Category: Writing Reference

  • Definition Billow

    bil·low  (bĭl′ō) n. 1. A large wave or swell of water. 2. A great swell, surge, or undulating mass, as of smoke or sound. v. bil·lowed, bil·low·ing, bil·lows v.intr. 1. To surge or roll in billows. 2. To swell out or bulge: sheets billowing in the breeze. v.tr. To cause to billow: wind that billowed…

  • Definition Churlish

    churl·ish  (chûr′lĭsh) adj. 1. Of, like, or befitting a churl; boorish or vulgar. 2. Having a bad disposition; surly: “as valiant as the lion, churlish as the bear” (Shakespeare). 3. Difficult to work with, such as soil; intractable.

  • Definition Exonym

    ex·o·nym  (ĕk′sō-nĭm) n. A name by which one people or social group refers to another and by which the group so named does not refer to itself.

  • Historical Fiction Tips 1

    Let the characters engage with the historical details. This goes along with that “show don’t tell” truism writers are told all the time. Rather than just dumping a bunch of facts on the poor reader, let your characters interact with these details with all these senses. Let them smell the offal dumped onto the cobblestone streets.…

  • Def Bespoke

    be·spoke (bĭ-spōk′)v. Past tense and a past participle of bespeak. adj. 1. Custom-made. Said especially of clothes. 2. Making or selling custom-made clothes: a bespoke tailor. American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved. bespoke…

  • Def Rive

    rive (rīv)v. rived, riv·en (rĭv′ən) also rived, riv·ing, rives v.tr. 1. To rend or tear apart. 2. To break into pieces, as by a blow; cleave or split asunder. 3. To break or distress (the spirit, for example). v.intr. To be or become split.

  • Def Piebald

    pie·bald (pī′bôld′)adj. Spotted or patched, especially in black and white. n. A piebald animal, especially a horse.

  • Scabrous

    scab·rous ˈskabrəs/ adjective 1. rough and covered with, or as if with, scabs. 2. indecent; salacious. “scabrous publications”

  • EM Forster, Ending a Book

    Most books have a feeble ending. This is because the plot ends the book, not the characters.  Most books end either with death or marriage. The novel typically goes off in the end. The characters go dead. This is a primary technical problem of the novel. It reminds me of the end of Steinbeck, Grapes…