by Naomi L. | December 16, 2015 | Blog, Creative Writing, What If? Writing Prompts |
And so we reach the end of another year! To celebrate, here are some new “What If?” Writing Prompts for you, once again set to the theme of the holiday season! See what sorts of fun stories you can spin from these ideas! Enjoy, and Happy Holidays!
What if… you discovered a group of elves making toys in your house?
What if… you received a Christmas present from a secret admirer?
What if… one of Santa’s reindeer showed up lost outside your home a week before Christmas?
What if… one year, in a “Secret Santa” fashion, you and your family drew names to choose each other’s New Year’s resolutions?
What if… everyone took time to do volunteer work during the holiday season?
Have fun writing your own holiday tales!
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. | December 14, 2015 | Blog, Word of the Week |
Word: paramount
Pronunciation: PAR-ə-mount
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: more important than anything else; supreme
Source: Oxford Dictionaries
No, not the movie studio nor the city in California. Today’s Word of the Week is a good one to use for the most important things in your stories. Sometimes when you need to convey a tone of great urgency in your writing, adjectives like “vital” and “crucial” simply aren’t enough. For those events that just can’t wait, “paramount” may be exactly the word you need!
Something described as “paramount” is of the utmost importance. The word arose in the mid 16th century and comes from the Anglo-Norman French adverb paramont, meaning “above”. This adverb comprises two Old French roots: the preposition par “by” and the adverb amont “above”.
While it’s commonly used as an adjective for extremely important things or events, “paramount” can also be used to describe people with supreme power, such as a “paramount” chief. Based on its definition, I assume this word sits at the very end of the importance spectrum and thus should only be used for the most critical of events. If your characters tend to face situations that must be dealt with right away, you may have room for some “paramount” points in your stories!
What are your thoughts on this word? Any suggestions for future “Word of the Week” featured words?
by Naomi L. | December 14, 2015 | Blog, News |
Oh yes, The Wolfe’s (Writing) Den is getting a major revamp! After two and a half years of blogging, I decided it was high time for a makeover. If you’re one of my regular readers, you may have noticed some changes to my site this weekend. In case you’re wondering what this update is all about, here’s a quick rundown of what’s new.
New theme!
The biggest change to my blog is the addition of a new theme: Divi by Elegant Themes! While I was happy with my previous theme – the Scribble child theme for the Genesis Framework by StudioPress – it did have one fundamental flaw: it was not mobile-responsive. With at least half your potential audience wielding smartphones, accessibility through mobile devices is extremely important for blogs these days, so I felt the need to upgrade to a highly customizable and responsive new theme for a more professional look. Hopefully now my blog will be much more aesthetically appealing to you mobile readers out there!
New logo and banner
With a fresh theme comes a fresh image! Every serious website needs its own unique image, so I had a talented young artist I know design a logo and banner with a couple of new characters for my blog. Introducing Jay and Wolfe, my new “blog mascots”! You’ll see them on my homepage and in the headers of my social media profiles. I think they add a little more charm to my blog, don’t you?
(Coming soon!) Guest posts and Indie Writer Spotlight interviews
Since I started blogging, I’ve been terribly possessive of my content. Every single one of the 400+ posts that have been published here was written by me, and the closest I’ve ever come to letting another author create content for my site is sharing infographics and accepting submissions for “What If?” Writing Prompts.
Now that I’m ready to start taking blogging a little more seriously, I’m considering opening up submissions for guest posts in the near future. I’d also like to continue my Indie Writer Spotlight segment soon by interviewing more indie authors about their books. So if you’re a blogger looking to expand your network and/or an indie author hoping to gain more exposure for your book, be sure to keep an eye out for updates about guest post exchanges and author interview requests! Information will be available on my Contact page, so feel free to send me a message!
That’s it for this news update! Minor features will continue to roll out as I find my way around this new theme, so expect to see some changes around the site over at least the next few weeks. I hope you’ll enjoy this major update of my blog! Thanks for reading, and have a great week!
by Naomi L. | December 9, 2015 | Blog, Creative Writing |
How about some more fun with quotes? Last week, I was nominated for a Quotes Challenge by Millie Thom! Thanks for the nomination, Millie! It’s the first time I’ve been tagged in one of these, but the rules of the challenge are pretty simple:
- Post three different quotes on consecutive days. They can be from any source or your own. The three quotes can be of a similar theme or can all be completely different/unrelated.
- Nominate three people for the challenge.
The theme I chose for my quotes is one that has spoken to me since I was a child: individuality! Growing up, I never felt like I fit in with the “normal” kids, which is why I often took refuge in books. My love of reading inspired me to express myself through writing and embrace the quirkiness that makes me who I am, and I’m never happier than when I’m just being myself. Individuality is a virtue that’s lost on so many people, so for this challenge, I picked out three of my favorite quotes that celebrate being different and unique. I hope they’ll inspire you to love being yourself too!
And yes, I know I’m supposed to post these over three days in a row, but since I’m pretty strict about blogging mainly on Wednesdays, I decided to share my three chosen quotes in one fell swoop. I hope that’s okay! Let’s just say for the record that these count for yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
Three Quotes on Individuality
The wizards represent all that the true ‘muggle’ most fears: They are plainly outcasts and comfortable with being so. Nothing is more unnerving to the truly conventional than the unashamed misfit! – J.K. Rowling
The Harry Potter books were a major part of my childhood, and this quote by author J.K. Rowling perfectly sums up why I related so much to her characters. Reading about Harry’s adventures made me believe there was something special about being different, and the fact that I didn’t fit in somehow made me magical too. So don’t be afraid to be an outcast; it’s way better than being a Muggle!
The best advice I ever heard: “Be who you are and say what you feel because people who mind don’t matter and people who matter don’t mind.” – Dr. Seuss
The short version of this quote is often mistakenly credited to Dr. Seuss, but its true origin is unknown. Nevertheless, it’s one of my favorite pieces of advice for those who are afraid to be themselves. Never let anyone shame you into trying to fit in, because your true friends are the ones who love you just the way you are!
Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect. – Mark Twain
Mark Twain was a man of many wise words and witty sayings. Never one for convention, he had plenty of thoughts on the foolishness of mankind, and one of my favorites is his quote about majority. Humanity is notoriously ignorant, so when we find ourselves agreeing with what most people are saying, can we really be sure we’re on the right side?
These are my three quotes on individuality! And now for my chosen nominees:
My Nominees
- Jennifer Zeiger
- Inion N. Mathair
- Jane Dougherty
I hope you enjoyed these quotes, and may they inspire you to be your wonderful self! Thanks again for the challenge, Millie!
What are your thoughts on these quotes? Do you have any favorite quotes about individuality?
by Naomi L. | December 7, 2015 | Blog, Word of the Week |
Word: ethereal
Pronunciation: i-THI-ree-əl
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: extremely delicate and light in a way that seems too perfect for this world
Source: Oxford Dictionaries
Have you ever seen something you thought was so beautiful that it couldn’t possibly be of this world? There are many different kinds of beauty, yet my favorite by far is that which seems to have come from the heavens. There’s something so poetic about believing in a delicacy too perfect for the material Earth, so when I come across the word “ethereal” in a story, I can’t help but raise my romantic expectations!
“Ethereal” describes what is so light and delicate that it seems otherworldly. The word arose in the early 16th century and comes from the Latin adjective aetherius, meaning “heavenly” or “divine”. This adjective derives from the Greek adjective aithérios “of the upper air”, which in turn stems from the noun aithēr “ether”.
While its primary definition implies perfection, “ethereal” is often also used in the neutral sense of “spiritual”. For a more obscure meaning, it can be used in chemistry to refer to a solution containing diethyl ether as a solvent. Naturally, this is a popular word for defining a delicate and graceful allure, so if you like to create characters who fit this description, you’ll certainly be able to write some “ethereal” beauty into your stories!
What are your thoughts on this word? Any suggestions for future “Word of the Week” featured words?
by Naomi L. | December 2, 2015 | Blog, Creative Writing |
So, did you finish that novel for National Novel Writing Month? If so, congratulations! Now that you have your 50,000 words written, it’s time for the next stage: editing your novel! To help get you started, Grammarly has put together a list of the five most common writing mistakes that came up in last year’s 40,000-word collaborative novel project. Be sure to watch for these mistakes while editing your NaNoWriMo novel! Enjoy!
Today’s creative writing post is brought to you by Grammarly, the World’s Best Grammar Checker. For more information on Grammarly, visit https://www.grammarly.com/grammar-check. Thanks for reading! Happy writing!
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