A Glossary of Writerly Jargon

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If you’re new (or even not so new) to the world of writing, you may have discovered that us writerly folks have our own jargon. Even if you’re not a writer, if you’re an avid reader you’ve probably associated with enough writers (and/or literary critics) to have heard some odd terms being tossed about. So I thought I’d help you out with this small starter list of writerly words and abbreviations. This is by no means a comprehensive glossary – I’ve just tried to pick some of the most common or weird-sounding terms.

WIP

This stands for Work in Progress. A short story in its first draft or a novel in its third draft is a WIP if it’s unpublished and the author is still working on it.

MC

MC stands for Main Character. There are a lot of other terms to define character types (like protagonist, anti-hero) and one of these may or may not be the main character. But if you’re reading about a writer or a book and you see “MC,” it just means Main Character. Continue reading →

Vintage Home Decorating and Other Escapades

Posted in Music, Movies, and other Muses by

For this week’s post, I’m sending you over to one of my favorite blogs, Chronically Vintage. Since my blog features mostly writerly tips and bookish stuff (and music, and my blue hair, and so forth), I thought this post would fare better on a blog dedicated to all things vintage.

Jessica of Chronically Vintage is a lovely fashionista who shows her readers how to bring vintage fashion into the modern world in an affordable and attractive way. I’m honored to have a guest spot on her blog, writing about vintage home decor, antique furniture restoration, and more. Hop on over to her blog to check it out!

Five Questions to Help You Create a Fictional Culture

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If you’re a fantasy or sci-fi writer, then you’ve probably tried your hand at creating fantastic creatures and aliens of all sorts. But inventing convincing aliens or fairy-tale creatures involves more than just coming up with cool looks or inhuman superpowers. If all you need for your story is just a scary monster or creepy creature, that’s fine – but if you want an actual alien race or people-group for a fantasy world, then you need more than just the basics of creature traits.

Here are five questions that you can ask yourself as you’re inventing people, cultures, races, and creatures for your fantasy/sci-fi stories. Continue reading →

The Blue-Haired Writer Girl

Posted in Music, Movies, and other Muses by

If you’ve been on my social media recently, you may have noticed that I’ve updated my profile picture to show me with blue hair. Last year I took a big self-image leap of faith and dyed my hair blue. I found that I liked it, so I stuck with it, and at the six-month mark, I blogged about it again.

I learned a lot during those first six months. And now, this month marks one full year with blue hair. Continue reading →

Music Review: “Viena,” Värttinä

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The Finnish folk group Värttinä has been a major player in the world music scene for over 30 years. “Viena” marks their fourteenth album, and it is a beautiful combination of both old and new.

The lineup of singers has always been a constant evolution for Värttinä, from the band’s early days as a 15-singer children’s vocal group to the three-women trio of recent years. Folk singer and ethnomusicologist Karoliina Kantelinen is a new addition to the group. Her voice blends perfectly with the other two singers, Mari Kaasinen and Susan Aho. Continue reading →