June’s WritingTipWed! Every Wednesday I post a writing tip on my Twitter! If you want to see these weekly, follow me @/EmilyLaJaunie.
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#WritingTipWed 46 - When writing a queer character, don’t make the character’s only defining trait about being queer.
Ex, just how you wouldn’t write a character whose trait is being straight, don’t make one whose trait is being gay.
#WritingTipWed 47 - When writing something set in a previous time period, look up what words/phrases were commonly used/didn’t exist yet. And for meanings of words, as they can change over time.
A “gay man”, for instance, used to be a womanizer.
Excerpt from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay:
“The word may have started to acquire associations of immorality as early as the 14th century, but had certainly acquired them by the 17th. By the late 17th century, it had acquired the specific meaning of "addicted to pleasures and dissipation”, an extension of its primary meaning of “carefree” implying “uninhibited by moral constraints”. A gay woman was a prostitute, a gay man a womanizer, and a gay house a brothel. An example is a letter read to a London court in 1885 during the prosecution of brothel madam and procuress Mary Jeffries that had been written by a girl while slaved to a French brothel:
“I write to tell you it is a gay house…Some captains came in the other night, and the mistress wanted us to sleep with them.”“
#WritingTipWed 48 - Accept that when you’re writing a queer story, even if you consulted with hundreds of queer sensitivity readers/beta readers, that your story will not satisfy everyone. You can’t please everyone, so still, be proud!
#WritingTipWed 49 - The APA now endorses the use of “they” as a singular third-person pronoun and it is part of the APA style!
So instead of writing “he or she” write “they” and instead of “his or her” write “their.”
apastyle.apa.org/blog/singular-they
#WritingTipWed 50 - On this last day of Pride Month, remember to love. Love yourself, love others, love your writing. Write about what you love, who you love. The love of friends, families, partners, that’s what makes a story powerful.
Anonymous asked: “Most of my sentences start with the word ‘I’ or a character’s name. It makes the writing feel monotonous, but I can’t seem to fix it or change my habits. Any tips?”
What is most likely the issue is that your scenes contain only action. “I do this” or “he does that.” That’s not so much of an issue, but once you include more exposition and especially since it’s first person, the thoughts and feelings of the main character, the issue will likely resolve itself.
One of the things that really winds me up about my own writing is looking back and seeing a multitude of sentences beginning with “I” or “And” or “But”. I’m a messy first-drafter as it is and I do a lot of line edits, but it’s still takes up a significant portion of my time going back to change things.
So, I’m here today to share with you the ways I try to vary my sentence starters and some tips and tricks for drafting and edits”
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We all know why it’s important to vary your sentence structure, and by extent, your sentence starters. Besides obvious intentional things such as creating tension, or specific mood/tone/atmosphere, we should be aiming to varyhow we start sentences to keep the reader engagedand not it being repetitive.
This is especially important if you, like me, write in first person and begin a lot of sentences with things like “I was” or “I am” etc. Or if you have a habit of beginning sentences with characters’ names. But what other options do we have? Here are five general categories that I like to use:
ING WORDS Coughing, she pushed her way through the blaze. Smiling, he leaned in for a kiss.
SIMILIES (and other techniques) Like the chattering of a typewriter, their eyes flittered over the group in front. Sweeping in like a dove, she cut through the awkward conversation.
PREPOSITION (beside, near, with, across, around, out, at, in, etc.) On the starter’s whistle, I pushed forward. Under the heavy fog, the streetlamp glowed valiantly
CONNECTIVE (Because, but, and, despite, after, before, etc.) After he left, I slipped the dagger back into its brace. But I wasn’t about to give in now.
ED WORDS Distracted, she let the ice cream fall from her hands. Stunned by his words, they stopped in their tracks.
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Obviously you can make these examples much more complex and attuned to your own styles! There are lots of other ways you can vary your sentence openers, these are just what I personally use - so hopefully you can get some use of them!
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Hints and Tips!
Use the highlightingtreatment! Go through your WIP and focus on your sentence openers. Select a different colour for each category (Blue for She/He/They/I starters, red for ED Words, yellow for ING words, as an example) and use it to help you see where you may need to add some more variation!
This also is a great exercise to do with a published book you really enjoy or by an author you admire - it’s a great learning experience!
Use a good mix of short, long, and medium sentences! If you find that your writing feels a bit samey or dry, even with varied openers, try changing the structure of the whole sentence itself!
Experimentand play around with word order and structure - free write for a few minutes every day and try something new! It’s all practice and even if it never sees the light of day in your WIP, it’s still a worthwhile thing to do!
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I hope you’ve enjoyed this guide and/or found it useful!
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1. 오늘 아침에 머리를 감았어요. 2. 한국시간으로 8월 1일 오전 12시 01분에 신청서를 제출할 거에요. 3. 15년이상 필라테스를 공부하고 있고 약 7년 동안 가르치고 있어요. 4. 제 사진과 영상을 즐긴다 니 다행이에요. 5. 내일은 공휴일이서 일할 필요가 없어요. 1. I washed my hair this morning. 2. I will submit my application on August 1st at 12:01am Korean time. 3. I’ve been studying Pilates for over 15 years and I’ve been teaching for about 7 years. 4. I’m glad you like my pictures and videos. 5. Tomorrow is a national holiday, so I’m off from work!
언어가 문화의 지도라 할 때, 우리는 여러 지도를 이해하는 능력을 갖춤으로써 보다 풍요로운시각을 가지고 삶을 탐험할 수 있게 돼요. 미국인 기자 플로라 루이스 (Flora Lewis)는 “다른 언어를 배우는 것은 같은 사물을 표현하는 다른 말을 배우는 것 뿐만 아니라 사물을 생각하는 또 다른 방식을 배우는 것"이라고 말했어요. 저는 이민자의 딸로 이중 언어를 배우며 자라면서, 언어를 배우는 것이 독특한 경험과 놀라운 기회를 열어 줄 수 있음을 직접 목격했어요. 영어 선생님으로서, 저는 학생들에게 세상을 보는 새로운 가능성을 열어주는 문화의 다리가 되는것을 목표로 하고 있어요.
If language is the roadmap of a culture, having the ability to understand multiple maps leads to fuller and more enriched perspectives as we navigate through life. American journalist Flora Lewis is quoted as saying, “Learning another language is not only learning different words for the same things, but learning another way to think about things”. Growing up as a bilingual daughter of immigrants, I’ve seen firsthand that learning languages can open doors to unique experiences and wonderful opportunities. As an ESL teacher, I aim to be a cultural bridge for my students, revealing to them new possibilities of seeing the world.
1. 아시다시피 저는 언어에 대해 깊은 열정이 있어요. 2. 누구랑 카톡해? 3. 다들 준비됐어? 누가 먼저 시작하고 싶은데? 4. 제가 카밀을 만날 때 그녀가 영화를 선택하면, 저는 보통 우리가 나중에 먹을 식당을 결정해요. 5. 내가 세탁할 때 주머니에서 항상 돈을 찾아. 어젯밤 20 달러를 찾았어!
1. As you already know, I’m deeply passionate about languages. 2. Who are you messaging? 3. Are you guys ready? Who wants to start first? 4. When I meet Camille, if she chooses the movie, I usually decide the restaurant we’ll eat at afterwards. 5. When I do laundry, I always find money in my pockets. Last night, I found $20!
세계 각국에서는 5월 1일은 노동절이에요. 노동자와 노동 계급을 축하하는 날이에요. 대부분의 국가에서는 공휴일이므로 유럽과 아시아의 친구들이 쉬는 날이에요. 하지만 미국에서는 5월 1일은 그냥 평일이에요. 우리는 9월의 첫번째 월요일에 노동절을 축하해요. 미국인은 또한 여름 마지막 날이라고 생각해요. 올해 가을, 노동절은 9월 4일 월요일이에요.
Around the world, May 1st is Labor Day. It’s a day that celebrates laborers and the working class. It’s a public holiday in most countries, so my friends in Asia and Europe have the day off. But in America, it’s just a regular day. We celebrate Labor Day on the first Monday of September. We also consider it the final day of summer. This fall, Labor Day will fall on Monday, September 4 in America.
1. 오늘 공원에서 남자친구랑 점심을 먹으려고 만났어요. 2. 치킨 샌드위치와 작은 샐러드를 만들었어요. 과일과 아이스티도 포장했어요. 3. 오늘은 아름다운 날이었기 때문에 제가 좋아하는 신발을 신었어요. 4. 점심 먹은 후에, 우리는 산책하러 커피를 마시러 찾아갔어요. 저는 라떼를, 그는 아메리카노를 주문했어요. 5. 제 남자친구는 사무실로 돌아가야했지만, 저는 카페에서 이메일을 쓰고 공부하기 위해 조금 더 머물었어요.
1. My boyfriend and I met for lunch in the park today. 2. I made chicken sandwiches with a small salad. I also packed some fruit and iced teas. 3. Since today was a beautiful day, I wore my favorite shoes. 4. After lunch, we went for a walk to find coffee. I got a latte and he ordered an Americano. 5. He had to go back to the office, but I stayed at the cafe a little longer to study and write emails.
1. 한국어로 긴 문장을 쓰는 것은 정말 어려워요. 왜냐하면 저가 하고 싶은 종종 말을 잊어버리기 때문이에요. 2. 친절하고 똑똑하고 나를 이해해주는 내 남자친구를 정말 사랑해. 3. 저는 지난 주에 병원에 갔고 의사는 제 철분이 매우 낮기 때문에 고기를 더 많이 먹어야 한다고 말했어요. 4. 한국어실력을 정말 향상시키고 싶기 때문에 긴 문장을 쓰고 말하기 연습을 계속 할게요! 5. 전자 레인지를 갖고 있지만 건강에 해로운 거 같아 사용하지 않아요.
1. I think writing long sentences in Korean is really difficult because I often forget what I want to say. 2. I really love my boyfriend because he’s kind, he’s smart and he understands me. 3. I went to the doctor last week and she told me I should eat more meat because my iron is very low. 4. I’ll continue to practice writing and speaking long sentences because I really want to improve! 5. I own a microwave, but I never use it because it seems unhealthy, right?
1. 내 남친은 밀이나 쌀을 먹지 않아. 2. 저녁때에 와인 아니면 디저트를 선택할 것이지만 둘다 결코 선택할 수 없어요. 3. 다음 주 일요일은 어머니의 날이에요! 4. 저는 며칠 만에 죽을 꽃다발보다 오랜 시간 생존 할 꽃이 피는 식물을 받고 싶어요. 5. 제 여동생은 지난 주에 채식주의자가 되었어요.
1. My boyfriend doesn’t eat wheat or rice. 2. At dinner, I will choose wine or dessert, but never both. 3. Next Sunday is Mother’s Day! 4. I would rather receive a flowering plant that will live a long time, than a bouquet of flowers that will die in a few days. 5. My sister became vegan last week.
1. 이제 제 옷장을 다시 바꿀 때예요. 2. 봄 청소를 정말 좋아해요! 3. 저는 2개의 가구를 온라인으로 팔고 싶어요. 4. 내 아파트가 너무 작기 때문에 잘 유지하는게 중요해. 5. 1 년에 몇 번, 집의 구석에 세이지를 태워요.
1. It’s time to change my closets again. 2. I love spring cleaning! 3. I want to sell 2 pieces of furniture online. 4. Since my apartment is so small, it’s important that I keep it best. 5. A few times a year, I have burned sage in the corners of my home.
3 달 동안 열심히 공부한 후에, 어제 제 TEFL 과정을 마쳤어요 ~! 많은 것을 읽어야했지만 어렵지 않았어요. 그냥 단조로웠고 조금 지루했어요. 흥미로운 것은 배우지 않았고 단지 아이들을 가르치고 수업 계획을 쓰는 경험이었어요. 또한 저는 이민자 가정에서 왔어요. 그래서 어려운 영어 개념을 설명하는 것은 부모님을 위해 항상 해왔 던 일이에요. 어쨌든 저는 이제 한국에서 교육 일자리 신청을 할 수 있어요!
After diligently studying for 3 months, I completed my TEFL course yesterday. It was just tedious and a little boring. I didn’t learn anything particularly interesting. Because I have experience teaching children and making lesson plans. Also, I come from a family of immigrants, so explaining difficult concepts of English is something I’ve always done for my parents. Anyway, now I can start applying for teaching jobs in Korea!
오늘은 4월 11일 화요일이고 마침내 봄이 뉴욕에 찾아왔어요! 이번 주는 90 일 한국어 도전의 마지막 주여서 목요일에 제 네번째 진행하는 비디오를 녹화할 예정이에요.하지만 요즘 영어 선생님이되기 위해 공부하고있어서 지난 2주동안 한국어를 공부하지 않았었어요. 많은 것을 읽어야하고 제 TEFL 온라인 수업을 이달 말까지 완료해야해요. 영어 선생님 훈련 수업이 끝난 후에, 한국어를 다시 열심히 공부하겠어요. 5월에 또 봐요~!
Today is Tuesday April 11th and spring has finally arrived in NYC! This is the last week of my 90-day Korean language challenge, so I’ll record my fourth progress video on Thursday. But lately, I’ve been studying to become an English teacher, so for the past 2 weeks, I haven’t been studying Korean. I have to read a lot and I need to complete my online TEFL course by the end of the month. Once my English teacher training course is finished, I’ll resume diligently studying Korean again. See you again in May~!
안녕하세요 여러분 ~! 오늘은 제 주말 계획에 대해 얘기 할 거에요! 내일은 토요일이어서 아침에 일해야해요. 저는 오전 9시부터 오후 12시까지 3명과 개인 수업이 있어요. 그 후에는, 일과가 없어요. 제 남자 친구와 만나서 점심을 먹을 거에요. 일요일에는 6개의 그룹 수업이 있어요. 오전 10시에 시작하고 6시 30분에 일이 끝나요 일요일은 긴 하루가 될 거에요. 일이 끝난 후에 집에 가서 스카이프에서 한국어 교사를 만날 거에요.
Hello everyone! Today, I’m going to talk about my weekend plans! Tomorrow is Saturday. I have to go to work in the morning. I have 3 private clients from 9a to12p. After that, my day is free. I’ll meet my boyfriend for lunch. On Sunday, I have 6 group classes. I’ll start at 10a and finish work at 6:30p. Sunday will be a long day. After work, I’ll go home to meet my Korean tutor on Skype.
최고의 교사는 매우 지식있고 조직적이에요. 그러나 그들은 또한 참을성있고 친절해요. 좋아하는 선생님은 제가 잘할 때 저를 칭찬해 주세요. 그녀는 제가 실수를했을 때 저를 절대로 심판하지 않아요 제가 틀렸을 때 그녀는 단지 저를 바로 잡아요 그리고 그녀는 제가 좌절 할 때 저를 격려해요
The best teachers are very knowledgeable and organized. But they are also patient and kind. My favorite teacher gives me praise when I’m doing well. She never judges me when I make a mistake. She just corrects me when I’m wrong. And she encourages me when I’m frustrated.
1. 괜찮답니다~ 이 좌석에 앉으세요. 다음 역에서 내릵겁니다. 2. 언어 책들이 어디에 있어요? 3. 나는 새로운 수첩이 필요하기 때문에 서점에 갔어요. 4. 여자랑 그녀의 남편이 제 운동 수업에 왔어요. 끝난 후에 그에게 수업이 좋아하는지 물었어요. 그의 아내에게 인상깊은 모습을 보여주고 싶다고 말했는데 그의 몸은 예전 같지 않았다고 하네요. 5. 나는 코코넛 오일에 알레르기가 있어 ㅜㅜ
1. That’s alright. Take this seat. I’m getting off at the next stop. 2. Where are the language books? 3. I went to the bookstore because I needed a new notebook. 4. A woman and her husband came to my fitness class together. Afterwards, I asked him if he liked the class. He said that he wanted to impress his wife, but he’s so out of shape these days. 5. I’m allergic to coconut oil.
1. 연습이 완벽을 만든다. 2. 한국어는 그녀의 제 2 언어예요. 3. 시간이 걸려요 . 4. 한국어 공부하는 것이 프랑스어 공부하는 것 보다 재미 있어~ 5. 나는 한 번도 외국에 산 적이 없어.
1. Practice makes perfect. 2. Korean is her second language. 3. It takes time. 4. Studying Korean is more fun than studying French. 5. I have never lived abroad.
Possibility is usually expressed by possumorqueō, “I am able.” “I am unable” is expressed by non possumornequeō. These verbs are then followed by an infinitive.
Hōc facere possum/queō. I can do this.
Hōc facere poteram/quībam. I could have done this.
Hōc facere nōn possum/nequeō. I cannot do this.
Potest cannot be used impersonally (“it is possible”) except when the infinitive of an impersonal passive depends upon it. Hence, “It is possible to see you,” for instance, must then be rendered by vidērī potes (literally, “you are possible to be seen”).
The English words “possible,” “impossible,” and the like are often used in a sense which is near to “practicable,” “impracticable,” etc. In such circumstances, we should translate them into Latin by fierī potest,fierī nōn potest with a noun clause introduced by utorquīn.
Fierī potest ut hōc faciam. It is possible that I can do this.
Fierī nōn potest quīn hōc faciam. It is impossible for me not to do this.
When “possiblity” means no more than “perhaps,” haud sciō anorforsitan with an indirect question is used.
Haud sciō an absit. or Forsitan absit. Perhaps he is absent.
In English we can use “can” to express both possibility and permission. Latin, however, expresses permission differently from how it expresses possibility. Next week I shall discuss how we should go about expressng permission in Latin.
Source
Bradley’s Arnold Latin Prose Composition, edited by J. F. Mountford.
In English, we express an act which we fear may take place by thatorthat not, with willandmay:
I fear that they will see it. I fear that they may not see it.
We might think that Latin would use ōrātiō oblīqua, or indirect speech, to render such clauses of fear. We would be mistaken.
Latin reached its expression of those ideas in a very different way. The Roman conception was originally:
Timeō: nē mē culpet. “I am afraid: I do not want him to blame me”;
Timeō: ut bene pugnem. “I am afraid: I want to fight well.”
These subjunctive clauses after a verb of fearing are optative in origin. That means that nē here basically means “I do not want” and ut means “I want”–reasonably enough! (Nē nōn, “I do not want … not,” sometimes replaces ut, and always does when the main clause has a negative.) But these clauses and the main verbs came to be thought of as closely connected, and together were taken into one sentence, but the old implication still remained:
Timeō nē mē culpet.
Timeō ut bene pugnem.
We must translate them according to English idiom:
“I am afraid that he will blame me.”
“I am afraid that I may not fight well.”
Thus, from our point of view, the meanings of nēandut were reversed. But they were not. They kept their meanings. We simply cannot just translate them literally because “I am afraid: I do not want him to blame me” is not how we usually say such things in English.
We could say that:
English views these sentences in terms of indirect statements.
Latin views these sentences in terms of wants and wishes.
Special care needs to be given to how we translate these sentences. Knowing the reasoning behind the words used in these Latin clauses of fearing can alleviate some of the confusion that they can inspire, and it may even make us more comfortable with using them.
In my last few posts on Latin grammar, I explained how to express in Latin several specific ideas that are normally expressed with various auxiliary verbs in English. I have already explained how to express possibility, permission, and necessity in Latin. In this post, I shall finish this series of posts by explaining how to express duty and obligation. Three constructions are available to us in conveying such ideas. Let us see what they are and how they work.
One construction comprises the personal verb dēbēre and the infinitive. This verb expresses duty as owed to others: “I am bound to,” “I am under an obligation to.”
Hōc facere dēbēs (dēbēbis). “You ought to do this.”
Hōc facere dēbuistī(dēbēbās). “You ought to have done this.”
A second construction involves the impersonal verb oportet with either the accusative and infinitive or the subjunctive. This verb expresses a duty as binding on oneself.
Hōc tē facere oportet(oportēbit). “You ought to do this.”
Hōc tē facere oportuit (oportēbat). “You ought to have done this.”
Hōc facerēs oportuit. “You should have done this.”
The third construction pertains to the gerundive, which can also express necessity. What I wrote in my previous grammar post about the gerundive expressing necessity also applies to expressing duty. I should also point out that the gerundive may be used either impersonally (neuter nominative) if the verb is intransitive, or used as a predicative adjective if the verb is transitive (which is often called the Passive Periphrastic).
Tibi currendum est. “You must run.” [Impersonal use with intransive verb]
Carthāgo delenda est. “Carthage must be destroyed.” [Passive Periphrastic]
Dē gustibus nōn est disputandum. “One should not raise a dispute in matters of taste.” [Impersonal use with intransive verb]
Of these three constructions, the one with the gerundive is the commonest. One plausible explanation for this is the gerundive construction’s versatility in expressing duty andnecessity.
Source
Bradley’s Arnold Latin Prose Composition, edited by J. F. Mountford.
