My 5 x 5 on Words...

Photo by cottonbro from Pexels

 It's the crazy time before Thanksgiving, so I'm doing an easy post- 5 Random Things About Words. 

    1. When should we use 'enquire' versus 'inquire?' 

     According to Dictionary.com, they are interchangeable. The difference is 'enquire' is the British derivation and is more 'formal.' Most Americans use 'inquire.' So fret not, there is no wrong answer when using either.

    2. What is the controversy of  'should of' versus 'should have?'

    The proper wording is 'should have' and not 'should of.' i.e. I should have written this post sooner. DON'T say 'should of.' EVER. 

    3. Is it 'egg nog' or 'eggnog?' 

    Since it's 'egg roll' or plain 'nog' I assumed it was 'egg nog.' It's NOT. It's 'eggnog' - 1 word.

    4. Why does Scrabble let you use some foreign language words, and not others?

    Frankly, this annoys me. If I can use 'qi' (Chinese word for circulating life energy) and casa (Spanish for home) and faux (French for fake) why can't I use faux pas? Their rules are inconsistent and make it hard to play the game without a dictionary. 

    5. Five fun words I love but will probably never use:

        1- Googly (n) a bowled ball that swerves in one direction and breaks in the other.

        2- Thingamabob (n) which means thingamajig which means a gadget or other item for which a person can't remember the proper name. 

        3- Dooblydo (n) is a YouTube term which gives info about a video such as what the video is about, who made it, and relevent links.

        4- Argle bargle (n) copious but meaningless talk or writing.

        5- Defervescence (v) medical term which means the lessening of a fever.

That's my 5 x 5 ( term used by Faith in Buffy the Vampire Slayer meaning things were good, or, in military terms, that a person is being received loud and clear over the radio) but I'm using it literally- 5 things, 5 words. 

Have a SAFE and wonderful Thanksgiving. 

Char 

Using the Magic Words

Sure does feel like this 'self-distancing' is lasting forever. At least for me because I've been conscientious about and practicing it for a while now. With 3 out of 4 of us home, things can get tedious. Until you cause a little mischief....

I got this magnetic poetry words set for my boys. I thought the magnets would interest them in writing and words.

No.

They hated it.

So much so, they would mess up any phrase or sentence I would create.

Grrrr.

So I gave up and put the magnets in a junk drawer.

The other day I came across them in the junk drawer and decided to bring them out. Now, instead of frustration, I laugh at the antics my two boys, now grown, pull.

The yellow word is "poetry" so "poetry burns" 

My sons are wise guys- I was a teacher for a short while

It's hard to photograph against a shiny fridge- it says "no get-togethers" and "children inside"

I had put up: "Men don't share emotions" but that didn't stay long... I'm looking forward to each insult- both to read theirs and post mine.... ;)

We're all in this together and we have to keep our sense of humor.

Hang in there, and this too, shall pass. Stay healthy and happy.

Char

Give Me SPACE!

January. Time for resolutions most of us don't keep. But, I have at least one that I do.

Clearing out/streamlining.

This was my dresser drawer:

Too many shirts, all squished in. When I wanted a specific one, I had to dig through all the others (and you know the one I wanted seemed to always be on the bottom).

Writing is like that; we squish too many words in. And like my shirts, some of the words weren't worth keeping. Consider:

He'd keep on trying.

vs:

He'd keep trying.

Or,

He hoped that she would change her mind.

vs:

He hoped she would change her mind.

In both second examples, the missing words 'on' and 'that' aren't missed. In my mind, it sounds better and my word count will be better utilized. What words can you eliminate from your manuscript? I do a global word search for 'just.' For some reason, I overuse that word and almost every time it can be eliminated. Helping verbs, like have, had, have had, etc. can be removed and it makes the writing stronger, more active. Look:

She had run a mile in record time.

vs:

She ran a mile in record time.

Sometimes you need the helping verb, but most times you can toss them out.

Here's my drawer now:

 The shirts are compact and neat because I eliminated the unnecessary ones (did I really need 3 gray tee shirts? Or ones with stains or holes?).

After sorting through and organizing all my drawers, I had a pile of unwanted clothes that would be better somewhere else, like going to someone in need, or to the rag pile.

Now I'm off to finish the streamlining of my middle grade manuscript; Jac is impatient for her story to continue.

Happy organizing!

Char

Don't Use That Word With Me!

Not a rant, exactly, but there are some words I detest. Even as a writer. Strange, right? But it's like even though I'm a cat lover, I think hairless cats are ugly. I would never harm them, but I'd never get one as a pet. Same with these words. I'd never use them because we aren't friends.


1.  'drug' vs. 'dragged.'  I don't know, it simply sounds uncouth when I hear or read something like, "I drug the truth out of him" vs. "I dragged the truth out of him." Are you with me on this? It just sounds incorrect and ignorant.

2.  'bemused.' Webster's dictionary says it means "confused, or mildly amused." Well, which is it? Sometimes I can't tell if a character is amused or confused by the context. Don't tell me "she was bemused by his outburst" because that doesn't clarify the meaning. She could be confused by his outburst, as in he had no reason for such emotion, or she could be amused, because he had no reason. Which is it??? Pick a better word.

3. 'didactic' which in case you didn't know, means, according to Webster, "Instructive, or inclined to teach or lecture others too much." No one except academics and snobby writers use that word. Had a classmate who used it all the time to impress the prof. Hint: he wasn't impressed, and neither were we.

4.  Okay, not a word, but more of a colloquial saying. "I had went shopping." Sorry, that's just wrong. "I had gone shopping." Or, better, "I went shopping." Get rid of both 'had' and 'went.' And stop making me cringe.

5. The 'n' word. It seems to me, that if a word is a slur against a whole community of people, the 'cultural appropriation' of that word by the said affected community is NOT the thing to do. I hear POC calling each other that name, and I while I know it can be meant as a greeting, it's also derogatory. It's akin to calling a woman 'bitch' in a song, or women calling another woman a bitch. It can mean that she's badass (so say that!) but it also can mean that she's a terrible person, it's meant to put her down, the same way slave owners used the 'n' word. Both words (and a few others I won't get into here) should be eradicated from vocabulary altogether. Let's not glorify them, okay?

I think maybe I'll start a list of words I strongly dislike and see where it goes. 

Until then,

Char

Running Ahead From Behind

If you're following/doing #NaNoWriMo, you know that on November 26, (today), a writer should be at 43,342 words. Because of holiday prep, Thanksgiving, visiting family, and then a day of exhaustion (where I still had to cook and put up Christmas decorations and watch my beloved New England Patriots kill the NY Jets), I am officially

6,767 words behind schedule. 

Am I going to panic? Nope. Am I going to throw in the towel? Never! Am I going to beat myself up because I'm behind? Just not happening!

My plan of action is simple. I can either hit the keys now and try to pound out 6,767 words, but that might be a little hard since it's 6:37 pm and I did yoga, cleaned house, made dinner, fought off a migraine, and finished the Christmas decorating (I tend to go overboard, I'm sure you've seen pictures). Or, I can divide the remaining words I have left and do 2,687 words a day till November 30th to finish on time, or I can try to do as much as humanly possible on whatever day I can. 

I'm not sure which approach I'll do; maybe it'll be a combo. But whichever one I choose, I will give it my best shot. And technically, don't we get off work for holidays? That would mean I have until midnight December 1st to really finish on time. (I wish whoever created #NaNoWriMo would have taken that into consideration. What's wrong with March? It has 31 days so we'd only have to do 1,613 words a day, no major holidays, and it's in the gloomy days of winter where we're stuck inside. Poor planning, NaNo person....)

Anyway, if you're behind, don't despair. I'm not. Even if I don't get done by the 30th, I'm almost finished and that's a great start to a finished novel (we'll talk about revisions later....).

So hang in there with me. We can do this!

Photo courtesy of Pexels, Inc.

Char

Word Games

Language fascinates me. (Hence, why I write.) I like to play around with, and yes, intentionally misuse words. But there's good precedence. Just think about the word 'mouser.' I'm guessing that someone had a cat, and that cat caught a lot of mice. Instead of saying that, they said she was a 'mouser.' Kind of like saying a person is a writer in place of 'that person writes.' A noun becomes a verb.

When I'm talking about my cats roaming through the decorative grasses in my back yard, I tell my sons the cats are 'jungling;'

Photo courtesy of Pexels, Mali Maeder

They are not prowling through a real jungle, but acting like they are. When my cats snuggle into the blanket, they are 'nesting,' not building a nest. (See how fun this is?)

But I'm not the only one who does this. Who first used the words:

texting

gaming

linking (as in chain-link smoking)

fragging (as in killing/wounding someone with a fragmentation device, i.e. grenade)

actualizing (to make actual or real)

Do you turn words on end, make a noun into a verb? Use them in unexpected ways? Try it, it's fun.

Char 

Staring Down the NaNoWriMo Deadline...

Well, NaNoWriMo is almost over. I have 4 days to write 14,622 words, or 3,656 words a day.

I probably won't make it.

But I'm not going to sweat it. I'm not giving up on my project, and I'll give it a shot. Here's why I'm not going to beat myself up if I don't make my goal:

1- Who the heck picked November for NaNoWriMo? Between Thanksgiving and Christmas and other end-of-year holidays, it was insanity to pick this month. Sometimes I feel it's a bit of an unfair challenge, like only people who 'really' want to finish their novel will succeed. Why didn't they choose March? Nothing going on in March but snowstorms and nasty weather, and everyone hoping for an early spring. That makes much more sense. So, with all the other time requirements I have to fulfill, I can only squeeze in so much more.

2- I'm going to finish this project. Just because I don't finish it in 30 days doesn't mean a thing. I've written a number of novels in 30 days, so I know I can do it. I just don't have to.

3- When a novel is written, that's only half the story. There are plenty of novels sitting in drawers or closets (and I'm guilty of that), that need a complete overhaul. NaNoRevMo (revision month) is in June. JUNE???? When there are graduations, weddings, vacations, yard work? Seriously some people planning this whole thing are calendar-challenged. If NaNoWriMo was in March, the NaNoRevMo would be in October. Perfect. Am I the only person to think of this? Revising in December is also hard, but to finish off my NaNoWriMo novel? I can totally do that, I only have 14,522 words to go.

4- If I choose to finish this novel later, it's because I have several projects in the air and if one of them comes to fruition, it's going to take my time and attention. I'm querying agents, doing blog posts, doing book events. If my one big project comes through, all those listed above will go on a back burner, along with family dinners. So, it's a matter of priorities.

5- There's always next year, if I feel so inclined, but I usually don't wait until NaNoWriMo to write the next book, I'll write it after and before November. I do NaNoWriMo for fun, to challenge myself and cheer on others. I'm not going to let it give me heartburn or sleepless nights.

Next post, I'll let you know how I did. In the meantime, I'm encouraging you not to give up, as I won't. Some will succeed, some won't, but in the end, it all depends on finishing the novel, not how fast you got it done, and polishing the novel, not just sitting back after the writing.

Char

It's Go Time!

(I'm writing this blog on an old dinosaur computer, so forgive me if there are no pretties or I don't respond to comments right away...)



Are you ready? Time to edit! Cut! Revise! Throw out! Scrap! Cross out!

And bleed a little.. (ink...)

I thought the following article on words that should be banned was perfect. (I was going to say 'spot on' but that's become a cliché.) Go here to see Lake Superior University's picks for words we all now hate (but too many people still use).  After your chuckle, make a note to check your manuscript for these types of words; they're overused, slangy, and usually incorrect or non-existent if you subscribe to the Oxford English Dictionary (although some of their entries leave me scratching me head. Just because a lot of people use it doesn't make it a valid word in my mind, but that's another blog.).

And, here are a few more resources to help you edit:

5 Editors Tackle the 12 Fatal Flaws of Fiction Writing by C.S. Lakin

Showing and Telling in Fiction by Marcy Kennedy

Revision and Self Editing for Publication by James Scott Bell


And to add to your already long list of Things to Look For:

Tension- Is it there, do you have enough, is it sustained?

Genre- is it the right one? Are adults telling your YA story?

World building- can people believe that your fantasy world, whether sci fi, folktale, historical, magical, etc. is real by the details you provide or are we asked to just 'believe?'

Because my laptop is on the critical list, I'll be working on a printed out draft that has already been marked up (this should be fun). I know of one critical flaw- that runs through the entire book (yeah, why didn't I see that coming?) so I know it's going to be a long, agonizing, hair-pulling job. But we're in this together, right?

Going by the NaNoWriMo guidelines, if our book is 50,000 words, we would need to edit about 1,724 words a day (Luckily this is a leap year and we have 29 days.) That is roughly 7 pages a day to finish by the 29th. (This might or might not be harder than writing 7 pages a day....)

So good luck! Don't fret! It'll all work out! And you HAVE TO DO THIS, so no backing out. Even if you don't finish by the 29th, KEEP GOING.

And let's cheer each other along.

Char 

Image courtesy of Google Images

What's in a word....?

On, out, up, in- they're all pretty much the same.

Hubs: I let the cats out.

DON'T LET THE CATS OUT, THEY EAT ALL THE CAT FOOD AT THE NEIGHBOR'S HOUSE!

Hubs: I let the cats UP. (they stay in basement playroom at night because they run like crazy at 2 am and wake everyone up.)

See the difference? Even the littlest words have power...  Choose your words carefully....

Char

Minding the P's and Q's and A's and B's

Just for fun...

A  Abscond- verb, to run away, take flight, to steal.
B  Bowdlerize- verb, to expurgate, censor, sanitize.
C  Convivial- adjective, being social, cordial, amiable.
D  Descry- verb, to catch sight of, see, discern.
E  Epigrammatic- adjective, succinct, concise, terse.
F  Foist- verb, to force upon, impose, thrust.
G  Glutinous- adjective, gluelike, sticky, gummy.
H  Haversack- noun, backpack, rucksack, satchel.
I   Indecorous- adjective,unbecoming, unseemly, improper.
J  Jerry-built- adjective, badly built, cheap, shoddy.
K  Kilter- noun, state, condition, fettle.
L  Legerdemain- noun, juggling, sleight of hand, juggling.
M  Mawkish- adjective, maudlin, oversentimental, lachrymose.
N  Nihilism- noun, disbelief, skepticism, repudiation.
O  Odium- noun, abhorrence, loathing, antipathy.
P  Parlance- noun, speech, language, phraseology.
Q  Quaff- verb, to drink, swallow, gulp down.
R  Ruffian- noun, villain, thug, scoundrel.
S  Sang-froid- noun, composure, coolness, self control.
T  Timorous- adjective, timid, fearful, apprehensive.
U  Urbanity- adjective, suaveness, sophistication, worldliness.
V  Vicissitude- noun, change. alteration, uncertainty.
W  Wastrel- noun, waster, spendthrift, squanderer.
X  Xebec- noun, small 3 masted ship.
Y  Yerk- verb, to strike or whip, stir up.
Z  Zaftig- adjective, womanly shape, plump, full bodied.


Quiz tomorrow...  ;)

(Thanks to the Oxford Pocket American Thesaurus, Oxford Univ Press, NY, 2002)


Char

Word!

Words. I love the sound of them, the look of them, the sense of them, the power of them, the allure of them...

I love words.

Abominable.
Blunder.
Conformation.
Denouement.
Embellishment.
Frivolity.
Grumble.
Hullabaloo.
Ignominy.
Juxtapose.
Knave.
Loiter.
Mishmash.
Nimble.
Obtuse.
Paroxysm.
Quaff.
Rampage.
Scion.
Tenacity.
Undercurrent.
Vagabond.
Waft.
Xenophobe.
Yokel.
Zealotry.

Awesome!

Char