Welcome to the Brainstorming Corner

[Mona]

I'm coming at this as not a major reader of fae stories but I am familiar and have read some stories set in such realms.

How is your world set up? Are there different "factions" or are the various areas specific to the seasons?

In this instance, the young people involved are focused only on what concerns them, which happens to be the "Summerlands" area. A full-blooded fey teams up with a human (who's slowly becoming fey) to find the witch, sorcerer or whomever stole the fey's magic. They set out crossing the land in search of someone who can give them information, but they don't venture into the world of the dark fey or swart elves.
I know the Scottish version is called Elfhame, but everyone's read about the Summerlands or Elfhame, hence the need for a fresh name. The story's about the characters rather than the realm so I don't suppose it really matters. LOL

 

[Barbara Sheridan]

In this instance, the young people involved are focused only on what concerns them, which happens to be the "Summerlands" area. A full-blooded fey teams up with a human (who's slowly becoming fey) to find the witch, sorcerer or whomever stole the fey's magic. They set out crossing the land in search of someone who can give them information, but they don't venture into the world of the dark fey or swart elves.
I know the Scottish version is called Elfhame, but everyone's read about the Summerlands or Elfhame, hence the need for a fresh name. The story's about the characters rather than the realm so I don't suppose it really matters. LOL

I'm sorry for not checking back sooner and you've probably figured this out by now, but ins ated of having Summer in teh name maybe something "summer related" The Brightvale or The Goldenlands?

 

[Mona]

I'm sorry for not checking back sooner and you've probably figured this out by now, but ins ated of having Summer in teh name maybe something "summer related" The Brightvale or The Goldenlands?

No worries. We’re all busy nowadays. I like both names and either would work. Thanks!!

 

[Mona]

Would anyone like to set some writing goals or have accountability partners? We could set a goal (time or word count) for the week and check in the following week on how well we did meeting that goal. If you’re interested, just let me know.

 

[Mona]

I tend to collect helpful writing articles. Here's one from Grammarly that I've shared with several friends, so I figured I'd share it here, too. It's the Top 30 Commonly Confused Words.


Advice/Advise

Advice is a noun: Chester gave Posey good advice.

Advise is a verb: Chester advised Posey to avoid the questionable chicken salad.



Affect/Effect

Affect is usually a verb: Chester’s humming affected Posey’s ability to concentrate.

Effect is usually a noun: Chester was sorry for the effect his humming had.

If you find yourself stumped about which one to use in a sentence, try substituting the word “alter” or “result.”
If “alter” fits (Chester’s humming altered Posey’s ability to concentrate), use affect.
If “result” fits (Chester was sorry for the result his humming had), use effect.



Among/Amongst

Among is the preferred and most common variant of this word in American English.

Amongst is more common in British English. Neither version is wrong, but amongst may seem fussy to American readers.



Among/Between

Among expresses a collective or loose relationship of several items: Chester found a letter hidden among the papers on the desk.

Between expresses the relationship of one thing to another thing or to many other things: Posey spent all day carrying messages between Chester and the other students. The idea that between can be used only when talking about two things is a myth—it’s perfectly correct to use between if you are talking about multiple binary relationships.



Assure/Ensure/Insure

Assure means to tell someone that something will definitely happen or is definitely true: Posey assured Chester that no one would cheat at Bingo.

Ensure means to guarantee or make sure of something: Posey took steps to ensure that no one cheated at Bingo.

Insure means to take out an insurance policy: Posey was glad the Bingo hall was insured against damage caused by rowdy Bingo players.



Breath/Breathe

Breath is a noun; it’s the air that goes in and out of your lungs: Chester held his breath while Posey skateboarded down the stairs.

Breathe is a verb; it means to exhale or inhale: After Posey’s spectacular landing, Chester had to remind himself to breathe again.



Capital/Capitol

Capital has several meanings. It can refer to an uppercase letter, money, or a city where a seat of government is located: Chester visited Brasίlia, the capital of Brazil.

Capitol means the building where a legislature meets: Posey visited the cafe in the basement of the capitol after watching a bill become a law.



Complement/Compliment

A complement is something that completes something else. It’s often used to describe things that go well together: Chester’s lime green boots were a perfect complement to his jacket.

A compliment is a nice thing to say: Posey received many compliments on her purple fedora.



Disinterested/Uninterested

Disinterested means impartial: A panel of disinterested judges who had never met the contestants before judged the singing contest.

Uninterested means bored or not wanting to be involved with something: Posey was uninterested in attending Chester’s singing class.



Defence/Defense

Defense is standard in American English.

Defence is found mainly in British English.



Emigrate/Immigrate

Emigrate means to move away from a city or country to live somewhere else: Chester’s grandfather emigrated from Canada sixty years ago.

Immigrate means to move into a country from somewhere else: Posey’s sister immigrated to Ireland in 2004.



E.g./I.e.

These two Latin abbreviations are often mixed up, but e.g. means “for example,” while i.e. means “that is.”



Empathy/Sympathy

Empathy is the ability to understand another person’s perspective or feelings.

Sympathy is a feeling of sorrow for someone else’s suffering. A sympathizer is someone who agrees with a particular ideal or cause.



Farther/Further

Farther refers to physical distance: Posey can run farther than Chester.

Further refers to metaphorical distance: Chester is further away from finishing his project than Posey is.



Flaunt/Flout

Flaunt means to show off: Chester flaunted his stylish new outfit.

Flout means to defy, especially in a way that shows scorn: Posey flouted the business-casual dress code by wearing a tiara and flip-flops.



Gaff/Gaffe

A gaff is a type of spear or hook with a long handle: Chester completed his sailor costume with a gaff borrowed from his uncle’s fishing boat.

A gaffe is a faux pas or social misstep: Posey made a gaffe when she accidentally called Chester by the wrong name.



Gray/Grey

Gray is the standard American English spelling.

Grey is the standard British English spelling.



Historic/Historical

Historic means famous, important, and influential: Chester visited the beach in Kitty Hawk where the Wright brothers made their historic first airplane flight.

Historical means related to history: Posey donned a historical bonnet for the renaissance fair.



Imply/Infer

Imply means to hint at something without saying it directly: Chester implied that Posey was in trouble, but he wouldn’t tell her why.

Infer means to deduce something that hasn’t been stated directly: Posey inferred that Chester was nervous about something from the way he kept looking over his shoulder.



It’s/Its

It’s is a contraction of “it is”: Posey needs to pack for her trip because it’s only two days away.

Its is a possessive pronoun that means “belonging to it”: Chester is obsessed with both the book and its author.



Lay/Lie

To lay means to put or to place. One way to remember this is that there is an a in both to lay and to place: Posey will lay out her outfit before she goes to bed.

To lie means to recline. One way to remember this is that there is an e in both to lie and to recline: Chester will lie down for a nap.

Be careful, though. The past tense of to lay is laid: Posey laid out her outfit.

The past tense of to lie is lay: Chester lay down for a nap over an hour ago.



Lead/Led

Lead, when it rhymes with “bed,” refers to a type of metal: Posey wore a lead apron while the dentist X-rayed her teeth.

Led is the past tense of the verb to lead, which means to guide or to be first: Chester led the way.



Learned/Learnt

Learned is standard in American English.

Learnt is standard in British English.



Loose/Lose

Loose is usually an adjective: Posey discovered that the cows were loose.

Lose is always a verb. It means to misplace something or to be unvictorious in a game or contest: Chester was careful not to lose his ticket.



Principal/Principle

Principal can be a noun or adjective. As a noun, it refers to the person in charge of a school or organization: Posey was called into the principal’s office.
As an adjective, it means most important: The principal reason for this meeting is to brainstorm ideas for the theme of Chester’s birthday party.

A principle (always a noun) is a firmly held belief or ideal: Posey doesn’t like surprise parties as a matter of principle.



Inquiry/Enquiry

Inquiry and enquiry both mean “a request for information.”

Inquiry is the standard American English spelling.

Enquiry is the British spelling.



Stationary/Stationery

Stationary means unmoving: The revolving door remained stationary because Posey was pushing on it the wrong way.

Stationery refers to letter writing materials and especially to high quality paper: Chester printed his résumé on his best stationery.



Than/Then

Than is used for comparisons: Posey runs faster than Chester.

Then is used to indicate time or sequence: Posey took off running, and then Chester came along and finished her breakfast.



Their/There/They’re

Their is the possessive form of “they”: Chester and Posey took their time.

There indicates a place: It took them an hour to get there.

They’re is a contraction of “they are”: Are Chester and Posey coming? They’re almost here.



To/Too

To is a preposition that can indicate direction: Posey walked to school. She said hello to Chester when she saw him.

To is also used in the infinitive form of verbs: Chester waited until the last minute to do his homework.

Too is used as an intensifier, and also means “also”: Posey waited too long to do her homework, too.



Toward/Towards

Toward is standard in American English.

Towards is standard in British English.



Who’s/Whose

Who’s is a contraction of “who is”: Who’s calling Chester at this hour?

Whose is a possessive pronoun that means “belonging to [someone]”: Chester, whose phone hadn’t stopped ringing all morning, barely ate anything for breakfast.

 

[Mona]

This is another helpful list. The attribution got lost somewhere along the way, but if I find it later, I'll be sure to add it.
It's called 7 Idioms People Get Wrong.


The English language is old. Like, really old.

It's old enough that its speakers use a good many idiomatic sayings that were thought up decades or even centuries ago, and that use words people don't really say much anymore.

That can turn into a problem when those out-of-date words sound like other, much more common words. Especially if the sound-alike word makes a certain sort of sense in the context. Here's the thing, though: It's still wrong, even if it seems right.

Take a look at these eight examples of often-misused idioms and be sure to use the right word in your own writing.

Wrong: "She hung in there like a trooper."

Right: "She hung in there like a trouper."

Groups of actors and dancers still travel around in troupes today, but not nearly as much as they once did. Far more commonly discussed nowadays are military troops or police troopers. It makes some degree of sense to think that a saying that describes fortitude would refer to a tough cop or soldier, but it's actually about the "show must go on" mentality of an actor.

Wrong: "Let's give him free reign."

Right: "Let's give him free rein."

We're talking about offering someone full independence to make a decision, so it's understandable that someone might think this saying would be about royal authority. It's really about horses, though. When someone is riding, "free rein" means they're allowing the horse to move about as it wishes. This is simply applying that horse lingo to a person.

Wrong: "We'll tow the line."

Right: "We'll toe the line."

Folks are used to talking about boats or trucks towing other vehicles using a rope or a chain. It's easy to make the connection to this saying. The correct word is toe. The origin of this phrase is cause for some debate. We might be talking about the digits of a foot. Some say it's about kids lining up for the roll call at school, others say it's about barefoot sailors lining up to stand at attention. Still others say "toe" means to draw, as in a boundary line.

Wrong: "She was chomping at the bit."

Right: "She was champing at the bit."

Once again, we can thank horses for this idiom. It's got a pretty cut-and-dried meaning, in that it's about figuratively chewing away on a metal mouthpiece, which would be showing impatience or eagerness. In fact, "chomp" is a sort of variant of the older "champ." They both mean noisily chewing on something, but "champ" is the term that has long been associated with this idiom.

Wrong: "Wrack your brain about it."

Right: "Rack your brain about it."

To "wrack" something is to wreck or destroy it. Sometimes, when you're pounding your head against a wall to come up with an idea, it can definitely feel like you're doing some damage to the old noodle. But the correct term here is "rack," which isn't related to the noun form of the word. The verb form literally means "to strain."

Wrong: "He'll get his just desserts."

Right: "He'll get his just deserts."

Sayings such as, "Revenge is a dish best served cold," have created a sort of connection between food and someone's getting their comeuppance. A lot of people think this saying extends that connection, but it doesn't. The problem is that "desert," which is a wholly separate word from the one that describes big, dry, sandy places, is a homophone for "desserts." Here, "deserts" means "what one deserves." That meaning has almost entirely fallen out of use, except in this phrase.

Wrong: "I'm waiting with baited breath."

Right: "I'm waiting with bated breath."

Let's get past the very confusing notion of how someone would bait his or her breath to begin with and simply say that "bated" here is actually a contraction, despite the lack of an apostrophe. The full word would be "abated." The person is holding his or her breath, not attracting something with it.

 

[TerryWylis]

So why can't I write the first sentence? You know the one that takes you to the second sentence? For some reason I can write the next 3 thousand sentences but the first one sucks. What should I do? I want an amazing sentence so the reader will continue reading my almost done book.
Thanks.

I've found that sometimes it isn't just one first sentence--it's a first small group of sentences. Two, three at the most, short and easily taken as a single thought.

The house stared at her from the top of the hill. Stared, looking down its narrow-nose porch over its square-windowed glasses and finding her wanting. Worthless.

It fits in the space of a single opening sentence, but breaking it up gives it a little bit of a power boost. (That was off the top of my head, but hmmm...I may have to keep that one. )

 

[Kathy Frost]

How do I start a question?

 

[Mona]

How do I start a question?

Just make a regular post of it.
(Sorry I took so long to answer. I've been out of state and offline.)

 

[Kathy Frost]

Thanks, Mona. I don't think less than 30 minutes was too long, LOL.
I'm trying to get ready for November. I'm new to brainstorming and I am trying to work on suspects for a cozy mystery. Does anyone know of any specialized brainstorming hints for mystery novels? (Other than getting inside the brain of the killer. <grin>) I kind of know where I'm going, trying to think up what secrets the suspects might be hiding, where they were really were, etc., but I could really use some help with all of the specifics topics I need to know about each suspect before I start writing.
Any help at all would be appreciated.
Kathy

 

[Mona]

Thanks, Mona. I don't think less than 30 minutes was too long, LOL.
I'm trying to get ready for November. I'm new to brainstorming and I am trying to work on suspects for a cozy mystery. Does anyone know of any specialized brainstorming hints for mystery novels? (Other than getting inside the brain of the killer. <grin>) I kind of know where I'm going, trying to think up what secrets the suspects might be hiding, where they were really were, etc., but I could really use some help with all of the specifics topics I need to know about each suspect before I start writing.
Any help at all would be appreciated.
Kathy

I'll look through my articles and see if I have anything that might help. Some of the others might have firsthand info, too.

 

[Mona]

Thanks, Mona. I don't think less than 30 minutes was too long, LOL.
I'm trying to get ready for November. I'm new to brainstorming and I am trying to work on suspects for a cozy mystery. Does anyone know of any specialized brainstorming hints for mystery novels? (Other than getting inside the brain of the killer. <grin>) I kind of know where I'm going, trying to think up what secrets the suspects might be hiding, where they were really were, etc., but I could really use some help with all of the specifics topics I need to know about each suspect before I start writing.
Any help at all would be appreciated.
Kathy

Hi Kathy,
I looked through my articles, but didn't find anything that might be of help. I also checked out upcoming classes, but there aren't any mystery workshops coming up yet. I checked online and found a video that might be of help to you. You an find it at

I hope it helps. I'm not much of a mystery writer, but I do enjoy reading them.

 

[Mona]

Hi Kathy,
I looked through my articles, but didn't find anything that might be of help. I also checked out upcoming classes, but there aren't any mystery workshops coming up yet. I checked online and found a video that might be of help to you. You an find it at

I hope it helps. I'm not much of a mystery writer, but I do enjoy reading them.

Kathy, I just saw that Rebekah Ganiere will be teaching Kill Your Darlings starting on Oct. 17th. You should take a look.

Genre - Killing Your Darlings - Writing Mysteries with Rebekah Ganiere

Are you a fan of detective shows? Love watching true crime? Read every Agatha Christie novel out there? Can’t get enough of Romantic Mysteries? Well, this is the class for you. As with any genre there are rules you need to follow to be...

savvyauthors.com

 

[TerryWylis]

Thanks, Mona. I don't think less than 30 minutes was too long, LOL.
I'm trying to get ready for November. I'm new to brainstorming and I am trying to work on suspects for a cozy mystery. Does anyone know of any specialized brainstorming hints for mystery novels? (Other than getting inside the brain of the killer. <grin>) I kind of know where I'm going, trying to think up what secrets the suspects might be hiding, where they were really were, etc., but I could really use some help with all of the specifics topics I need to know about each suspect before I start writing.
Any help at all would be appreciated.
Kathy

I've found that sometimes all you need to do is talk it through with a crit partner or just someone who likes mysteries and knows how they work. I'd be happy to instant message or Zoom with you for that, if we can get our schedules to mesh.

 

[Kathy Frost]

Kathy, I just saw that Rebekah Ganiere will be teaching Kill Your Darlings starting on Oct. 17th. You should take a look.

Genre - Killing Your Darlings - Writing Mysteries with Rebekah Ganiere

Are you a fan of detective shows? Love watching true crime? Read every Agatha Christie novel out there? Can’t get enough of Romantic Mysteries? Well, this is the class for you. As with any genre there are rules you need to follow to be...

savvyauthors.com

Thank you. I just signed up for the class. I'm plodding along, writing all I know about the killer and each suspect, why they become a suspect, who told what to the sleuth, what secrets do they have, and if cleared, how. Hopefully, I'll have enough info that I can sprinkle here and there in the book.

 

[Kathy Frost]

I've found that sometimes all you need to do is talk it through with a crit partner or just someone who likes mysteries and knows how they work. I'd be happy to instant message or Zoom with you for that, if we can get our schedules to mesh.

Thanks for the offer. We had a little mini-flood in the basement and I'm helping deal with that, so give me a couple of days to get some questions together and I'll get back to you.
Kathy

 

[Kathy Frost]

I just realized that I can deal with some of my suspects by doing my long neglected "worldbuilding."

I need to build my town and the residents, shopkeepers, restaurant owners, some police officers, etc. I'm hoping using the maps I drew for myself earlier will help me populate my small town and give me more ideas for the first story. Some of the people will be resources for the sleuth, some suspects, and some will just be secondary characters now, but maybe victims, killers, or suspects later in the series. If I do a name, a location on my map, and a short sketch of a number of people, I won't have to stop in the middle of writing to think up a name or two.

Fortunately, I gave a class here at SA many years ago on how to coming up with names, so I have plenty of lists. Last spring, I did a "Southern name" list. I went to small town websites in my home state and looked up all kinds of Boards (Board of Elections, town council, school board, tourism, etc.) I made a list of surnames, male first names, and female surnames that I can mix and match, names with a "Southern flavor," but not use a real name.

 

[TerryWylis]

I just realized that I can deal with some of my suspects by doing my long neglected "worldbuilding."

I need to build my town and the residents, shopkeepers, restaurant owners, some police officers, etc. I'm hoping using the maps I drew for myself earlier will help me populate my small town and give me more ideas for the first story. Some of the people will be resources for the sleuth, some suspects, and some will just be secondary characters now, but maybe victims, killers, or suspects later in the series. If I do a name, a location on my map, and a short sketch of a number of people, I won't have to stop in the middle of writing to think up a name or two.

Fortunately, I gave a class here at SA many years ago on how to coming up with names, so I have plenty of lists. Last spring, I did a "Southern name" list. I went to small town websites in my home state and looked up all kinds of Boards (Board of Elections, town council, school board, tourism, etc.) I made a list of surnames, male first names, and female surnames that I can mix and match, names with a "Southern flavor," but not use a real name.

LOL, see? Just talking about it for a few minutes kicked up a creative dust storm.

 

[magic598]

Really struggling with GMC. Also with a scene in my story. I have thought and thought about it and not able to get anywhere. Very frustrating.

 

[Mona]

Really struggling with GMC. Also with a scene in my story. I have thought and thought about it and not able to get anywhere. Very frustrating.

You're not alone. I sometimes have the same problem. What can we do to help?