by Naomi L. | January 27, 2016 | Blog, Creative Writing, What If? Writing Prompts |
Life is keeping me extra busy these days, so why not help yourself to some more “What If?” Writing Prompts until I can catch up again? This week’s post features yet another set of prompts in the paranormal genre. See what mysterious tales you can spin around these ideas! Enjoy!
What if… you felt an electric shock up your arm whenever you touched someone who had committed a crime?
What if… you could hear the voices of people who had passed on to the next life?
What if… you found out you had telekinetic powers… by accidentally unleashing them in public?
What if… you could see into the afterlife?
What if… the days a person had left to live appeared to you as a number over their head?
Have fun writing some more paranormal stories!
If you have any “What If?” writing prompt suggestions (for any theme), please feel free to share them in the comments below. Ideas I like may be featured in future “What If?” posts, with full credit and a link to your blog (if you have one)! Also, if you’ve written a piece based on an idea you’ve found here, be sure to link back to the respective “What If?” post. I would love to see what you’ve done with the prompt! Thank you!
by Naomi L. | January 25, 2016 | Blog, Word of the Week |
Word: obtuse
Pronunciation: əb-T(Y)OOS / ahb-T(Y)OOS
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: annoyingly insensitive or slow to understand
Source: Oxford Dictionaries
Tails: What luck! This rock would make a perfect focusing lens for my hyper-exo-madifier! All I need is a refracting chamber and an influx reflector! Right, Knuckles?
Knuckles: Do you use big words just to make me feel… um… what’s that word that means ‘not smart’?
Tails: Obtuse?
Knuckles: Yeah, see? That’s what I’m talking about.
– Sonic Boom (Season 1, Episode 31 – Closed Door Policy)
Okay, so maybe I watch Cartoon Network once in a while just to unwind, and maybe I’ve gotten a little hooked on the newest Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon. But that’s not really important. The point to focus on now is this week’s vocabulary word in the above dialogue from an episode of Sonic Boom. In this scene, young inventor fox Tails is going on about a complex gadget he plans to build, and the brawny but not-too-bright echidna Knuckles has a hard time keeping up with his friend’s “techno babble”. When Tails offers an uncommon definition for a slowness to understand things, Knuckles hilariously proves yet again that he’s a little too “obtuse” to grasp such big words!
An “obtuse” person is someone who is slow to understand things or is otherwise annoyingly insensitive. The word arose in late Middle English in the sense “blunt” and comes from the Latin adjective obtusus “dull”, which in turn derives from the verb obtundere, meaning “to strike”. This verb comprises the preposition ob “against” and the verb tundere “to beat”.
There are a handful of definitions for the word “obtuse”. Aside from the above meaning used for people, it can also refer to something that is difficult to comprehend or an object that is blunt as opposed to sharp-edged. Of course, anyone who paid attention during trigonometry lessons in Math class remembers that “obtuse” also defines an angle between 90º and 180º. So if you ever find yourself writing about dull people and/or objects (or even about math problems), “obtuse” may be a word you’ll want to work into your stories!
What are your thoughts on this word? Any suggestions for future “Word of the Week” featured words?
by Naomi L. | January 20, 2016 | Blog, Creative Writing |
Remember that list I shared last week of five books I want to read this year? Well, I just thought of five more. I feel a 2016 reading challenge coming on! It’s hard to say if I’ll be able to read all these books in one year, but I’ll definitely keep them on my list for future reading!
Just for fun, here are five more books I want to read in 2016. Enjoy!
6) Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by J.K. Rowling
I recently received this book as a surprise gift, and I have to say I couldn’t be more thrilled to have it in my collection. The Harry Potter books were a huge part of my childhood, and no Harry Potter fan’s bookshelf is complete without the spinoffs! The best part is that the profits from sales of Fantastic Beasts go to Comic Relief, a charity Ms. Rowling has long supported that was founded to “bring about positive and lasting change in the lives of poor and disadvantaged people”. It’s been too long since I finished the main series, so I look forward to diving back into the magical world of Harry Potter! Of course, after I’m done with this book, I’ll have to tackle Quidditch Through The Ages next…
7) Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
It’s this tragic love story between Cathy and Heathcliff, and it takes place on these really creepy moors in England, which I think represent the wildness of Heathcliff’s character. I totally get symbolism!
– Phoebe Buffay, Friends (Season 5, Episode 9 – The One With Ross’s Sandwich)
Yes, more period drama! This one’s another book that’s been sitting unread on my shelf for a while. My mother read Wuthering Heights a long time ago and recommended it to me because she enjoyed it, though she did warn me that it’s a rather tragic story. Just as well; I’ve always been one for a good dramatic tragedy!
8) The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
I know, I know, I’m really late to the party on this one. The last movie isn’t even in theaters anymore (at least, not where I live)! I did buy the first Hunger Games novel in ebook format a while back; I just haven’t yet gotten around to reading it. I have been looking forward to immersing myself in some dystopian fiction, though, and since this one’s been on my to-read list for years and I’ve already seen most of the movies, The Hunger Games trilogy is almost certainly the best place for me to start!
9) Divergent by Veronica Roth
While we’re on the subject of dystopian fiction, Divergent is another title that piqued my interest some time ago but that hasn’t yet made it to the top of my reading list. I actually read the synopsis for this story well before the announcement of the first movie (which I haven’t even seen yet), and it definitely struck me as the sort of story I’d enjoy. The idea of a society divided into factions based on valued qualities is hardly a new concept (Hogwarts, hello?), but I find it always makes for a thought-provoking read!
10) Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare
It’s high time I got back into reading Shakespeare. Luckily, I have a complete single-volume collection of his works sitting on my shelf! There are several Shakespearean plays I’ve been meaning to read, and one of the plays at the top of that list is Hamlet. Yes, it’s another tragedy, as were the last couple of plays I read, but even though I would like to read some more of his comedies too, I just can’t resist drama! If I’m going to get back into Shakespeare, I figure why not start with the story that loosely inspired one of my favorite Disney movies?
Thus concludes my top ten to-read list! Now let’s see if I can take on the reading challenge this year! Thanks for reading!
What about you? What books do you plan to read in 2016?
by Naomi L. | January 18, 2016 | Blog, Word of the Week |
Word: raconteur
Pronunciation: rak-ahn-TƏR / rak-ən-TƏR
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: a person who tells anecdotes in a skillful and amusing way
Source: Oxford Dictionaries
As long as we’re discussing people who love words, books, and reading, why not learn a word for lovers of storytelling too? A writer can never have too broad a vocabulary when it comes to telling tales, especially with words that add a poetic charm to their work. Surely we all know someone who’s good at telling funny stories, so it’s easy to find inspiration for a “raconteur” in our writing!
A “raconteur” is a skillful storyteller, usually of amusing anecdotes. The word arose in the early 19th century and is originally French. This noun stems from the verb raconter, meaning “to relate” or “to recount”.
Pretentious as this may come across, I admit that I love the word “raconteur” for how French it sounds. After learning words like “bibliophile” and “raconteur”, I find it interesting how many artistic words in the English language are borrowed from French, and in my opinion, they help to enhance our vocabulary. So don’t be afraid to include this word in your writing, even if (or especially if) it’s used in an ironic sense. If you like to write humorous pieces, you may be a natural “raconteur” yourself!
What are your thoughts on this word? Any suggestions for future “Word of the Week” featured words?
by Naomi L. | January 13, 2016 | Blog, Creative Writing |
Ah, January, the month of new beginnings. I’m all for making New Year’s resolutions, even if most of them never make it past February. One of mine for this year is to read more books, and while it’s too soon to tell what new stories will have everyone hooked in 2016, there are some classics still sitting on my shelf that I’d love to start with.
So in no particular order, here are five books on my to-read list for 2016. Enjoy!
1) A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
Late to the party? You bet. I received A Game of Thrones for my birthday in 2014 and started reading it a little over a year ago, but with all the scientific texts constantly taking priority on my list, progress has been slower than I’d like. Still, it’s been a captivating read so far, and I’d love to be able to finish the book this year. Maybe then I’ll finally get into watching the series!
2) Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
This one has been on my to-read list forever, but I can never seem to get around to reading it. Pride and Prejudice is a timeless classic, and while I’ve seen the 2005 film more times than I can count, I imagine Ms. Austen’s literary masterpiece must be even greater in its novel form. If I’m going to read more period dramas in 2016, there’s no better book I’d love to start with!
3) Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
Speaking of period dramas, this one’s another book given to me as a birthday present and that I’ve been meaning to read for a while. I received Jane Eyre last year after my mother recommended it to me, and since my copy is in a pocket edition, I can at least keep it in my bag and do some light reading while I’m out and about. I’m sure I’ll enjoy this one too; a Victorian feminist coming-of-age story seems right up my alley!
4) The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
This book I received as a Christmas present a few weeks ago, which turned out to be a pleasant surprise as I have yet to indulge in the works of Oscar Wilde. The Picture of Dorian Gray was also recommended to me by my mom, and though it doesn’t seem like the first book I’d grab off the shelf in the store, the reviews of this Gothic classic have certainly left me intrigued. Knowing it was an incredibly racy work that pushed the boundaries of moral sensibility in its time, I can only imagine what an exciting read lies ahead!
5) Tree Thinking by David A. Baum & Stacey D. Smith
Yes, one of these books is not like the others. Tree Thinking is a nonfiction book that serves as an introduction to phylogenetics, and though I’ve already read part of it just to get my foot in the door of my field of study, it certainly wouldn’t hurt to have as much knowledge of the subject as possible under my belt. It’s proven to be quite a pleasant read so far, which isn’t surprising for me; if I learned anything in my college years, it’s that evolutionary biology is fascinating!
What about you? What books do you plan to read in 2016? Any other resolutions you’ve made for the new year?
by Naomi L. | January 11, 2016 | Blog, Word of the Week |
Word: bibliophile
Pronunciation: BI-blee-ə-fyl
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: a person who collects or has a great love of books
Source: Oxford Dictionaries
Since last week I shared a word that defines people who love words, today I thought I’d continue on that line to discuss another word for a certain kind of enthusiast. If you consider yourself a “logophile”, then you likely qualify as a “bibliophile” too. It’s only logical to assume that with a love of words comes a love of books!
A “bibliophile” is someone who loves and/or collects books. The word arose in the early 19th century and is originally French. This noun comprises two Greek roots: the noun biblion “book” and the adjective phílos “loved”.
While “bibliophile” isn’t a word I see or hear too often, it may be one of my favorites for describing people who are passionate about reading. Book lovers keep our magical world of creative writing alive, so it makes sense that there’s a perfect vocabulary word to define them. If you’re a novelist whose characters are book enthusiasts, you can no doubt have fun writing as much for the “bibliophiles” in your stories as in your audience!
What are your thoughts on this word? Any suggestions for future “Word of the Week” featured words?
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