words

Invent Words!

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What happens when you have a word you want to say but there’s no word for it…you make one up! So many authors dating back to Shakespeare have done just that, and oftentimes you use words that you don’t even know an author invented! If the time comes and no exact word does the trick for what you’re trying to say, invent one!

Just to give you some examples, here is a list of words that you may use from time to time that authors invented. 

  1. “Tween”: J. R. R. Tolkein, ‘The Lord of the Rings’ (1954)
  2. “Nerd”: Dr. Seuss, ‘If I Ran the Zoo’ (1950)
  3. “Piehole”: Stephen King, ‘Christine’ (1983)

And those are just to name a few! Now of course authors can invent an abundance of names and places etc. However, these authors invented words that we use often in our vocabulary. Who knows we could be saying your word next! So if you find a whole in your story’s diction don’t be discouraged to mess around with creating your own word (just make sure it hasn’t already been used in another meaning). 

Happy Writing!

Editing Tips for Writers

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Let’s take a look at this quote… 

First, find what it means to you and then carry on with the rest of this post.

There are a million ways to dissect this quote and analyze how others perceive it. However, there is one thing that is fundamentally true any way you look at it. Editing is a very important step of the writing process. There is no way around it. Without proper editing even a ‘good’ book can appear bad. Now, if you are someone who wishes to improve their editing techniques here are a few places to start!

Less is more!

Filler words are never a good idea. Find what you are trying to say and use the least amount of words to properly get your point across. For example: There are many people who write — Many people write.

Avoid weak verbs.

Use visceral verbs or verbs that express action over weak verbs. For example:

Find out — Discover

He went to Italy — He traveled to Italy

Avoid weak adjectives.

Be mindful when using words like ‘really’ and ‘very’. There are always better alternatives. For example:

Really good – Great

Very big – Huge

Don’t introduce unnecessary words.

Why use a weak word when a stronger verb or adjective is available? 

Give your post a proofread — Proofread your post (verb form)

He shows signs of carelessness — He is careless (adjective form)

You can find a lot of programs to help you edit as well, but that is a whole other post! Never be afraid to continue to educate yourself on your writing. There are so many outlets looking to  help you. Including us!

So follow us along your literary journey and we will learn together!

Happy Editing!

Motivation Monday

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We each have our own sayings to describe separating ourselves from the chaos of the world. It is good to know that we all have similarities in that degree. For instance, you may hear someone say YOLO – You Only Live Once to describe the sensation of doing what you love in life and taking risks because this is your time, but in Japan you may hear ukiyo a similar sort of presence of doing what you love and not letting outside things come between that.

I encourage you to seek out similarities among you and others. We can learn so much, especially in the form of language. Make it present in your own literary works and explore the outcome of getting your novel translated (we can help you with that)!

Remember to live in the moment. The world is too big to only stay in your head. 

Happy Monday!

Everything You Need to Know – National Novel Writing Month

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A few days ago I was seeing NaNoWriMo everywhere and had no idea what it meant. However, after realizing that it stands for (National Novel Writing Month), it now makes sense as to why I saw it a few days ago and why authors and writers were the ones using the term. 

Now I just needed to do more research on what was actually going on around here! And behold, Nanowrimo.org A beacon for all things related to the nonprofit. It is such a wonderful organization that I had no clue existed. It gives support to thousands of writers to share their words and express their love of writing world wide. They have created such an impact and run year-round amazing programs. They truly have become internet famous, in their belief that every story matters. 

Your stories do matter and now I encourage you to write in the spirit of NaNoWriMo! If you did not know about this organization check out their very insightful website where you can also donate to help support. 

NaNoWriMo entails writers to write 50,000 words in the month of November (around 1,667 words per day). It also has to be a novel. See how far you can go, take the pledge!

You’re already six days in!

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