Category: research

What is in a name?

“What’s in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.”

― William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

                        Names are unfortunately a necessary evil.  There are so many meanings and so many options where names are concerned.  Many grow to dislike the name that was given them,  for various reasons.  Some  seek to change the name given them.  As a writer I have often used a brain exercise involving names to clear my mind.  It’s actually even a semi interesting game.  Choose a letter… any one will do. I often do all the letters to expand my mind,  but all that is necessary is one.  Then using the chosen letter list every name you can think of.  For example if I choose “f” I would likely do a list like this:

Forest Fredrick Francine Frank Franco Francis Flicka Flora Florence  Flo Fred Frieda Fanny Franny Filla Francisco Francois Fenton Fester Fang Fresca Fip Frack Faith Ford Fessa Fry Frost Fauna Fenella Fena Fenelle Flava Fish

Admitted I usually do better but this was just an example.  The only rules are that it must be a name or make sense if used as one. Now as a writer this has more than one purpose. 

First it really is a brain exercise.  It causes you to concentrate. Thinking of those names are harder than you think. Find it too easy?  Set a goal for how many names you will think of. Brain exercises are something that gets your mind thinking,  not always something that requires genius levels of thought.

Second it can clear the mind for writing.  Sitting down to write is sometimes complicated by the random thoughts bouncing around in your mind.  Meditation helps but some fun can as well.

And lastly,  it gives you a list of names to help to flesh out various characters in your story with.

This is a easy game to use in both solitary and community play.  Set a time frame.  A minute or five. Then whomever gets the most names in the time allowed wins.

Remember unusual names are more possibility. Especially if you can give a neat background on the name.  For example,  My little brother is named Shane. My parents had a difficult time naming him. My father wanted to name him John ad a relative.  My Mom felt the name John too common.  So they reached a compromise.  Shane is a derivative of john.  This adds to the story of who the character of Shane is.
          So what is your favorite name?  And why? What does the name mean?  Sometimes choosing the meaning of the character name will help you to build a character that sticks in your reader’s mind. Keep in mind that if the person grew in some societies with an odd or unusual name it may not have been a pleasant thing. Or when they had said name.  For example.  I had an aunt named Beulah.  Now days this name is fairly antiquated.  This would cause cruel treatment from the peers of any child with the bad luck to be given it.
            So cmon…names…. discuss.

Late night ponderings.

                  So. I am awake.  It happens. And oddly enough when it does I manage to do some of my best writings.  It’s like this is when my mind is clearest.  When I fight with the demon known as insomnia.  I already added two poems to my poetry W.i.p. and now I am going to ramble here. My thoughts are this….
                    Is social media truly being social?  We have been asking this question as a society for a while now.  These sites allow us to lie. To become people we wish we were. There is a serious issue there.  Still it also allows us to communicate with people who are so very far away.  It makes the world seem so much less.  It allows family and friends who are far away to connect it ways that would be impossible otherwise… but that’s not always a good thing.  I personally use it to promote my books and sell my crafts.  I use it to keep in touch with those who I have known and love. For me…the recluse writer…yes it is social activity.  However I am strange… what?  Did you really not know that?  Lol. What about you? What do you think?  Is social media truly being social?  I wonder for the non introverted people out there,  if social media is something else?  Perhaps it is tedious.  If so do you only do them for your family?  What is your reasons for being on them?  Which do you use? There are so many choices.

Soap making — The Birchwood Grove Gazette

Why Make Soap at Home? While the process seems overwhelming at first glance, it is very simple, especially after you’ve done it once. Also, in less than an hour, it is possible to make enough soap for our family for months and months, and I was able to make soap for less than half the […]

via Soap making — The Birchwood Grove Gazette

Strong heroes weak zeroes

                      We all have the heroes/characters  we root for and ones we hate. It’s partially just human nature.  Still part of it is just the depth of the character.  What goes into a good character?  Is it their description and the well set up scene?  Or is it the easy connection the reader feels? Yes…but it is also the concept. For an example I will use Batman. He is  a strong heroic character.  Described as an attractive athletic male. He has a strong mind and uses it to make the world around him better.  Is this what has caused the character to endure?  The first time Batman was seen was 1939…take that in…this character has survived.. no he has thrived all the changes of almost a  hundred years. I find myself wondering what is involved in creating such a character. Giving it the ability to grow without becoming something outdated and boring.
                I believe a lot of Batman’s appeal is that he isn’t perfect.  He is not some superpower who knows it all. He is human. He has suffered greatly.  He is something that each person could be. So to my mind what that means is when writing,  try and keep the characters plausible. Make them either some one you can see existing or someone so unique as to catch the imagination.

image

Insomnia demons and insisting muses.

                         Okay,  i am often treated to bouts of insomnia.  The reasons vary. Often it is just not being able to quiet my busy mind. Last night was the first time in over a month. I am up to thirty three poems out of the seventy I do in each volume for Life drops. I will likely share later one from that. I spent some time writing on the d20 game world that I have created. Lots of details still to do on that one. Managed about two fifty on my steampunk story, and another hundred and fifty on my drow novel. Didn’t get to the others. Helped my sister’s faeries do some for their Facebook page. Shared what i found worthwhile to my author page,  to my shop page,  and to my personal page. Still felt like I should have gotten more done.  Didn’t get my crafts done yesterday.  Still my mind isn’t slowing.  Have cut way back on caffeine.  Limiting myself to two cups of coffee a week and pretty much no pop. Heck even my tea is mostly herbal anymore.  Still there are days when i can’t sleep.  I’m about to try again for st least a short nap.  So until I return…. may you sleep well and have only sweet dreams.

Discipline and creativity

I am struggling to finish what i start. I keep finding new ideas….which is awesome. Then I have none that are getting finished because there is me working on new stuff. So i have been making myself work on all of my projects that are in progress. trying to build discipline and actually finish one. If i finish all of these then I will be a hugely published chick…lol.  I am afraid I am led by my creativity too often. I avoid the writing prompts so as not to add to the growing list of W.I.P.’s  but I still end up with a story idea now and then that smacks me. The newest one came from a discussion with another writer about how I hate to title my stories.  She sent me to a random generator for titles. (Thank you) However instead of helping me to title what I already have, It gave me a new avenue to explore. I ended up doing research (yes i have a scary search history….I am a writer. I must explore the random crap that pops into my head.) And writing the first hundred or so words on the story. The only thing I am sure on with that story so far is the Title…

so far my titles for my Wip’s are:

Journeys (A story about a lost individual fighting to survive…with amnesia and while injured)

Elizabeth ( A story about a noblewoman and her ancestors mostly told in journal  format)

Last Forever ( a love story about a young girl raising her siblings and struggling to find her way in life)

The Incubus and Ysobel ( a half demon hunting her father and finding herself along the way) * btw this is the new one.

Jhai’s Tale ( a drow assassin and a kobold thief form a unlikely partnership while trying to avoid the temple of Lloth and find her siblings.)

Beyond Focus ( a young girl of fae decent finds herself in the land of the fae and has to adjust to the change that happens in her)

Broken Wastelands ( a post apocalyptic steampunk tale of a girl and her mutant)

Builder’s University ( a scifi story about creatures that eat intellegence…and the university they hide in. And the student who is out to stop them)

 

And I will eventually do one more (at least) children’s story in the bedtime tales line. (that line are stories I told my daughter and she asked me to write them and publish…)

That story will be Bedtime tales: The princess lost

I have trouble titling my poetry as well, so often in my poetry volumes I list them only by the first line. What about you? Is it hard to title your stories or poems? And what is your inspirations?

Fear

fear /fir/
noun
plural noun: fears
1. an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat.
  1. “drivers are threatening to quit their jobs in fear after a cabby’s murder”
    synonyms: terror, fright, fearfulness, horror, alarm, panic, agitation, trepidation,dread, consternation, dismay, distress;

    anxiety, worry, angst, unease,uneasiness, apprehension, apprehensiveness, nervousness, nerves,perturbation, foreboding;
    informalthe creeps, the shivers, the willies,the heebie-jeebies, jitteriness, twitchiness, butterflies (in the stomach)
    “he felt fear at entering the house”
    informal hang-up
    “she overcame her fears”
verb
3rd person present: fears
  1. be afraid of (someone or something) as likely to be dangerous, painful, or threatening.
    “he said he didn’t care about life so why should he fear death?”
    synonyms: be afraid of, be fearful of, be scared of, be apprehensive of, dread, live in fear of, be terrified of;

    be anxious about, worry about, feel apprehensive about
    “she feared her husband”
    have a phobia about, have a horror of, take fright at
    “he fears heights”

    We all have them. Some are more prominent than others. I am doing some research on fears as one of my stories are dealing with fear currently. I also researched it for personal reasons.  My fears have a logical reasons behind them. I logically understand that I have nothing to be afraid of. Still my fears exist, and on occasion they take control of my life. It means no closing myself into little rooms. No getting locked in someplace I cannot get out of. For all the logic of knowing why, I cannot seem to overcome it with logic. So I am curious…what are your fears? And what do you do to overcome?

Starting and Struggling

As an Indie writer, I understand how hard it is to find people to assist in publication. No book is all about just the written words. There is the writing, The editing, the Illustrating (If it is illustrated), The marketing, The publication. Really it is something many of us try to do on our own. Part of the reason is because it feels like no one out there honestly cares about what we do as we care.  I have a friend who is also an Indie writer. She has published two wonderful Children’s books (The Woodland Adventures)….And is working on the third. She has had two different Illustrators. The first was a wonderful Artist Spirit Horse Studios who due to a surprise new addition to her family had to bow out of the second book. So my friend, Redbird Stormcrow, Found another Illustrator. Only problem is the newest Illustrator doesn’t seem to want to promote her own work. Which any author would feel slighted by. So my friend is about to put out the third book in the series, and is looking for a Illustrator. And not looking for huge costs, and wanting someone who would actually at least take some pride in what they do. It amazes me that there are artists who don’t take pride in their work. I would offer to draw for her but I am awful at cats (the next book has a lot of cats!) So if you are an artist and looking for a start…look her up…

Her author page is still in processing, but when it’s up, go show her some Love! ❤

Baby steps, my friend

Due to the having my phone die, I have been using a android emulator to run my apps. So my writing app went from being convenient to being a true pain in the backside. So last night I decided to transfer a few of my Work in progress to the computer as text files to make writing easier. Especially since the Emulator seems to really dislike my notebooks app. It crashes way too often. Well today I was transferring Elizabeth. (I still need to come up with a better name for that one). I checked the word count when i finished pasting it to my office document. It was only 1298. I decided to do a bit more on it. When I set goals for my daily writing, it is usually only 250 words. Well after about an hour of writing, I decided to take a break and do some dishes. So i checked my word count. 2198. I am so happy with that. Yes i realize that is not a huge difference. still it felt like a huge jump to me. So I was telling another writer friend about it.

That conversation led to a discussion about when writing is more difficult. Also about writing poetry and the emotion that goes with. I mentioned that for me winter is easier to write because i am not able to get out and about. And sadness helps the poetry flow. she commented that she had maybe written four poems…ever. I have lost more poems than I have published. I had a book once with around a hundred poems i had written. The chick i was living with at the time stole it, and my son’s baby book. To be honest the poems in the four volumes i have published were only written in the last five years. I have been writing poetry since I was nine years old. Somehow the papers I have written them on have found themselves lost. So even though I have not been published until fairly recent…I have been writing my whole life. I have won some poetry contests, been published in my high school literary magazine, and a few other compilations. I’ve never won any money, and so I never felt like I had met my dreams.

Now i have made money on my writing…( a total of $0.35 lol) I find myself wondering if I really didn’t understand my dreams then. As I have aged, I keep finding that my youthful dreams were ignorant and slightly blind.

The difficulty of historical accuracy

              My work in process,  Elizabeth,  is split between two different times. The first is 1494. Now i can keep it historically accurate.  I have done the research.  However,  I am running into a flow issue… as well as a language synaptic issue.  I know where i want to carry the story.  It will be a romantic adventure circling around two women in the same family a century apart. I have posted the first chapter.  I have chapter two written.  It’s the third chapter where things fall apart.
.                    I wonder if it would be better just to write the story then go back and edit the language. I am not sure I really want to have the complete historical accuracy anyway.  The language back then was extremely dry and wordy. Thus far I have only kept a slight accuracy. This story has been a W.I.P. for over 20 years.  It would be nice to finally finish it.