are your thoughts on this word? Any suggestions for future “Word of the Week” featured words?
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