Fun with fiction

This weekend I get to make up some song lyrics. Fun. Not. Have no idea where to start either :|

"Riverman" seems to involve someone drowning or falling into a river.

"That's not 'Riverman', is it?" Matt asked.
Ash laughed. "A bit too prophetic?"
"I thought it might have been a suggestion on your part."
"That'd be more obvious."

"My Lady is a Laddy" is apparently for singing when you are drunk.

Ash did a repeat of the his chorus.
"Maybe we can offer you up as bait," Matt told him. "It's a ridiculous song anyway."

Mythical Creatures

I'm making a list of mythical/supernatural creatures that have or can take human form, from Europe particularly British Isles.

This isn't as easy as I thought. There's the obvious ones of werewolves & vampires. Various little folk & big folk who wouldn't pass as human due to their size. Some individuals.

Angels & their ilk
Demons
Various water spirits (each uisge, selkies, nixes, undine etc - there are a lot of these)
Dryads
Elves
Banshee
Aos si/daoine sidhe
Leansidhe
Golem

Now my brain is full up, but I'm sure there's more.

Naming names

I hate naming planets most of all.



Streets are fairly easy. Towns and cities are manageable, and there is also Gamebot to fall back on. Countries are getting harder, but again Gamebot is useful. Continents are tricky, but I can avoid usually avoid them. But planets? *shudder*

Sometimes, stopping and thinking it through helps. Other times it becomes harder.

So if I decide that for the purposes of this version of reality, the name will be given the first group to be associated with the planet. That is, the first settlers, or whoever sends them, or the company that buys up mining rights. So the task is reduced from "any combination of syllables" to limited groups e.g.

company names
mining products
surnames
existing cities or countries (New ------)

And that can actually be fun to play with.

It occured to me the other night that strong female characters are common on TV. So why are they so hard to manage in prose?

Most shows I watch have believable, interesting women characters acting in believable ways, which often includes dishing it out to the bad guys.

They don't need to act like men. They act like ordinary women. They interact with other women. They do strange femalish things like dress up for dinner or worry about their kids, without thinking it might make them inferior.

So why they can't they in books?

Update Update

I need to update this more often, so I am aiming for once a week!

%^#&!!

My main character, to quote another character in the book, can't open his mouth without a string of obscenities coming out. His friends aren't much better. They're crude, bitter, uneducated and, yes, they do have a limited vocabulary.

Obviously this in one area where written speech differs from the spoken word. Putting f*ck in front of every word doesn't work, even if that's how someone actually speaks, because swear words have mor
My main character, to quote another character in the book, can't open his mouth without a string of obscenities coming out. His friends aren't much better. They're crude, bitter, uneducated and, yes, they do have a limited vocabularly.

Obviously this in one area where written speech differs from the spoken word. Putting f*ck in front of every word doesn't work, even if that's how someone actually speaks, because swear words have more impact in print. Limiting it too once per sentence looks silly. It's too artificial. Not using any at all, in the case of these characters, just reads wrong.

I googled a bit to find out other people's thoughts. Not very useful. When it comes to swear words, it seems there are two types of discussions online.

The first uses the idea that if swear words are used very lightly they have better shock value. I understand this. If a character who doesn't usually swear, or who uses mild curse words, suddenly comes out fuck or their culture's equivalent, then it has an impact. They're angry! They're upset! Whatever. Running alongside this idea is the common thought that overuse of curse words reduces their impact, dilutes them. Of course it does, and if you want the shock! effect, it's something to bear in mind. I'm not sure it's so appropriate to this situation.

The second type of discussion goes along the lines of "I don't use swear words in my writing and you don't have to either. Here's how!". Um, yes, there are many characters types who don't feel a need to swear. We know this. Now fuck off.

I guess I shall have to pick up some books with crude, bitter, uneducated characters of limited vocabularly and see how they're handled. Suggestions?e impact in print. Limiting it too once per sentence looks silly. It's too artificial. Not using any at all, in the case of these characters, just reads wrong.

I googled a bit to find out other people's thoughts. Not very useful. When it comes to swear words, it seems there are three approaches.

The first uses the idea that if swear words are used very lightly they have better shock value. I understand this. If a character who doesn't usually swear, or who uses mild curse words, suddenly comes out fuck or their culture's equivalent, then it has an impact. They're angry! They're upset! Whatever. Running alongside this idea is the common thought that overuse of curse words reduces their impact, dilutes them. Of course it does, and if you want the shock! effect, it's something to bear in mind. I'm not sure it's so appropriate to this situation.

The second type of discussion goes along the lines of "I don't use swear words in my writing and you don't have to either. Here's how!". Um, yes, there are many characters types who don't feel a need to swear. We know this. Now fuck off.

The third is don't actually use it. "Jill ran together a string of words that made all those around her blush." We can see how this would be a little difficult for a main character, yes?

I guess I shall have to pick up some books with crude, bitter, uneducated characters of limited vocabulary and see how they're handled. Suggestions?

Untitled!

My current Work In Progress has no working title. It lives in a folder called "New Folder".

My previous Work In Progress had the same working title as an earlier WIP.

I can see a pattern here, except where do I go from no title? Negative?