Names Tip

I have always had a hard time coming up with fantasy/paranormal/sci-fi names for people in my characters. I can come up with a simple name easily, but it's when I want them to sound special that I run into trouble. I want it to sound different yet somewhat sophisticated, and pronounceable--definitely pronounceable.  


A few days ago, I found a method that has actually worked very well for me. What I do is, instead of using a common name or making one up, I use popular names from other countries.


They work well, because they're different from the American names I am used to, so they have that nice "unique" feel to them.


For example, here are a few of the most popular names for 2011 in a few other countries that sound cool:


Australia: Lachlan (,boy, 7th) 


Brazil: Giovanna (girl, 5th), Manuela (girl, 7th), Rafaela (girl, 8th), Miguel (boy, 3rd), Matheus (boy, 5th), Guilherme (boy, 7th), Felipe (boy, 10th) 


France: Inès (girl, 5th), Manon (girl, 7th), Enzo (boy, 2nd), Raphaël (boy, 6th), Yanis (boy, 8th) 


These are all I'm going to post today, just to give you a hint as to what's out there. I hope this helped you! 


~Elizabeth

My Favorite Things

Well, first off I would like to wish you all Merry Christmas!

My family is one that gets very excited about the approach of Christmas. So excited, in fact, that we make up what the days before are. A couple of years ago, my mom came up with the idea that the day before Christmas Eve must be Christmas Adam, because Adam came before Eve.

So now, instead of saying that it is four days until Christmas, we say that it's only two days until Christmas Adam (somehow that makes it feel like Christmas is closer). *Just so you know, tomorrow is Christmas Fish*. 


All jokes aside, Christmas is amazing.

Yet, what surprises me most is that the actual day of Christmas is my least favorite part of it. For me, it's the Christmas caroling and Christmas pageants, the cookie baking and time spent shopping with family, picking out and decorating a tree, going to a Christmas Eve service. . . Not all, I'll admit, but most of the things on my list tend to go along with glorifying God.

With Christmas caroling, you get to not only sing songs praising Him, but it's also an amazing opportunity to show God's love to those you sing to. With Christmas pageants, you get to re-tell the story of Christ's birth. With cookie baking, you are taking time aside to spend with your family to make cookies to give away (of course, we all know that not all of them wind up being given to someone ;) ) , time spent shopping normally involves putting others before yourself and picking out something they would like as opposed to just getting something for yourself. Picking out a tree can also be glorifying God--marveling at His creation.

Then, when you go to a Christmas Eve service, you sing classic Christmas songs like Silent Night and Away in a Manger, Come all Ye Faithful. . . You hear the pastor discuss Christ's birth--and though it is a message that a lot of people have heard to many times to count, still leaves the same effect.

Christ--God's Son--coming into this world.

Not because He had to, but because He wanted to. He wanted a way to be closer to His people--He wanted to sanctify them and make them pure.

He came because He loves us.

And, unfortunately, that isn't exactly what I think about on Christmas Day. I think about all of the things I got, I get angry about the things I didn't. I get impatient when at the family events because they are taking too long to get to the gifts.

Then, at the end of the day, I look at the mess my house has become. Wrapping paper everywhere,  gifts thrown this way and that, and I let out a sigh.

Gifts will pass away--they will break, get lost, get left somewhere, thrown out, get burnt. . . Because they weren't meant to last forever.

Yet what Christ did for us--that is something that was meant to last forever. Literally.

I would put the Christmas story on this post (Luke 1-2), but it's already getting quite lengthy. . .But I will encourage you to check it out. It's a story thousands of years in the making.


~Elizabeth

Contest

Today, I would like to inform you of a cool writing contest going on right now. Vision Forum is doing a 2012 Catalog Story Contest called Women and Children First.  

You can choose either of the following pictures:

You can do as many entries as you like--but there is a $5 fee per entry.

After you have chosen your photo, you write the story behind it. It has to be more than 100 words, although it cannot exceed 1,200.

Those under 18 are welcome to enter with parental permission. The deadline is December 31st.

For more information, click on the link above.

~Elizabeth

Writing Tip

I was working on my book the other day, and I realized something that just might change how I write for the rest oft life.

POV.

I found that, by changing the perspective, it made it a lot easier to write. In fact, I change it often within each chapter.

It makes it new and exciting. . . Not to mention the fact that it adds a LOT of length.

What makes it easier for you to continue writing?

~Elizabeth

Contest Winner!

I would've announced this on Monday, but my internet stopped working. :(

Anyway, to the announcement!

The winner is....

Aylin Brandt!! Congratulations!!!

If all of the judges could email me ( yawhowrite@gmail.com ), then I'll send you her book.

And, again, Aylin, congratulations! Writing 30,000 words in a month is something to be proud of!

~Elizabeth

Time is running out!!!

Time is running out to enter for our Operation Feedback Blogfest!!!

It ends this Monday--so get entering!! :)


~Elizabeth

Eowyn

Alright, so if you don't already know, I'm a major Lord of the Rings fan. I had to choose someone from a book to write a five paragraph essay on, so I chose Eowyn. I'm having a little trouble coming up with a conclusion, though (my 5th paragraph), so any suggestions are highly appreciated!

Underestimated

There was a girl named Eowyn who lived long, long ago in a land called Middle Earth. She was the niece of King Theoden, King of Rohan. She was beautiful beyond compare, although her eyes were forever stained; she had seen how cruel reality could be. Middle Earth was, after all, in a huge war. Sauron and Saruman, together with all the forces of Mordor and Isengard and a some others who joined their cause, against. . .well, against practically everyone else. King Theodon’s only heir had died in a battle, and now the blood heir to the throne was Eowyn’s brother. Eowyn felt so useless, as if no one trusted her—she knew her skills with the blade. She wanted to defend her people.

Eowyn remembered looking down upon her insane Uncle Theoden.  The realization hadn’t even hit him yet that his son was dead. It made her want to cry. She remembered how it used to be; Theoden had brought her and her brother, Éomer, up as if he were their own father, since both of their parents were dead.  She ran outside, for she could stand it no longer—she needed some fresh air. As she inhaled, she recalled the slow fade of character and memory that was eating away her uncle, the king. He was now advised by a fellow named Grima Wormtongue; his character as snaky as his name. But as she looked up, she saw horses with riders approach. Little did she know that she would fall desperately in love with one of them—Aragorn, son of Arathorn, rightful heir to the throne of Gondor. How could she help it? He was, after all, charming and rather handsome. . he had an air of mysteriousness that clung to him, and that made Eowyn long to know more about him. Of course, it also never occurred to her that one of them, Gandalf the White, would remove the curse that Saruman had placed on her uncle. No, they were just normal riders to her.

Soon, however, Eowyn’s life began to change. True battles were beginning to occur, and Rohan was about to be attacked by a devastating force. She pursed her lips as she thought of the past events. She remembered when Aragorn showed her his necklace that his beloved elf maiden, Arwen, had given him. Most of all, however, she remembered that terrible time when she thought Aragorn had died in a battle—short though it was, it cut her heart to pieces. Then, of course, there was what happened after he returned. Legolas, Aragorn’s friend, gave him back Arwen’s necklace. It was a stinging reminder that she did not hold his heart. But with that, she gave up all hope of a future with Aragorn. Instead, she set her mind on another matter; King Theoden, who was now in his right mind, was refusing to allow his precious niece into the fields of battle. He would only allow her to take care of the women and young children. Eowyn knew she could fight; she only needed a chance to prove it. And later on, she would.

 Sauron was about to unleash nearly all of the forces of Mordor onto Gondor, the area of which Aragorn was heir.  Rohan rushed to their aid, and Eowyn snuck her way into the forces. In that battle, she saw her uncle die. Yet, her experience there was not all bad. She turned out to be rather useful—the King of the Nazgul, who could not be killed by men, appeared on the battle field, killing many. But Eowyn was no man, and she was able to defeat it.  All of the hurt from Aragorn was washed away as her eyes beheld Faramir, son of the Steward of Gondor. Not long after the two were married, peace was restored to Middle Earth, for Sauron was dead.

~Elizabeth

Christmas

I love this time of year. A lot.

There are little signs everywhere that Christmas is approaching; stores are posting count-downs on their windows, people are starting their shopping, egg-nog and hot cocoa is appearing on the grocery store shelves. . .It's all so exciting. 

This is the spectacular time of year,  
When signs of Christmas begin to appear,
Christmas lights aglow,
Grass covered in snow. . . .

I don't know why, but I just felt like adding that in there. For some reason, rhyming helps me write poetry. It makes it easier to come up with the next line, plus it sounds cool when you say it out loud.

So, what about you? What do you like about this time of year?


~Elizabeth

Villians

Today, I am going to talk about Villains! What is a villain you ask? According to the dictionary, (dictionary.com) a villain is 1.a cruelly malicious person who is involved in or devoted to wickedness or crime; scoundrel.  2.a character in a play, novel, or the like, who constitutes an important evil agency in the plot. In a book, the villain is an instigator. I mean, would Batman have ever become Batman if the Joker wasn't terrorizing the city? Or would Eragon (from the Inheritance series) ever have become a deadly half-elf dragon rider if the king Galbatorix hadn't killed all the other riders and had a reign of terror? A good villain can make or break a book. What is a good villain? Well I think a good villain is a villain that you can almost sympathise with. One that makes you look at the good guys and wonder if they are actually wrong. One that is not just malicious but also deadly smart. If you look at some of the most well known villains like Moriarty from Sherlock Holmes, they are geniuses. One of my favorite moments with a villain is when the people involved make a choice. They are given two psychologically difficult choices and the heroes have to choose. To clarify my confusing statement, in the movie Spider-Man, Spidey has to choose between rescuing Mary Jane and saving a bunch of people from a falling billboard. In the end he saves than both, but the choice is a mad attempt buy the Green Goblin to hurt Spider-Man. Then you have the more soft villains like Dr. Doofensmirtz from Phineas and Ferb. He isn't exactly a maliciuos person. He cares about his nemesis, Perry the Platypus. He makes a more or less lovable character for the children who watch the show. In the end, no matter what kind of villain you have, you need to make him or her human. (That is if they are human) They need to have some measure of understanding by the readers. I love a villain I can almost relate to. So go and enjoy the flavors of books with good villains!

~Leslie

NaNoWriMo

Alright. . .So I spent most of the day today packing for a family vacation I'm leaving for tomorrow. I'll be on this vacation until Wednesday next week; in other words, I will try to post on my days, but don't be surprised if I miss a day or two. So, that said. . .

I'm up to 6,000 words in my NaNo book! It's so exciting. . .I feel like I'm finally getting somewhere with it. I'm using the one that I had been posting sections of, although I have changed most of it. Here's a piece of what I've written so far:

I thought of the people I had left behind. . .  my father, Jaradias, Edwin. . .so many faces. I longed to see them again, just one more time. To assure them that I loved them, to explain to them why I needed to leave. But I knew I couldn’t take back what I had done, and I knew that there would always be consequences for my actions.

And that was the part that haunted me.   


What do you think? ~Elizabeth