Monthly Archive: April, 2016

April 10, 2016

The Evolution of Language Is Torture for Grammar Nazis

If you care about grammar (like people called “Grammar Nazis”), then making grammar mistakes can be excruciatingly embarrassing. Like making a mistake in a post that corrects someone else’s grammar. That’s when people rush to make a *correction in a second post. Or if they’re too late, and someone else already caught it, they usually pull out some really obscure grammar rule to make...

Categories Grammar & Editing/Humor & Wordplay Comments: 2

April 9, 2016

English Beats up Other Languages in Dark Alleys… It’s Beautiful Because It’s True

I’m not sure which makes me happier: the metaphor or the fact that the author used “loose” correctly… Ok, the metaphor wins. It’s simply so very, very true.

Categories Grammar & Editing/Humor & Wordplay Comments: 3

April 8, 2016

A Beginner’s List of English Expressions from French

Quite a bit of English came from French. Oh, most of it happened a long, long time ago – which means that many of the words and phrases changed spelling and/or pronunciation way before our time. It happened so long ago, in fact, that manny of us don’t even realize that things we say were once (or still are) French. Which...

Categories Quotes, Words, & Phrases Comments: 0

April 7, 2016

The Food in Studio Ghibli Movies & Avatar: The Last Airbender

So…yesterday’s post left me thinking about food. Since I’ve already talked about some recipes from J.R.R. Tolkien and J.K. Rowling’s worlds, I figured that it would be fair to share some that people have created or recognized from Studio Ghibli and Avatar: The Last Airbender (a series I should’ve thought to use in “10 Examples of Worldbuilding with Food in Books...

Categories General Thoughts & Updates Comments: 0

April 6, 2016

10 Examples of Worldbuilding with Food in Books & Films

Who doesn’t like food? Ok, maybe someone doesn’t, but we all have to eat to live. That means we all have experiences with food (meh or no). That doesn’t mean we have the same experiences with food. What food is available, how much is available, what is common, how it’s eaten, and even who can afford what are all pretty...

Categories Research & Worldbuilding Comments: 0

April 5, 2016

Rewrite the Past with a “What If?” Writing Prompt

We all have moments in the past that we wish we could undo or wonder what would have happened if we’d made a different choice (well, assuming we’re all human). Instead of dwelling on those questions and regrets in a negative manner (ix-nay on the egative-nay), why not use them as inspiration for writing? Wonder what would’ve happened if you’d...

Categories Inspiration/Plotting Exercises/Writing Prompts Comments: 0

April 4, 2016

Never Let the Truth Get in the Way of a Good Story

If you Google this proverb, you’ll come up with plenty of sites that attribute it to Mark Twain (Goodreads, for one); however, I haven’t been able to find any reliable proof that he actually said it. And while I’d like to be able to say that it’s his quote (there’s something emotionally satisfying about quoting Mark Twain), I like to...

Categories Quotes, Words, & Phrases Comments: 7

April 3, 2016

Hyperbole Is the Best Literary Device Ever!

Ok, saying that hyperbole is the best literary device ever might be an exaggeration (see what I did there?), but it’s still a pretty cool tool to have in your arsenal. hyperbole: n. a big, dramatic exaggeration You know those people who seem to be a little distanced from the truth? You know, like a fisherman whose catches get longer...

Categories Characterization, Plot, & Setting/Literary Devices & Writing Techniques Comments: 2

April 2, 2016

Write: Reach into Hearts

Life is captured in the words we join. That is their beauty and their horror. That is their power.

Categories Inspiration/Poetry Comment: 1

April 1, 2016

An April Fools’ Day Writing Prompt

Happy April 1st! April Fools’ Day: The day of mild to malevolent trickery, laughter, and hurt feelings. If you’ve ever played a trick on someone for April Fools’, or if you were unfortunate enough to have a major one played on you, then you probably have some strong emotional memories about April 1st. Time to turn that torment into writing inspiration! Here...

Categories Characterization, Plot, & Setting/Holiday & Seasonal/Inspiration/Literary Device Exercises/Worldbuilding Exercises/Writing Prompts Comment: 1