Writers Block

Writer’s Block

A picture says a thousand words. Write them.

Mission: Write a story, a description, a poem, a metaphor, a commentary, or a critique about this picture. Write something about this picture.

Be sure to tag writeworld in your block!

You know what I love?  Names.  You know what I love more than just names?  Geographically accurate names.

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(Current popular names all over the world)

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The following information was found here

Names From The Ancient World

Eastern

Egypt

Greece

Rome

Africa

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Medieval European Names Medieval English Names

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Anglo-Saxon/Old English Names

Dithematic Names (Name with two elements)

Monothematic Names (Single element names & bynames)

Religion (Gods; Goddesses; Calendar)

Rulers

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CELTIC

Ireland  [Celtic-Male Origin | Celtic-Female Origin | More]

Scotland  [Naming Patterns | Celtic Origin | Biblical Origin | More]

Wales  [Naming Practices | Biblical Origin | Welsh Surnames | More]

Brittany  [Male | Female | Surnames | More]

Old Celtic  [Male | Female | Religion | Cornwall | Isle of Man | More]

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Modern English First Names

The Central Stock of English First Names

Linknames (feminine forms of Biblical, Celtic, germanic, Greek, Latin and Modern male names)

Saints (calendar of saints, patron saints)

Modern Coinages Placenames | Blended | Combined | Borrowed Words | Unisex

Surname Adaptations (English, Scottish, Irish, Welsh and Foreign surnames used as first names)

Themed Names (twins, mulit-births, colors, creatures dates, etc)

More

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Western European Names

France | Naming Practices | Medieval | More

Italy | Latin | Medieval | More

Germany | Naming Practices | Medieval | More

Austria | First Names | Surnames | Rulers

Switzerland | First Names | Surnames

Netherlands | Naming Practices | Friesland | More

Belgium | Naming Practices | Walloon | More

Spain | Catalonia | Aragon | Asturias | Galicia | More

Portugal | Biblical Origin | Latin Origin | More

Basque | Male | Female | Surnames

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Eastern European Names

Poland | Slavonic Origin | Various | More

Hungary | Pronunciation etc | Names | More

Czech-Slovak | Czech | Slovak | Czechoslovakia | More

Albania | Male | Female | Surnames

Bulgaria | First Names | Surnames | More

Romania | Male | Female | Surnames

Former Yugoslavia Former Yugoslavia | Bosnia-Hercegovina | Croatia | Macedonia | Montenegro | Serbia | Slovenia

Greece | Greek Origin | Latin Origin | Surnames | More

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Scandinavian Names

Old Norse | Male | Female | Name Elements | More

Norway | Norse Origin | Germanic Origin | Surnames | More

Sweden | Norse Origin | Germanic Origin | Surnames | More

Denmark | Norse Origin | Various Origin | Surnames | More

Iceland | Norse Origin | Various Origin | Surnames | More

Faroe Islands | Norse Origin | Foreign Origin | Surnames

Finland | Pronunciation | Religion | Finnish | Compounds | More

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Former Soviet Union Names

Russia | Naming Practices | Slavic Origin | Surnames | More

Europe and the Caucasus  Ukraine | Belarus | Moldavia | Georgia | Armenia | Azerbaijan | Caucasus

Baltic States Estonia | Latvia | Lithuania | Finland

Asian Republics Kazakhstan | Tajikistan | Turkmenistan | Uzbekistan | Kirghizistan 

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African Names

Northern Africa | Gen. Names Morocco | Algeria | Tunisia | Libya | Egypt | Western Sahara 

Eastern Africa | Gen. Names Sudan | Ethiopia | Eritrea | Somalia | Djibouti | Uganda | Burundi | Rwanda | Kenya | Tanzania | Swahili 

Central Africa | Gen. Names Chad | Central African Republic | Cameroon | Equatorial Guinea | Gabon | Congo | Democratic Republic of Congo 

Western Africa | Gen. Names Mauritania | Mali | Burkina Fasu | Senegal | Gambia | Guinea-Bissau | Guinea | Sierra Leone | Liberia | Ivory Coast | Ghana | Togo | Benin | Niger | Nigeria 

Southern Africa | Gen. Names Angola | Zambia | Zimbabwe | Malawi | Mozambique | Namibia | Botswana | South Africa | Lesotho | Swaziland

African Islands Madagascar | Comoro Islands | Mauritius | Cape Verde Islands | Seychelles | Sao Tome and Principe 

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Northern Native American Names

Native names used in modern America

Various Native American Nations

Algonquin [Cheyenne, Shawnee, Mohican/Mahican]

Apache [Mimbreno, Warm Springs, White Mountain, Bedonkohe, Chiricahua]

Iroquois [Cayuga, Mohawk, Oneida, Onundagas, Seneca, Tuscaroa]

Ojibwa [Ojibway, Potawatomi, Chippewa]

Cherokee | Choctaw | Creek | Crow | Hopi | Kiowa | Miwok | Navajo | Nez Perce | Omaha | Osage | Seminole | Sioux | Yakima

Inuit

Southern and Central Native American Names

Aztec [History, Male, Female, Religion, Calendars, Rulers]

Inca [Male, Female, Religion, Calendars]

Maya [History, Male, Female, Religion, Calendars]

Amazonian [Names from tribes living in the rain forests]

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India

Hindu Names Male Names [A | B | C - K | L- Z] | Female | More

Hindu Gods

Sikh

Others

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Middle and Near Eastern 

Arab/Muslim Male | Female | More

East Iran | Turkey | Kurds | Pakistan | Bangladesh | Afghanistan

Jewish Names Biblical | Yiddish | Modern | Various | Surnames

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China  Info | Male | Female  

Japan  Info | Male | Female

Korea  Info | Male | Female

Mongolia

Himalayan  Nepal | Bhutan | Tibet

Indochina  Burma | Thailand | Vietnam | Cambodia | Laos

South East Asia  Indonesia | Malaysia | Brunei | The Philippines

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Pacific 

Polynesia Maori | Samoa | Tonga | French Polynesia | Fiji | Cook Islands | Easter Island | Hawai’i | Australia

Micronesia Federated States of Micronesia | Kirbati | Marashall Islands | Marianas Islands and Guam | Nauru | Belau

Melanesia Soloman Islands | Papua New Guinea | Vanuatu | Tuvalu

Writing Dialogue: Teenagers

Dialogue is one of the trickiest parts for a lot of writers to get down, and teenagers especially. Surprisingly, this applies to teenagers almost as well as it applies to adults—and I think we’ve all read a YA novel written by someone totally out of touch with teenagers.

Personally, I don’t have trouble with dialogue, but after analyzing my own (acclaimed? Not by anyone important) dialogue versus the stilted speech I’ve read, I’ve come up with a list of tips for the YA writer.

Contractions. This is a tip that extends beyond teenagers, because most people contract almost anything they can. However, a lot of writers still refuse to do it, and I think it’s even more pronounced in high-intensity situations and teenagers.

A lack of contractions is generally reserved for formal situations, emphasis, or seething anger.

Don’t use slang. What?! I can hear you protesting. But teenagers are the inventors of most slang! Maybe, but I can’t actually remember a time as a teenager when I used slang and any adult other than someone particularly clueless didn’t not understand.

Commonly accepted “slang” like “okay,” “yeah,” “cool,” and others should be used liberally.

Note that this does not apply to jargon terms. I would classify words like “shipping” as jargon because it makes no sense outside of a fandom community. Not necessarily a “teenage” community. Use jargon like normal.

Awkwardness. Puberty is awkward. If your character says something awkward, this is fantastic!

But everyone feels awkward. If your character says something foolish, they will know. If they say something hammy, even for comedic effect, they will probably be uncertain while they do it. Not even the “popular” kids are all-confident.

Misunderstandings. This is another tip that should be used for all dialogue, but is especially useful for teenagers. And not all misunderstandings need go unspoken. Have your questions say something nonsensical and have their conversational partner go, “that didn’t make any sense.”

This get cut as “unnecessary” a lot, but I don’t think it should. It emphasizes character’s emotional states. And if a character misunderstood something, they might bring up it up later in the conversation and have it have it re-explained (this can also be good for exposition).

Bottled Chaos. This one is mostly for conversations with more than two people. Teenagers, especially on their free time, will not stick to one topic, even in the same sentence. The topic should jump around and cover a lot of things, and not everyone in the group will be focused on the same conversational gambits.

But this has to be contained somewhat in writing, or it gets too confusing. All the topics have to spring from somewhere that the reader knows, and die when the conversation gets serious or focuses in on what the conversation is there to advance, plot- or character-wise.

But at the end of the day, you just have to listen to people talk. Listen to teenagers talk. What are they talking about? What do they care about? They aren’t a foreign species, even if you think yourself strange and different (or too adult).

Word Tracking Spreadsheets - These sheets also have sections for character and plot information.

Cheat Sheets for Writing Body Language

We are always told to use body language in our writing. Sometimes, it’s easier said than written. I decided to create these cheat sheets to help you show a character’s state of mind. Obviously, a character may exhibit a number of these behaviours. For example, he may be shocked and angry, or shocked and happy. Use these combinations as needed.

by Amanda Patterson

Words that describe a voice