Summertime Writing: Sherlock Holmes II

For this post, I want to take a few old Sherlock Holmes sentences from the final paragraph of the same story as last post and work with them through sentence, meaning, and word study. This material will be based on material 100 years old.

Source Material

This is the first paragraph in the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Adventure I. Scandal in Bohemia

And that was how a great scandal threatened to affect the kingdom of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were beaten by a woman's wit. He used to make merry over the cleverness of women, but I have not heard him do it of late. And when he speaks of Irene Adler, or when he refers to her photograph, it is always under the honourable title of the woman.

First of all, like almost all of Sherlock Holmes, the POV is Dr. John H. Watson—the narrator.

1. Kernel Sentences

Next, I'll list the kernel sentences.

And that was how the scandal threatened Bohemia.

The best plans of Holmes were beaten by a woman's wit. 

He used to make merry over the cleverness of women.

I have not heard him do it of late.

When he speaks of Irene Adler it is always under the honourable title of the woman.

2. Word Dive

Then, I'll pick out certain words that I would like to look up and explore.
Definitions are from Webster's dictionary 1913 and  some words are from thesaurus is from Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms 1920.

scandal
\Scan"dal\, v. t. 

1. To treat opprobriously; to defame; to asperse; to traduce; to slander. 

[R.] I do fawn on men and hug them hard And after scandal them. --Shak. 

2. To scandalize; to offend. [Obs.] --Bp. Story. 

Syn: To defame; traduce; reproach; slander; calumniate; asperse; vilify; disgrace.

scandal: discredit.
discredit, v. i. 1. disparage, dishonor, disgrace, shame, scandalize, stigmatize, attaint, stain, defame (archaic), impeach, derogate (rare or obs.), depreciate, compromise, infamize (rare), blot, infame (archaic), dispraise (rare), disfame (rare), endamage (rare), degrade, smirch. Most of these synonyms have specific implications.
Antonyms: see confirm, honor, flatter.

affect

\Af*fect"\ ([a^]f*f[e^]kt"), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Affected}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Affecting}.] [L. affectus, p. p. of afficere to affect by active agency; ad + facere to make: cf. F. affectere, L. affectare, freq. of afficere. See {Fact}.] 

1. To act upon; to produce an effect or change upon. 

As might affect the earth with cold heat. --Milton. 

The climate affected their health and spirits. --Macaulay. 

2. To influence or move, as the feelings or passions; to touch. 

A consideration of the rationale of our passions seems to me very necessary for all who would affect them upon solid and pure principles. --Burke.

 3. To love; to regard with affection. [Obs.] 

As for Queen Katharine, he rather respected than affected, rather honored than loved, her. --Fuller. 

4. To show a fondness for; to like to use or practice; to choose; hence, to frequent habitually. 

For he does neither affect company, nor is he fit for it, indeed. --Shak. 

Do not affect the society of your inferiors in rank, nor court that of the great. --Hazlitt. 

5. To dispose or incline. 

Men whom they thought best affected to religion and their country's liberty. --Milton. 

6. To aim at; to aspire; to covet. [Obs.] 

This proud man affects imperial sway. --Dryden. 

7. To tend to by affinity or disposition. 

The drops of every fluid affect a round figure. --Newton. 

8. To make a show of; to put on a pretense of; to feign; to assume; as, to affect ignorance. 

Careless she is with artful care, Affecting to seem unaffected. --Congreve. 

Thou dost affect my manners. --Shak. 

9. To assign; to appoint. [R.] 

One of the domestics was affected to his special service. --Thackeray. 

Syn: To influence; operate; act on; concern; move; melt; soften; subdue; overcome; pretend; assume.

\Af*fect"\, n. [L. affectus.] Affection; inclination; passion; feeling; disposition. [Obs.] --Shak.

\Af*fect"\, n. (Psychotherapy) The emotional complex associated with an idea or mental state. In hysteria, the affect is sometimes entirely dissociated, sometimes transferred to another than the original idea. 

affect, V. t. touch, reach, take (with "disease," "blow," "fancy," etc., as the subject), seize (with "idea" or the like as the subject), hit (colloq.); spec, possess, attack, infect, smite, hurt, trouble, move, grip, concern, interest, pierce, perturb, impress, penetrate, strike, nip (rare); see INFLUENCE, TAINT, THRILL, AGITATE, EXCITE, IMPRESS.

kingdom
\King"dom\, n. [AS. cyningd?m. See 2d {King}, and -{dom}.] 

1. The rank, quality, state, or attributes of a king; royal authority; sovereign power; rule; dominion; monarchy. 

Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. --Ps. cxiv. 13. 

When Jehoram was risen up to the kingdom of his father, he strengthened himself. --2 Chron. xxi. 4. 

2. The territory or country subject to a king or queen; the dominion of a monarch; the sphere in which one is king or has control. 

Unto the kingdom of perpetual night. --Shak. You're welcome, Most learned reverend sir, into our kingdom. --Shak.

kingdom: domain, group.
domain, n. 1. See estate, lordship, bound, control, sphere.
2. realm, reign (rare), dominion, bourn or bourne (rare or poetic), territory, possession; spec, kingdom, province, empire, empery (poetic or rhetorical), obedience, sultanate, khanate, daimiate, lordship, signory, dukedom, county, palatinate.

Bohemia
\Bo*he"mi*a\, n. 

1. A country of central Europe. 

2. Fig.: The region or community of social Bohemians. See {Bohemian}, n., 3. 

She knew every one who was any one in the land of Bohemia. --Compton Reade.

Bohemian

Of or pertaining to a social gypsy or ``Bohemian'' (see {Bohemian}, n., 3); vagabond; unconventional; free and easy. [Modern]

wit
\Wit\, v. t. & i. [inf. (To) {Wit}; pres. sing. {Wot}; pl. {Wite}; imp. {Wist(e)}; p. p. {Wist}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Wit(t)ing}. See the Note below.] [OE. witen, pres. ich wot, wat, I know (wot), imp. wiste, AS. witan, pres. w[=a]t, imp. wiste, wisse; akin to OFries. wita, OS. witan, D. weten, G. wissen, OHG. wizzan, Icel. vita, Sw. veta, Dan. vide, Goth. witan to observe, wait I know, Russ. vidiete to see, L. videre, Gr. ?, Skr. vid to know, learn; cf. Skr. vid to find. ????. Cf. {History}, {Idea}, {Idol}, {-oid}, {Twit}, {Veda}, {Vision}, {Wise}, a. & n., {Wot}.] To know; to learn. ``I wot and wist alway.'' --Chaucer. 

Note: The present tense was inflected as follows; sing. 1st pers. wot; 2d pers. wost, or wot(t)est; 3d pers. wot, or wot(t)eth; pl. witen, or wite. The following variant forms also occur; pres. sing. 1st & 3d pers. wat, woot; pres. pl. wyten, or wyte, weete, wote, wot; imp. wuste (Southern dialect); p. pr. wotting. Later, other variant or corrupt forms are found, as, in Shakespeare, 3d pers. sing. pres. wots. 

Brethren, we do you to wit [make you to know] of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia. --2 Cor. viii. 1. 

Thou wost full little what thou meanest. --Chaucer. 

We witen not what thing we prayen here. --Chaucer. 

When that the sooth in wist. --Chaucer. 

Note: This verb is now used only in the infinitive, to wit, which is employed, especially in legal language, to call attention to a particular thing, or to a more particular specification of what has preceded, and is equivalent to namely, that is to say.

\Wit\, n. [AS. witt, wit; akin to OFries. wit, G. witz, OHG. wizz[=i], Icel. vit, Dan. vid, Sw. vett. [root]133. See {Wit}, v.] 

1. Mind; intellect; understanding; sense. 

Who knew the wit of the Lord? or who was his counselor? --Wyclif (Rom. xi. 34). 

A prince most prudent, of an excellent And unmatched wit and judgment. --Shak. 

Will puts in practice what wit deviseth. --Sir J. Davies. 

He wants not wit the dander to decline. --Dryden. 

2. A mental faculty, or power of the mind; -- used in this sense chiefly in the plural, and in certain phrases; as, to lose one's wits; at one's wits' end, and the like. 

``Men's wittes ben so dull.'' --Chaucer. 

I will stare him out of his wits. --Shak. 

3. Felicitous association of objects not usually connected, so as to produce a pleasant surprise; also. the power of readily combining objects in such a manner. The definition of wit is only this, that it is a propriety of thoughts and words; or, in other terms, thoughts and words elegantly adapted to the subject. --Dryden. Wit which discovers partial likeness hidden in general diversity. --Coleridge. Wit lying most in the assemblage of ideas, and putting those together with quickness and variety wherein can be found any resemblance or congruity, thereby to make up pleasant pictures in the fancy. --Locke. 4. A person of eminent sense or knowledge; a man of genius, fancy, or humor; one distinguished for bright or amusing sayings, for repartee, and the like. 

In Athens, where books and wits were ever busier than in any other part of Greece, I find but only two sorts of writings which the magistrate cared to take notice of; those either blasphemous and atheistical, or libelous. --Milton. 

Intemperate wits will spare neither friend nor foe. --L'Estrange. 

A wit herself, Amelia weds a wit. --Young. {The five wits}, the five senses; also, sometimes, the five qualities or faculties, common wit, imagination, fantasy, estimation, and memory. --Chaucer. 

Nares. But my five wits nor my five senses can Dissuade one foolish heart from serving thee. --Shak. 

Syn: Ingenuity; humor; satire; sarcasm; irony; burlesque. Usage: {Wit}, {Humor}. 

Wit primarily meant mind; and now denotes the power of seizing on some thought or occurrence, and, by a sudden turn, presenting it under aspects wholly new and unexpected -- apparently natural and admissible, if not perfectly just, and bearing on the subject, or the parties concerned, with a laughable keenness and force. ``What I want,'' said a pompous orator, aiming at his antagonist, ``is common sense.'' ``Exactly!'' was the whispered reply. The pleasure we find in wit arises from the ingenuity of the turn, the sudden surprise it brings, and the patness of its application to the case, in the new and ludicrous relations thus flashed upon the view. Humor is a quality more congenial to the English mind than wit. It consists primarily in taking up the peculiarities of a humorist (or eccentric person) and drawing them out, as Addison did those of Sir Roger de Coverley, so that we enjoy a hearty, good-natured laugh at his unconscious manifestation of whims and oddities. From this original sense the term has been widened to embrace other sources of kindly mirth of the same general character. In a well-known caricature of English reserve, an Oxford student is represented as standing on the brink of a river, greatly agitated at the sight of a drowning man before him, and crying out, ``O that I had been introduced to this gentleman, that I might save his life! The, ``Silent Woman'' of Ben Jonson is one of the most humorous productions, in the original sense of the term, which we have in our language.

wit, n. 1. See intelligence, fun.
2. Referring to a wity person: spec, droll, bel-esprit (masc; French).

witty, a. clever (contextual), bright (contextual), funny (colloq.), sharp (contextual),
smart, sparkling.
Antonyms: see dull, stupid.

merry
\Mer"ry\, a. [Compar. {Merrier}; superl. {Merriest}.] [OE. merie, mirie, murie, merry, pleasant, AS. merge, myrige, pleasant; cf. murge, adv.; prob. akin to OHG. murg, short, Goth. gama['u]rgjan to shorten; cf. L. murcus a coward, who cuts off his thumb to escape military service; the Anglo-Saxon and English meanings coming from the idea of making the time seem short. Cf. {Mirth}.] 

1. Laughingly gay; overflowing with good humor and good spirits; jovial; inclined to laughter or play; sportive. 

They drank, and were merry with him. --Gen. xliii. 34. 

I am never merry when I hear sweet music. --Shak. 

2. Cheerful; joyous; not sad; happy. Is any merry ? let him sing psalms. --Jas. v. 13. 

3. Causing laughter, mirth, gladness, or delight; as, ? merry jest. 

``Merry wind and weather.'' --Spenser.

merry: gay, cheerful.

cleverness

\Clev"er\, a. [Origin uncertain. Cf. OE. cliver eager, AS. clyfer (in comp.) cloven; or clifer a claw, perh. connected with E. cleave to divide, split, the meaning of E. clever perh. coming from the idea of grasping, seizing (with the mind).] 

1. Possessing quickness of intellect, skill, dexterity, talent, or adroitness; expert. 

Though there were many clever men in England during the latter half of the seventeenth century, there were only two great creative minds. --Macaulay. 

Be good, sweet maid, and let who will be clever. --C. Kingsley. 

2. Showing skill or adroitness in the doer or former; as, a clever speech; a clever trick. --Byron. 

3. Having fitness, propriety, or suitableness. 

``T would sound more clever To me and to my heirs forever. --Swift. 

4. Well-shaped; handsome. 

``The girl was a tight, clever wench as any was.'' --Arbuthnot. 

5. Good-natured; obliging. [U. S.] 

Syn: See {Smart}.

clever, a. 1. smart (now chiefly U. S.), cute (colloq.), good, pretty {archaic or colloq.), solert (obs.); see ABLE, INTELLIGENT, READY, INGENIOUS, SKILLFUL.
Antonyms: see dull, stupid, unintelligent, unskillful.

refers
\Re*fer"\, v. i. 

1. To have recourse; to apply; to appeal; to betake one's self; as, to refer to a dictionary. 

In suits . . . it is to refer to some friend of trust. --Bacon. 

2. To have relation or reference; to relate; to point; as, the figure refers to a footnote. 

Of those places that refer to the shutting and opening the abyss, I take notice of that in Job. --Bp. Burnet. 

3. To carry the mind or thought; to direct attention; as, the preacher referred to the late election. 

4. To direct inquiry for information or a guarantees of any kind, as in respect to one's integrity, capacity, pecuniary ability, and the like; as, I referred to his employer for the truth of his story. 

Syn: To allude; advert; suggest; appeal.

refer, v. i. 1. See relate, appeal.
2. allude, advert, glance, touch, point, squint {colloq.).

honourable

\Hon"or*a*ble\, a. [F. honorable, L. honorabilis.] 

1. Worthy of honor; fit to be esteemed or regarded; estimable; illustrious. 

Thy name and honorable family. --Shak. 

2. High-minded; actuated by principles of honor, or a scrupulous regard to probity, rectitude, or reputation. 

3. Proceeding from an upright and laudable cause, or directed to a just and proper end; not base; irreproachable; fair; as, an honorable motive. 

Is this proceeding just and honorable? --Shak.

honorable, a. 1. good {contextual), worthy; spec, worshipful, admirable, famous, esteemed, respected, noble, elevated, reputable.
Antonyms: see discreditable.
2. See CONSCIENTIOUS, JUST, upright, virtuous, sincere, creditable, respectable.

Rewriting in my own way to interpret meaning

And that was how a great scandal threatened to affect the kingdom of Bohemia, and how one witty woman beat the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes. He used to make fun of the cleverness of women, but I haven't heard him do it lately. And when he speaks about Irene Adler, or when he refers to her photograph, it is always under the honorable title of the woman.

Sentence Imitation

And that was how a great scandal threatened to affect the kingdom of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were beaten by a woman's wit. 
And that was how a great plague threatened to affect the kingdom of Rohan, and how the brilliant strategy of Aragorn were beaten by a spider queen's poison.
And that was how the start of group menace caused great change in the future of local culture.
This is how the even a best friend's relationship may be overwhelmed by a deceptive enemy.

He used to make merry over the cleverness of women, but I have not heard him do it of late. 
She used to mock his situation, but I haven't heard her do it recently.
He used to argue over petty issues, but he hasn't clashed verbally with me as of late.

And when he speaks of Irene Adler, or when he refers to her photograph, it is always under the honourable title of the woman.
And when she talks about Billy bob, it is always under the title of my man.

Analysis of Writing Exercises

This was more difficult that the last exercise, maybe because it was looking at the final paragraph of the story. I do see the sentence structure and word selection connection for the story Scandal in Bohemia between the opening paragraph and the closing paragraph.

“I confess that I have been as blind as a mole, but it is better to learn wisdom late than never to learn it at all.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Summertime Writing: Sherlock Holmes

For this post, I want to take a few old Sherlock Holmes sentences and work with them through sentence, meaning, and word study. This material will be based on material 100 years old.

Source Material
This is the first paragraph in the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Adventure I. Scandal in Bohemia

To Sherlock Holmes she is always the woman. I have seldom heard him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that one in particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise, but admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen; but, as a lover, he would have placed himself in a false position. He never spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They were admirable things for the observer.

First of all, like almost all of Sherlock Holmes, the POV is Dr. John H. Watson—the narrator.

1. Kernel Sentences

Next, I'll list the kernel sentences.

She is the women.
I have seldom heard him mention her under any other name.
She eclipses her sex.
It wasn't that he felt love for Irene Adler.
All emotions were abhorrent to his mind.
He was the perfect reasoning and observing machine.
He would have placed himself in a false position.
He never spoke of the softer passion.
They were admirable things.

2. Word Dive

Then, I'll pick out certain words that I would like to look up and explore.

eclipse

\E*clipse"\, n. [F. ['e]clipse, L. eclipsis, fr. Gr. ?, prop., a forsaking, failing, fr. ? to leave out, forsake; ? out + ? to leave. See {Ex-}, and {Loan}.]

PIE - leikw; To leave.

Def. To obscure, darken, or extinguish the beauty, luster, honor, etc., of; to sully; to cloud; to throw into the shade by surpassing.
eclipse, n.: obscuration, darkness. [outshine].

eclipse, V. t: obscure, darken. 

predominate

\Pre*dom"i*nate\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Predominated}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Predominating}.] [Pref. pre- + dominate: cf. F. pr['e]dominer.] 

PIE - dem, House, household.

To be superior in number, strength, influence, or authority; to have controlling power or influence; to prevail; to rule; to have the mastery; as, love predominated in her heart.

\Pre*dom"i*nate\, v. t. To rule over; to overpower. [R.]

predominate, v. i.: control, pre-

predomination: control. 

sex

\Sex\, n. [L. sexus: cf. F. sexe.]
{The sex}, the female sex; women, in general.
sex, n. sexuality (rare), persuasion (jocular), gender (jocular).

seldom

\Sel"dom\, a.
Rare; infrequent. [Archaic.]
seldom: inf recently.

akin

\A*kin"\, a. [Pref. a- (for of) + kin.] 

1. Of the same kin; related by blood; -- used of persons; as, the two families are near akin. 

2. Allied by nature; partaking of the same properties; of the same kind. 

``A joy akin to rapture.'' --Cowper.

particularly

\Par*tic"u*lar*ly\, adv. 

1. In a particular manner; expressly; with a specific reference or interest; in particular; distinctly. 

2. In an especial manner; in a high degree; as, a particularly fortunate man; a particularly bad failure.

particular, a. 1. special, especial (equiv. of "special," but archaic in this sense), specific; spec, restricted; see definite.
Antonyms: see miscellaneous, general.

abhorrent

\Ab*hor"rent\, a. [L. abhorens, -rentis, p. pr. of abhorrere.] 

1. Abhorring; detesting; having or showing abhorrence; loathing; hence, strongly opposed to; as, abhorrent thoughts. 

The persons most abhorrent from blood and treason. --Burke. 

The arts of pleasure in despotic courts I spurn abhorrent. --Clover. 

2. Contrary or repugnant; discordant; inconsistent; -- followed by to. 

``Injudicious profanation, so abhorrent to our stricter principles.'' --Gibbon. 

3. Detestable. 

``Pride, abhorrent as it is.'' --I. Taylor.

admirably

\Ad"mi*ra*ble\, a. [L. admirabilis: cf. F. admirable.] 

1. Fitted to excite wonder; wonderful; marvelous. [Obs.]

gibe

\Gibe\, n. 

An expression of sarcastic scorn; a sarcastic jest; a scoff; a taunt; a sneer.

sneer

\Sneer\, n. 

1. The act of sneering. 

2. A smile, grin, or contortion of the face, indicative of contempt; an indirect expression or insinuation of contempt. 

''Who can refute a sneer?'' --Raley.

sneer: smile, laugh, jeer, snicker: laugh.

sneering: smiling, contemptuous.

Rewriting in my own way to interpret meaning

To Sherlock Holmes she is always the woman. I have rarely heard him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she diminishes and rules over other women. It wasn't that he felt any emotion similar to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that one in particular, were strongly opposed to his cold, precise, but wonderfully balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen; but, as a lover, he would have placed himself in a situation where he might act against his own principles or interests. He never spoke of romance, save with a sarcastic scorn, taunt, jest, and a sneer. Love interests were admirable things for the observer.

Sentence Imitation

To Sherlock Holmes she is always the woman.
To Frodo Baggins he is always the wizard.
To Harry Potter he is always the wizard.
To Harry Potter she is always the wizard.
To Robin Hood she is always the woman.
To Victor Frankenstein he is always the monster.

I have seldom heard him mention her under any other name.
I have seldom seen him look at her in any other way.
I have rarely seen him touch her in any other manner.
I have often heard her speak about him when she is in unpredictable moods—anger, jealousy, and even hatred.

In his eyes she eclipses and predominates the whole of her sex.
Under her watchful care, he eclipses and dominates all other men.
In her opinion in terms of writing ability, she is beyond and far superior to any other literature student.

It was not that he felt any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. 
It wasn't that she felt emotion akin to disgust for Billy Bob.
It was not like he thought anything bad about Creed.

All emotions, and that one in particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise, but admirably balanced mind.
All opinions, and especially the ones coming from her, were unbelievable to his skeptical mind.

He was, I take it, the most perfect reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen; but, as a lover, he would have placed himself in a situation where he might act against his own principles or interests.
She was, in my view, the most beautiful woman that the world has ever seen; but, if he were her boyfriend, he would have placed him in a compromising love triangle situation.

He never spoke of romance, save with a sarcastic scorn, taunt, jest, and a sneer. 
She had never worked a job with him, save safely and distantly.

They were admirable things for the observer.
Smartphone are essential tools for millennials.

Analysis of Writing Exercises

This was a fun exercise which I'm taking away a few new writing tools and ideas inspired from one of the great 19th and 20th century writers, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

“We balance probabilities and choose the most likely. It is the scientific use of the imagination.” — Sherlock Holmes

Summertime Writing: Two Character Brainstorm

This will continue to focus on one of the lists from the last exercises—the people nouns. The other two lists I will bring over to this post to use as needed to try fleshing out two characters in the future.

The purpose of this exercise is to expand the material. I picked these two characters that I know at two very different degrees. Picking these two people from my own past experience at different degrees is a conscious effort to see how relationship closeness might hinder my creative use of the characters. I'm guessing that the first character (A), who is very close to me, might suffer from the desire to protect the character. The second character (B), which I know very little about, will receive a much greater degree of creative additions. Hopefully this leads to a more creative, interesting, and usable character.

I highlighted in yellow the two characters that I want to flesh out.

---

Raw Brainstorm Material from last exercise

People: Old grandfather was very crafty, school bully that class stood up against, inventive friend that doesn't trust anyone, deliverer, acquaintance that likes physical activities, art teacher that is very old and yet stylish, a two-faced person, brother.

Places: fragmented hometown, desert oasis, vine infested jungle, in the middle of a hurricane, standing on a pier smelling the scent of seawater and hearing the sound of waves hit the support, on a bicycle, canoeing down a river, on an exercise bicycle.

Things: watch, pencil, computer, paper, led light, dice, hometown football shirt, fast racecar, canoe, yellow one-person tent, old pad of paper that is almost used up, the sound of fall maple leaves blowing in a strong wind outside the room window, van.

---

In day 3 in the book 90 Days to Your Novel, the exercise says to create and flesh out 10 characters with one-page bios. This is two characters. I'm using half of the character bio information presented in the book rather than the full character info.

This is half of the worksheet found in the book.

A. Old grandfather was very crafty

Character name: Anton

Age: 86

Occupation: YouTube carpenter video maker. A former construction worker, he made his living fixing up houses for ordinary people. He found ways to reuse old lumber and build things unconventionally. He brings his unconventional carpentry methods to a video series called Building it Damn Good, with Anton.

Family members and/or significant others: The youngest of two, his older brother Gary worked for the fire department, now retired, travels the world doing volunteer work.

Personality traits: Doer. He doesn't like to stand around. He almost always has a hammer or tool in his hand or pocket. When not doing YouTube videos, he walks the neighborhood meeting people and helping out doing odd jobs, fixing things, telling amazing stories, and finding material for his stash of material.

Character history (where is he/she from?): He grew up on  a farm in a very small rural town of a few hundred people. For work, he moved to the bigger city, but he brought his charming small-town ways. Despite living most of his life now in the big city, he still has kept his small-town manners. Each project deal is done with a shake of the hand rather than signing contracts.

Highest level of education: 7th grade. His real education was farm work and later construction. In construction, he learned on the job from others by doing things after being explained how to do it.

Physical traits: With a natural strength from hauling lumber, swinging hammers, and lifting plywood. He has a natural bulky appearance. He normally wears baggy working jeans or overalls. He always wears a brimmed hat to keep the sun out of his eyes since he works outside considerably.

Biggest motivator: He likes to build, make, and create things. Especially, he likes to reuse normally discarded wood and construction material. He lived through a deep economic recession where everyone had to "make do" with what they had.

Biggest fear: He has a fear of not doing anything or being alone. He is always talking with the neighbors and strangers. 

Things he/she likes: He likes to socialize and work constantly. He tries to do everything on his own.

Things he/she dislikes: He doesn't want to be alone nor spend time doing nothing. 

B. Art teacher that is senior and yet stylish

Character name: Cynthia

Age: 64

Occupation: Art teacher

Family members and/or significant others: Has an over controlling husband, a daughter she is proud of, and a black-sheep son.

Personality traits: Lone Wolf. Creative, stylish, and current despite her age. Sometimes her creativity is crushed by her spouse.

Character history (where is he/she from?): Born in a small middle of the country farmlands, she moved to the city to pursue art—something that brought her ridicule and teasing during her educational years. She had always spent time doing both fashion and art.

Highest level of education: Art school, art degree

Physical traits: white hair, slightly wrinkled but uses plenty of beauty products to maintain a somewhat youthful appearance. Wears expensive looking clothing.

Biggest motivator: Authentic creative instinct and expression. Breaking away from her isolated past. Being herself despite her controlling husband.

Biggest fear: Not being herself or expressing her true self. She always has to try to be creative and sometimes trendy.

Things he/she likes: She loves elegance, bright colors, spring, life, and growth. She loves to find individuality within everything.

Things he/she dislikes: She dislikes conformity, inauthenticity, and expressing things that aren't made in her own voice or style.

Comparison of characters and issues

Right from the start, I found myself trying to describe the first character (real person) instead of trying to creatively create story functional character. The real person lead the descriptions. Only occasionally could I escape the real person to add something new. I seemed to forget the YouTube portion of the story. Describing this character was nostalgic rather than fun. This character almost has become a burden to me in his current state. He doesn't seem to have as much flaws to build a conflict story.

For the second character which the real person I had only a passing knowledge of, becoming creative in the details and creating conflict built into the character was easier. Creating the story was so easier that it became very fun. She seems quirky and yet flawed.

Summertime Writing: Freestyle Nouns & Word Qualities

With three flash fiction stories finished, I can get back to summertime writing.

In the first four summertime writing posts, the source for the exercises was the Spellbinding Sentences put out by Writer's Digest by Barbara Baig. I tried to personalize the exercises so that they are original content for this blog.

In this exercise, I want to combine two sources for the exercise. The first also comes from S.S. chapter 6 on the Qualities of Words. In the chapter it mentions words that are formal vs informal, general vs specific, and abstract vs concrete. A fun exercise to do is to mix this with an exercise that I read in another book, 90 Days to Your Novel by Sarah Domet. In day 1 exercise Ready, Set, Go (With What You Know), the author challenges the writer to brainstorm from early memories people, places, and things. Instead of 2 hours, I will do a short version.

Brainstorm Nouns

People: Old grandfather was very crafty, school bully that class stood up against, inventive friend that doesn't trust anyone, deliverer, acquaintance that likes physical activities, art teacher that is very old and yet stylish, a two-faced person, brother.

Places: fragmented hometown, desert oasis, vine infested jungle, in the middle of a hurricane, standing on a pier smelling the scent of seawater and hearing the sound of waves hit the support, on a bicycle, canoeing down a river, on an exercise bicycle.

Things: watch, pencil, computer, paper, led light, dice, hometown football shirt, fast racecar, canoe, yellow one-person tent, old pad of paper that is almost used up, the sound of fall maple leaves blowing in a strong wind outside the room window, van.

Analysis of Nouns

The first thing that I realized while typing these up was that for people and places were easier to make specific, for me, than things. Towards the end of making the list of things, I consciously shifted into trying to make more specific things. I also notice that my mind was blank at first and then I just started to list things in my vacinity. The "sound of fall maple leaves..." was a memory, however.

In this brainstorm, I did not list any proper nouns even though several of the nouns do have proper noun names.

The hometown football shirt could be a jersey, but when I wrote it I was wearing a t-shirt with the teams name on it.

Many of the longer written words and phrases do have a more emotional connection with me compared to the single or general words.

I do need a few abstract nouns. I'll do that now. time, challenge, understanding, effort, growth.

Next posts

This post will probably serve as a foundation for several posts because both books have further exercises reusing these initial collections of words.

Flash Fiction Story #3: Inventor's Love

This is my third of three flash fiction stories for my flash fiction weekend challenge.

This is the gameplay using Flash RPG.

4, 2, 4, 4, 6, 3, 5

This is a romance, indoor setting, overcome...obstacle..., vs person game session story.

In the business corporation High Enough, a person is trying to find love by overcoming an obstacle.

This is a game about soul, the main character has persuasion (-1), awkward compared to other people for skill—this corporate worker is trying to overcome dating awkwardness in search of love.

The difficulty of such task is amazingly difficult (5 out of 6 difficulty). This is a terrifying task for the normally skilled office worker.

In a one multi-million dollar corporation tech company High Enough, one technical-savvy inventor must overcome socially awkward dating moves to search for love. Kept busy focused on a career, this office worker is finding dating an amazingly difficult task.

2, moderate effort; 2-1=1; Failing by three or more is a failure resulting in prolonged effects. Reconsider your direction in life. 

The second-in-command gives a mediocre effort and fails miserably.

This office worker approaches a recently single crush from high school who works at a local deli. Not only does the office worker strike out, but also gets everything wrong. Unknown to this person, the crush is involved in a relationship with the love seeker's boss and is suddenly fired after repeated relationship attempts. Even the greatest inventors can't invent love. 

100 words, 629 characters

Flash Fiction Story #2: Unfriendly Juggernaut

This is my second of three flash fiction stories for my flash fiction weekend challenge.

This is the gameplay using Flash RPG.

4, 6, 3, 3, 5, 3, 2

This is a superhero, world or planet setting, defend-from..., supernatural or unimaginable

On the planet Ster-la, a superhero team tries to defend that world.. from...a godlike juggernaut being.

This is a game about soul, the main character has persuasion (+1) compared to other people for defense—probably the superhero's team second-in-command.

The difficulty of such mission is a moderate mission (2 out of 6 difficulty). This is a inconvenient threat to that planet.

On a distant planet, the second-in-command of the superhero team must find a way to defend the world of Ster-la by using above normal persuasion on a godlike juggernaut being.

6, unbelievable effort—automatic success

The second-in-command gives it unbelievable effort and easily persuades either the being to do even more than cease the threat.

The second-in-command of the superhero group uses above normal skill in an unbelievable manner to defend the planet from the juggernaut. Not only does the godlike juggernaut cease to threaten the planet, the superhero team member has convinced the godlike being to defend the planet for the people against future threats. The planet is in debt to the superhero team.

90 words, 541 characters

Flash Fiction Story #1: Battlecruiser Kapangyarihan's stand against the invading void-beings

This is my first of three flash fiction stories for my flash fiction weekend challenge.

This is the gameplay using Flash RPG.
2,1,2,3,1, 5, 5
This is a Sci-Fi, room setting, save-from..., supernatural or unimaginable

Aboard the battlecruiser Kapangyarihan, the star navy crew franticly tries to saves the world.. from...warlike extradimensional void-beings.

This is a game about mind, the main character is more intelligent (+2) than most people for this invasion of void-beings probably a science maybe a astrobiologist or xenoarchaeologist.

The difficulty of such mission is a challenging mission (5 out of 6 difficulty). This is a terrifying threat to humanity.

In near-earth space, between the earth and the moon, the more intelligent astrobiologist aboard the bridge of the war-class battlecruiser Kapangyarihan must find a way to save the world from the terrifying, destructive, warlike invading extradimensional void-beings.

2, good effort, 2+2=4, 5-4 = 1 short
The astrobiologist gives it good effort and nearly saves the world, however the invading void-beings overrun the effort.

The astrobiologist uses knowledge gained from testing on a captured void-being to create several void-repelling devices aboard several ships. Placed around the world in orbit, the astrobiologist signals the activation of all the repelling devices. At first, void beings are repelled, disintegrating into nothingness. However, soon a trickle of beings make it through between the reach full strength of the repeller. That trickle soon turns to a full on onslaught. The astrobiologist looks on in horror. The devices were not quite powerful enough. If only they had a little more strength—maybe even 10% increase could have saved the planet. The remaining Starfleet retreated to the moon base to regroup.
147 words, 968 characters