J.Parkhurst

Might I suggest https://dicelog.com/yafnag to help you create names based on sound?

I look up from the uppermost book in my stack of books, attention caught by something I can’t quite place. I listen, waiting.

Voices, outside the door. I have, once again, managed to lose track of time again, and in the process, also managed to wind my way back to the front of the warm, hardwood shelved library. They’re also still looking for the…[Read more]

Another thing that matters to relationship development is the characters’ ghosts. By ghosts, I mean the ghosts of their past. The mistakes they’ve made, abuse they’ve suffered, doubts that gnaw at them. On the one hand, these can create tension in a relationship as characters try to hide their ghosts. There may also be the tension of them wantin…

[Read more]

Please add my 600 words to the word count if at all possible. I rounded down to the nearest hundred since I have several projects in the works at the moment, and barely enough mental time to eat regularly, let alone write 🙂

If folks are still interested in doing this… my antagonist needs severe help.

Haeldur’s firmly established on the throne of his generation’s old inheritance. It’s uncontested, and honestly pretty boring. With his illustrious heritage though, he also inherited the paranoia and tendency towards madness that his predecessors carried. He’s not the…[Read more]

@literatureforthelight

In my current revision, I’m struggling in much the same way. I have the major scenes fleshed out, and a few connecting ones finished or drafted. What I’m struggling with is the motivation to work on writing the in-between connections and day to day scenes that are also needed to get us from point A to point B. They are far…[Read more]

@r-j-karas

Regarding your r-w comment- While I’m not familiar with the character, that’s a rather clever way of sneaking it in. The r sound is often late in speech development, and is a fairly common speech challenge past that stage as well. Yay for roots in real-world problems!

@julianne

“Not only can speaking style tell you where the…[Read more]

@Daeus-Lamb

This is where someone should really stop me before I go down the closely related rabbit trails of:

• linguistics/philology
• conlangs and their relation to connected cultures in story
• phonoaesthetics
• formal and informal English usage
• …and a few more

Do you think we remember these characters just because they are odd or do…[Read more]

The outburst is not entirely unexpected. Once the reason for our gathering  had become clear, the road forward was not clear, but it at least resembled a road again.

“Gabby,” I say gently, praying I wasn’t about to thoroughly trounce upon the toes of our leaders. “I do believe you’re well on the right track already. Apathy may be one of the…[Read more]

“I too, have seen the deception of Melkor’s lies spread further and deeper.” I add wearily. “The neighboring lands call them the Ice Folk  behind closed doors, and the inhabitants have given up refuting the name. It is not an obvious malice or evil which befalls them, but an insidious despair and ever-dimming of the light of hope. There are a few…[Read more]

For a time, I’m content to sit in watchful silence, observing the arrival of the others. Some take their time to adjust to the quiet atmosphere, taking in the details of their personalized seats with quiet awe while others bring a breeze of energy with them as they enter the room that all but sings with untold stories and answers to questions that…[Read more]

Well, I was looking for motivation to a) persevere with my writing tasks and b)stay connected with a healthy community- it’s time for me to shape up my act too! Even if it’s 15 minutes after the students head home each day, I’d like to stick around, and will be more proactive towards that front.

Tea or coffee? (The world breathlessly awaits your answer.)
Tea, always tea- preferably hot, sweet and herbal.

How did you become a writer?
How does anyone become a writer? I feel like it just happened to me! I grew up at the library, and wrote my first “story” in first grade. The ideas haven’t really ever stopped since then.

What has the theme…[Read more]

…Somewhere in the depths of the hall, hinges creak.

Go on, open the door. Everyone’s already heard the hinges’ complaint by now, anyways.

The words are a familiar echo of an old chastisement I’m altogether too familiar with. Another task, another not-quite-success. I mentally shoulder them aside, refusing to give them any more attention than…[Read more]

Oddly enough, most of my characters spring out of their backstory. I often end up knowing their backstory before I know the ‘present’ character’s state. Most often, the backstory is a compilation of their emotions, notable interactions, and the connections between the two. Their surface-level  traits are frequently the last things I learn about…[Read more]

It’s Monday and day 2 of NaNo! Therefore I really do have to focus on writing (and break this binge-reading phase). My goal for the rest of the week is 14 hours of revision on my primary novel. Within those 14 hours, I want to have the new Chapter 5 finished- organized, aligned with the plot/s, and at least 80% of the new scenes fleshed out. It…[Read more]

I will also be doing Camp Nano, but with another revision goal for the month. I should probably get my self signed up soon, no?

I can’t speak to the medical side of things on this one, but as self-defense-by-extinguisher has come up in our worst-case-scenario planning for the classroom… blasting the bad guy with the chemical spray (in the face), and then going for a headshot with the bottle will theoretically disorient him for more than a few seconds.

@esther-sears The thing is, I know can do better than this, and that’s the irritating part 🙂

I’m also an intermediate, score at 50. My goal is to finish this revision cycle on my novel before the end of the year, and add what I learn to my writing habits along the way. I’m also going to kick this binge-reading tendency so I can really focus on writing again!