Tag Archives: writing

The Amber Ring – WordPress Giveaway

Posted by Piscis on

The Amber Ring

When the twelve-year-old Heroine of the Fairwoods dies, her morose twin sister reluctantly joins her trusty gryphon sidekick on a quest to save the enchanted land in her stead.

 

The giveaway I did at Goodreads a few months back got some decent traction, so I figured I’d do a quicker, smaller one here just for my fellow ‘bloggers.

Let’s try this: If you’d like a chance to win a free signed copy of this cynical fairytale novella, just reblog this post.  I’ll gather up the names from the track-back comments, throw them into a randomizer, and announce a winner in two weeks (July 21, 2013).  I don’t anticipate many entrants, so your chances should be pretty good!

 

[This giveaway is for the physical (print) edition.  The eBook, as always, can be acquired for free at your favorite retailer (Kindle | iBooks | Nook | Sony | Kobo) or direct download (ePUB | PDF).]

 

Bene scribete.

Wednesday Writing Word: Metanoia

Posted by Piscis on
Metanoia

ˌmɛtəˈnɔɪə  |  met-uh-NOY-uh

 

Metanoia, as a rhetoric device, is following up a statement with another of similar sentiment but contrasting severity.  When strengthening the original idea, it can be used as a clarifier or an escalating gradient; when softening it, it can create a mild recanting or a dramatic understatement.

 

Examples:

  • I fear that the slog is going to hinder me – that it’s going to smoother my brain, dull my senses, and rip the joy out of everything I do.
  • The slog is the absolute worst.  It’s just…really not my favorite thing, you know?

 

Metanoia.  Use it.

 

Bene scribete.

Death Scene: Turkish Style

Posted by Piscis on

Death scenes can be tricky to write, particularly for primary characters.  Do too little, and it can feel jarringly abrupt, not allowing the reader (or watcher) to properly absorb within the moment that the character has legitimately just met his end.

Do too much, on the other hand, and you may end up with something like this:

 

 

(…all right, I may have just wanted an excuse to post that video)

 

Bene scribete.

Cloud Dragon

Posted by Piscis on

I saw this guy over the Nevada desert last week:

 

Cloud Dragon (Front)

 

Something like a dragon blowing smoke out his nose, eh?  It was extremely clear in person, but I couldn’t get a very good photograph without optical zoom.  I fiddled with the contrast and tried to enhance the details as best I could.

Here’s another from his side, several miles away.  Look closely and you can make out his neck, horns, eyes, and snout:

 

Cloud Dragon (Side)

 

Dragon in the cloud,
Are you proud?
Are you cowed?
Would you deign to flutter down
And say “hi”?

Dragon in the sky,
Tell me why
Do you cry
When the wind begins to blow
Way up there.

Dragon in the air,
Do you care
If I stare?
For I must admit I’m struck
By your gleam.

Dragon wrought of steam,
I must deem
You a dream,
As I know I’ll never see
You again.

 

Bene scribete.

Wednesday Writing Word: Epanalepsis

Posted by Piscis on
Epanalepsis

/ˌɛpənəˈlɛpsɪs/  |  EP-ah-nuh-LEP-sis

 

Epanalepsis is the repetition of a sentence’s (or occasionally clause’s) first word or phrase at its end.  Used for a particular sort of poetic emphasis, it can sound pretty awkward if not done carefully.

 

Examples:

  • Wretched is the slog, for its intentions are wretched.
  • You must be wary of the slog‘s embrace; it is cruel yet inviting, and of its allure you must be wary.

 

Epanalepsis.  Use it.

 

Bene scribete.

Wednesday Writing Word: Polyseme

Posted by Piscis on
Polyseme

/ˈpɒliˌsim/  |  PAUL-ee-seem

 

Polysemy is the semantic relation among identical words of affiliated or derived meaning.   A polyseme can be as simple as a word with multiple similar contexts (mattress pad / paw pad / mouse pad), but they are more interesting and useful when they cross part-of-speech borders.  If we say “He will bat the bat with a bat,” bat (swat) and bat (baseball) are polysemes, whereas they are merely homonyms with bat (animal).

 

Other examples:

 

Polysemy.  Use it.

 

Bene scribete.

The Amber Ring – Free on Kindle

Posted by Piscis on

The Amber Ring

When the twelve-year-old Heroine of the Fairwoods dies, her morose twin sister reluctantly joins her trusty gryphon sidekick on a quest to save the enchanted land in her stead.

 

The Amber Ring (my cynical fairytale novella) is now free to download on Amazon’s Kindle!  At least in the U.S. – other territories are hopefully soon to follow.

So go snag yourself a copy!  You won’t regret it.  Unless you hate it.  In which case…you’ll probably regret it.

 

Bene scribete.

Wednesday Writing Word: Anaphora

Posted by Piscis on
Anaphora

/əˈnæfərə/  |  uh-NAFF-or-uh

 

Anaphora means…two separate things.  Because why not coin long, obscure words for extremely specific purposes only to use them again for something completely different?  O.K., O.K., the etymology (Greek, ~”bringing back”) does lend itself toward both definitions, but still.

The first refers to using a word to stand in for something that came before it.  Typically, this just means your average pronoun-antecedent reference, but it can also apply to certain auxiliary verbs.

 

Examples:

  • I hate the slog because it is the worst.
  • I want to annihilate the slog; so does Billy.

 

The second (and more fun) anaphora is the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of multiple sequential sentences or clauses.  Used as emphatic redundancy.

 

Examples:

  • We are here to make a statement.  We are here to take a stand.  We are here to face the slog.
  • I don’t like the slog, I don’t like that it exists, and I don’t like that it doesn’t not exist.

 

(…technically, there’s also a third definition, but it isn’t related to linguistics, so it can just…not…be here)

 

Anaphora.  Use it.

 

Bene scribete.

Wednesday Writing Word: Antimetabole

Posted by Piscis on

English has a lot of words.  It has words for things you may not necessarily think there would be words for – particularly when it comes to language itself.

But words are fun, right?  Of course they are!  So, I thought I’d do a series on obscure linguistic and rhetoric terms.  If one or more of them are new to you, then the next time you use a particular device, you’ll…realize that…it’s a thing?

Anyway, let’s get started.

Antimetabole

/ˌæntɨməˈtæbəli/  |  AN-tih-meh-TAB-o-lee

 

Antimetabole is the reversal of a phrase when recast in a subsequent clause.  Sometimes used for poetic emphasis or humor, sometimes merely for reflection.  Think Yakov Smirnoff jokes.

 

Examples:

  • In knowing that the slog hates you, so should you hate the slog.
  • The slog lives to fail, and in doing so fails to live.

 

Antimetabole.  Use it.

 

Bene scribete.