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March 11, 2016

Making Children’s Movies Appeal to Adults Part One: Allusions

Watching a movie written for kids only can be awful as an adult. Let’s face it – a movie doesn’t have to have great writing or characters to entertain children. If you re-watch a series you loved as a child, there’s a good chance you’re going to be seriously disappointed. Similarly, if you have kids or are babysitting and get stuck watching a...
Categories General Thoughts & Updates/Humor & Wordplay/Literary Devices & Writing Techniques Comments: 2
March 4, 2016

Nonsense Words: Scientists Have Quantified What Writers Always Knew

While researching yesterday’s Dr. Seuss post, I came across an interesting article from The Atlantic called “The Secret to Dr. Seuss’s Made-up Words.” The main idea is that people find nonsense words funny and that how funny people find the words depends on how uncommon the letters and letter arrangements are in the English language. I’ll be honest, as interesting as that was,...
Categories General Thoughts & Updates/Humor & Wordplay Comment: 1
February 15, 2016

The Terror of Romance (Or, at Least, Romanticism)

Maybe it’s all the Valentine’s Day hullabaloo (that’s a technical term), but I keep thinking about romance – romance novels, that is. Like modern romance novels and gothic romances (Romanticism). Imagine those genres next to each other – what a juxtaposition! Look to the left, and you’ll see a story about two people who fall in love and (generally) live happily ever after. Look to...
Categories General Thoughts & Updates/Humor & Wordplay Comments: 0
February 7, 2016

Thought-Provoking Fan Art

At first, this fan art from weregeek was just funny – oh, I see what you did there! Then, I started thinking about how the Harry Potter books would change if the main characters were from a different country. It’s an interesting thought (and good mental exercise). Try picturing your favorite fantasy books with a different cultural base (for example, instead of a...
Categories Characterization Exercises/General Thoughts & Updates/Humor & Wordplay/Inspiration/Writing Prompts Comments: 0
December 12, 2015

Video Recommendation: The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)

While I’m on a Shakespeare kick, if any of you haven’t seen The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), it is well worth watching if you enjoy Vaudevillian humor. The three men of the Reduced Shakespeare Company perform all the works of Shakespeare in a single performance. That calls for some witty re-writes that are enjoyable for the less-knowledgable and have...
Categories Humor & Wordplay/Reviews & Recommended Reading/Theatre & Film/Videos Comments: 0
December 8, 2015

14 Compound Words That Are Pretty Funny If You Think About Them

Unless you’re an elementary school teacher or a linguist, you probably don’t use the term “compound words.” I’d never really heard it until talking to an elementary school teacher. Like many terms, once explained it seems very obvious: words that are combined to make 1 word or 1 idea. For example, “homework” or “rainstorm.” It’s kind of like how prefixes...
Categories Humor & Wordplay/Quotes, Words, & Phrases Comments: 0