by Naomi L. | January 10, 2018 | Blog, Creative Writing |
January is a time for starting fresh and setting new personal goals, and in my case, that includes reading more! Every year, I make a New Year’s resolution to read at least ten new books, and 2018 is no different. After last year’s selections turned out to be enjoyable reads, I’m looking forward to diving into this year’s list!
So to start off my 2018 goals, here’s the first part of my list of the top ten books I want to read this year. Enjoy!
1) Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne, and John Tiffany
I know, as an avid Harry Potter fan, I really should have read this one by now. The good news is that I received Harry Potter and the Cursed Child as a birthday present last year, so I have no excuse not to read it now! I finished reading the Harry Potter series close to a decade ago, so it’s been too long since I’ve read J.K. Rowling’s work. Even if this book/play was written mostly by another writer, I’m looking forward to being “reunited” with Rowling’s beloved characters!
2) Misery by Stephen King
Would you judge me if I told you I’ve never read a Stephen King novel? As a writer, it’s just embarrassing! Despite having wanted to read his books for years, the great Mr. King remained absent from my bookshelf until last year, when I received a copy of Misery as a gift from a family member. I wasn’t yet sure which King novel I wanted to start with, but my mom has recommended this one to me in the past, so I already know I’ll love it!
3) Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
After reading 1984 and Fahrenheit 451 last year, it seemed only too obvious to want to read this book next. Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World always appears on lists of “must-read dystopian novels” alongside George Orwell’s 1984 and Yevgeny Zamyatin’s We, and given the strange times we’re living in, it feels like dystopian fiction is more “must-read” than ever. Not to mention the elements of genetic engineering in this story will certainly appeal to my biologist side!
4) The Martian by Andy Weir
Here’s another book I got for my birthday last year! The Martian was added to my to-read list in 2017, though I haven’t yet had a chance to dive into it. I’ve heard it’s a very fun read, and given how much I enjoyed the movie (and how much I like stories about space in general), I’m sure I’ll enjoy the book even more! Now that it’s finally on my shelf, I can’t wait to read it!
5) To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Much like 1984 until last year, To Kill a Mockingbird is a book I’ve been wanting to read for years but haven’t yet had the chance to enjoy. So as not to overindulge in dystopian fiction (again) this year, I decided to include a historical classic in my list of books to read in 2018… but, you know, one that still feels relevant to modern times. Being a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel and a classic of modern American literature, I know I can’t leave this book off my bucket list!
What about you? What books are you planning to read in 2018? Any other resolutions for the new year?
by Naomi L. | January 8, 2018 | Blog, Word of the Week |
Word: hiemal
Pronunciation: HY-ə-məl
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: of, characteristic of, or occurring in winter
Source: Oxford Dictionaries
Here’s a word I’ve had sitting in my vocabulary queue for a while. I first learned today’s Word of the Week about five months ago while watching my boyfriend play No Man’s Sky, where it appeared in a scan description for a planet that turned out to be covered in snow. Though I made a note of it right away, I decided to save the word for a time when it would be more relevant. Think of January and you probably picture snow and ice everywhere (at least if you live in the Northern Hemisphere), right? It’s the most “hiemal” time of year!
“Hiemal” refers to winter or anything characteristic of the season. The word arose in the mid 16th century and comes from the Latin adjective hiemalis, meaning “pertaining to winter”. This adjective derives from the noun hiems, which means “winter”.
It’s worth noting that Oxford Dictionaries characterizes the word “hiemal” as rare; it’s so obscure, in fact, that the spell check on my computer (which uses American English) doesn’t even recognize it as a word! In my opinion, “hiemal” probably works best in poetry about winter, though it likely still works well in prose as a poetic synonym for “wintry”. If you like writing stories or poetry with a winter theme, “hiemal” may be a good word to include in your vocabulary!
What are your thoughts on this word? Any suggestions for future “Word of the Week” featured words?
by Naomi L. | January 3, 2018 | Blog, Creative Writing |
Happy New Year! It’s the first week of 2018, which means it’s time to dive into our New Year’s resolutions! A new year means a fresh start, right? So for my first creative writing post of the year, here are a few of the goals I’m setting for 2018 (and beyond). Enjoy!
To take my blogging to the next level
What exactly does this mean? That’s an excellent question. To be honest, I still only have a vague idea of how I want to achieve this goal, but I am aware that my blogging has been relative static over the past couple of years (thanks, grad school) and I’d like to start taking it more seriously. Of course, talk is cheap and fear is powerful, but even simple steps like growing my mailing list and experimenting with guest posting could make a big difference in the months ahead. Once again, we’ll see how this year goes!
To become a published author
I mentioned last year that I finally finished the rough draft of my first fantasy novel, so I’m closer than ever to achieving my dream of being a published author! The editing will still take a while to complete, but in the meantime, I’m planning to self-publish some shorter stories to build up my author profile and work my way up to self-publishing novels. It’s a long road ahead on my creative journey, and I’m more excited than ever!
To make a living from my passion(s)
Writing fiction has been my greatest passion since childhood, so it’s no secret I’ve been dreaming of making a living from it my whole life. Interestingly, I discovered last year that aside from writing, I’m also cut out for editing and proofreading work; in fact, most of my income since finishing school has actually come from editing blog posts and web content. This year, I plan to continue focusing on these passions of mine until I become completely independent! Here’s to an even more productive year!
What about you? Any new resolutions for 2018? What are your plans for your writing?
by Naomi L. | January 1, 2018 | Blog, Word of the Week |
Word: jocund
Pronunciation: JAH-kənd / JOH-kənd
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: cheerful and lighthearted
Source: Oxford Dictionaries
Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund day / Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops. / I must be gone and live, or stay and die.
– Romeo Montague, Romeo & Juliet (3.5.9–11)
Happy New Year! It’s the first day of 2018, so let’s start the year with one more joyful word! This one is a little more formal—okay, a lot more formal—than the last two I wrote about, but it still works as a synonym for “cheerful”. Even if you don’t normally use formal vocabulary, you may still get some use out of this word; where words like “mirth” and “ebullient” fall short, “jocund” may be a more interesting choice!
Anything or anyone described as “jocund” is lighthearted and cheerful. The word arose in late Middle English and comes from the Latin adjective jocundus, meaning “pleasant”. This adjective, a variant of jucundus, was influenced by the noun jocus “joke” and stems from the verb juvare, which means “to delight”.
In case you’re wondering about the above excerpt from Romeo & Juliet, the word “jocund” is being used to create a literary contrast: although morning is typically a pleasant time of day, it brings tragedy to the star-crossed lovers because it means they have to separate. While it seems limited to formal contexts, I’d say the word works well to capture the lighthearted mood in a historical setting, while you may prefer a similar adjective like “jocular” for more modern writing. If your characters are the cheerful and spirited type (and you’ve overused every other adjective to describe them), “jocund” may be a good word to consider for your stories!
What are your thoughts on this word? Any suggestions for future “Word of the Week” featured words?
by Naomi L. | December 27, 2017 | Blog, Creative Writing |
Welcome to my final creative writing post of 2017! The last week of December is a great time to look back on our resolutions from January and how much we’ve accomplished in the past year. So to finish off 2017, here’s another review of my New Year’s resolutions and what I achieved in my writing this year. Enjoy!
Did I get published in a scientific journal?
Not yet, but the paper has been submitted and is currently awaiting review. It ended up going through several major changes as we tried to decide whether it should be a full paper or a brief note, and the revision process took a bit longer than expected (though that’s bound to happen when the co-authors live in different parts of the world). In any case, we’re closer to publication than ever before. Hopefully the upcoming revisions will be the “easy part”!
Did I make a career out of my writing?
Yes, in a way. While my original plan at the beginning of the year was to get into freelance writing, I soon realized that when it comes to working for others, I have a better knack for editing and proofreading than for writing.
In the year since I started working through Fiverr, I’ve become a Level Two seller, earned dozens of 5-star reviews, and gained a pretty good reputation as a blog post editor. I also finished the first draft of my fantasy novel earlier in the year and have been editing it ever since. On the side, I’ve been working on some short stories for publication on Kindle to build my author profile (which frankly I should have done a long time ago). So much writing to do in the new year, and I can’t wait!
Did I continue growing my blogging network?
Yes! It’s still a bit of a slow process, as always (I’m calling super shyness and “fear of success” on this one, not that they’re valid excuses), but I’ve taken some big steps this year to learn how to grow my blog even more. I’ve been planning to make some significant changes to my blogging style, such as growing my mailing list and experimenting with guest posting, which will hopefully expand my network further in 2018. Here’s to a productive new year!
What about you? What have you accomplished with your writing in 2017? I hope you had a productive year and that your 2018 will be even better! Thanks for reading, and Happy New Year!
by Naomi L. | December 25, 2017 | Blog, Word of the Week |
Word: ebullient
Pronunciation: i-BƏL-yənt
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: cheerful and full of energy
Source: Oxford Dictionaries
Merry Christmas! It’s the last Word of the Week of 2017, and since it also happens to be a festive holiday, I figured it would be fun to end this year’s vocabulary segment with a joyful word! There are plenty of synonyms for “cheerful”, but this one recently jumped out at me for how “bubbly” it sounds. I’d definitely save this one for my most energetic characters; there’s “cheery” and “jolly”, and then there’s “ebullient”!
To be “ebullient” is to be cheerful and full of energy. The word arose in the late 16th century in the sense “boiling” and comes from the Latin verb ebullire, meaning “to boil up”. This verb comprises two roots: the preposition ex “out” and the verb bullire “to bubble”.
Before its common definition arose, “ebullient” used to be a more literal term meaning “boiling or agitated as if boiling”, though this sense has since become archaic and literary. Similar to last week’s vocabulary word, “ebullient” falls on the upper end of the “happiness” spectrum in that it implies a highly energetic level of joy. As a synonym for “bubbly” (both figuratively and literally), it’s very similar to “effervescent“, a word I wrote about three years ago, so feel free to use these adjectives interchangeably. If your characters are usually energetic and enthusiastic, you may have fun writing about their “ebullient” personalities!
What are your thoughts on this word? Any suggestions for future “Word of the Week” featured words?
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