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Greek Almonds and my Childhood Summers

May 8, 2019

This post is a stream-of-consciousness post. If you liked the one on coffee and summer afternoons, you’ll like this one too. If you found that one too chaotic and nonsensical, leave now – because this one isn’t any different. Greek almonds; and childhood summers; and coffee (yeah, I know);

Stream-of-consciousness means I just type whatever comes to mind; or pours from it, rather. I don’t think we, authors, have much control over what pours from our creative minds. At least we shouldn’t, I believe.

Our brains are filtering devices, that try to help us cope with all the brutality out there. The thing is, filtering out the brutality takes some of the beauty with it.

Greek almonds. Coffee. Summer. My childhood. There’s a certain visuality in this photo that is unique to me and me alone. Perhaps there’s another, unique to you – and very different than mine.

What does all this have to do with Greece, summers, almonds, and my childhood? What does it mean? It means what you want it to mean.

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Worldbuilding in Fiction: a Guide

May 2, 2019

Fiction Writing Tips, Writing

fantasy, fiction, science fiction, worldbuilding, writing

Today’s article is a result of a conversation I had with Francis Mont, author of House Arrest. We were talking about worldbuilding in fiction. Particularly, we were talking about the challenges involved in creating an imaginary setting for your science fiction novel.

And so, I decided to write this short guide to worldbuilding. If you’re a science-fiction, fantasy, and perhaps horror-fiction author, this post will interest you.

Interestingly enough, preparing this post required me to ponder on worldbuilding in fiction myself. As a literary-fiction author, I never really had to think about how to worldbuild. So, writing this post made for an interesting exercise.

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How Euphemisms Work: Thoughts on…Thought Control

April 26, 2019

Society

control, euphemisms, idiocy, language, society, thought

A quick definition of a euphemism is “a phrase or word used as an ameliorating substitute for an unpleasant or offensive word”. Some people might say “senior citizens” instead of “old people” (or, heaven forbid, “old farts”). But how euphemisms work is a more complex issue, with elaborate psychological underpinnings.

“Euphemism” is a Greek word, literally meaning “good speech”. It was used in the Koine Greek (also known as Alexandrian Dialect, roughly between 300 BCE – 300 CE). Its modern meaning came much later.

Euphemisms can be very obvious, as in the senior-citizen example above. But they can also be extremely subtle, which is what makes them interesting. So, let’s take a look at how euphemisms work. But before that, a funny story about euphemisms. It involves mice. Lots of them.

how euphemisms work — Cute mice, aren’t they? Except if you don’t like mice. Then they’re not mice. They’re…

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