by Naomi L. | June 17, 2015 | Blog, Creative Writing, What If? Writing Prompts |
Once again, here’s a fresh round of “What If?” Writing Prompts for you. I realize I haven’t shared any particularly scary prompts since Halloween, so this week’s post features the second set in this segment themed to the horror genre, featuring prompts suggested by members of Writer’s Carnival! What sorts of creepy tales can you spin around these ideas? Enjoy!
What if… Hannibal Lecter were your neighbor?
(Submitted by: Christina, Writer’s Carnival member)
What if… humanity had to adapt to life underground… and drastically changed after thousands of years in the dark?
(Submitted by: Anisa A. Claire, co-founder of Writer’s Carnival)
What if… your cat became smarter and started trying to kill you?
(Submitted by: Tim Hillebrant, Writer’s Carnival staff member)
What if… the second you stepped out of bed, a hand reached out from under it and grabbed your ankle?
What if… you received a package in the mail containing a human head?
Have fun writing your own tales of horror!
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. | June 15, 2015 | Blog, Word of the Week |
Word: poetaster
Pronunciation: POH-ət-as-tər
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: a person who writes inferior poetry
Source: Oxford Dictionaries
Bet you can’t guess where I learned this week’s vocabulary word. To save you the trouble, I’ll tell you that I came across it while looking up VOCALOID music on YouTube, when I found a metal song titled “Poetaster and Singing Dolls“. Despite being terribly distracted by the artwork featuring Gakupo and Kaito in gothic attire (permission to fangirl, please?), I still managed to pay enough attention to the title to wonder what the word “poetaster” meant. I was intrigued from the moment I first read it, and after I looked it up, I quickly fell in love with it. Not that I wanted to be one myself, of course; after all, when it comes to my poetry, I always strive to write the best I possibly can.
A “poetaster” is an unskilled poet, that is, someone who writes poetry of inferior quality. The word was coined in the late 16th century by the Dutch Renaissance humanist Erasmus as a derogatory term for individuals who are implied to be pretentious about artistic value. This word is originally Latin and is comprised of the noun poeta “poet” and the suffix -aster, which is used to express incomplete resemblance to something in a negative way.
Though I loved the word “poetaster” as soon as I learned its definition, I confess it’s something that I’ve sometimes feared I might be. Every writer doubts the quality of their work from time to time, and though I prefer writing short stories and flash fiction, I don’t take any less care when writing poetry. In all fairness, the term “poetaster” seems to apply to unskilled poets who think they’re tremendously talented, so I suppose any writer is safe from this insult as long as they remain humble about their work. A couple of synonyms for “poetaster” are “rhymester” and “versifier”, though these tend to be ambiguous while the former is always negative. If you’ve written a character who’s pretentious about poetry, you may have a “poetaster” lurking in your stories. Just take care not to be one yourself!
What are your thoughts on this word? Any suggestions for future “Word of the Week” featured words?
by Naomi L. | June 8, 2015 | Blog, Word of the Week |
Word: debauchery
Pronunciation: di-BAH-chə-ree
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: excessive indulgence in sensual pleasures
Source: Oxford Dictionaries
Last week, I talked about a word for someone who lives by the philosophy of enjoying the fine things in life while still maintaining a modest lifestyle. But what if you wanted to refer to an overindulgence in such pleasures? That’s when you’d step out of the realm of Epicureanism and into the territory of “debauchery”.
“Debauchery” is the act of excessively indulging in sensual pleasures. The word is derived from the verb “debauch”, which means “to morally corrupt”. This verb can be traced back through the Middle French verb desbaucher “to entice from one’s duty” to the Old French verb desbauchier “to lead astray”, which in turn likely comes from the Proto-Germanic noun balkô “balk”.
While “debauchery” can refer to any sort of overindulgence in sensual enjoyment, the word is most commonly associated with scandals involving physical gratification and substance abuse. A somewhat dated sub-definition of the verb “debauch” is “to seduce”, and it can also function as a noun to denote “an individual act of debauchery”. Writers, take note: if your characters seek enjoyment in moderation, you may be writing “epicureans”, but if they go over the top with these pleasures, then “debauchery” may be afoot in your stories! Choose your nouns wisely!
What are your thoughts on this word? Any suggestions for future “Word of the Week” featured words?
by Naomi L. | June 3, 2015 | Blog, Creative Writing, What If? Writing Prompts |
Time for another set of “What If?” Writing Prompts. Speaking of time, this week’s batch is centered around a fascinating theme yet to be featured in this segment: history! How might true stories have played out differently if certain historical details were changed? Have fun exploring the possibilities!
What if… most of the greatest leaders in history had been women?
What if… the Roman Empire had never fallen?
What if… the Church had not been the most powerful entity in the Middle Ages?
What if… the slave trade had never made it to the United States?
What if… the Axis powers had won World War II?
Good luck writing your own twists on history!
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. | June 1, 2015 | Blog, Word of the Week |
Word: epicurean
Pronunciation: e-pi-kyə-REE-ən / e-pi-KYƏ-ree-ən
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: a person devoted to sensual enjoyment, especially that derived from fine food and drink
Source: Oxford Dictionaries
I recently learned today’s Word of the Week from playing a mobile game. The theme? Cooking! Yes, this week’s vocabulary word is related to food, and of high quality at that. It’s only natural to want to enjoy the finer things in life, so if such a dream is beyond reach in reality, why not live vicariously through a fictional “epicurean” instead?
An “epicurean” is someone who is dedicated to pleasure on a sensual level, usually pertaining to gourmet food and luxury. The original word is capitalized and refers to “a follower of Epicureanism“, a philosophy founded on the teachings of the Ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus. This noun traces back through the Old French noun Epicurien and the Latin noun Epicureus to the Ancient Greek noun Epikoúreios.
Epicurus was a materialist who believed pleasure is the greatest good and that happiness should be achieved by living a self-sufficient life free of fear and pain. Though primarily a noun, “epicurean” can also be used as an adjective to describe people who live by this philosophy of sensual enjoyment, particularly of good food and drink. Note, however, that Epicureanism does not condone the overindulgence of fleeting pleasures, but rather advocates the prudence of knowing the limits of one’s own desires. If you write characters with refined tastes and modest lifestyles, “epicurean” is the perfect word to define them! Good luck!
What are your thoughts on this word? Any suggestions for future “Word of the Week” featured words?
by Naomi L. | May 27, 2015 | Blog, Creative Writing, What If? Writing Prompts |
So it seems my ultra busy grad school schedule is catching up with me yet again, so for now, I’m afraid I’ll have to pad over my creative writing topics with some “What If?” Writing Prompts at least every other week. My apologies for not being able to bring you more fulfilling content for a while, but I hope you’ll find these posts entertaining nonetheless.
Since I enjoyed writing for the Earth Day post so much, I figured I’d try my hand at coming up with another batch of nature-themed prompts. See what sorts of environmental stories you can create based on these ideas! Enjoy!
What if… the world ran entirely on renewable energy sources?
What if… a massive space object were to black out the sun?
What if… there were ecosystems completely uninfluenced by human actions?
What if… species could evolve fast enough to keep up with the accelerated environmental changes caused by people?
What if… humans were an endangered species?
Have fun spinning your own environmental 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!
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