Blog Schedule

I post on Monday with an occasional random blog thrown in for good measure. I do my best to answer all comments via email and visit around on the days I post.

Monday, August 17, 2015

Alternatives, Titles to Write By, One Stop for Writers Tip, Being Thankful

Alternatives is a recurring post in which I give synonyms for an over used word. Click on the tab above for a "complete" list of over used words.


Today's word is:

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For those who write crime, it might be alleged that this word is over used. 

Depending on how you use it, this list may come in handy for finding another way to say the same thing.

affirmed, apparent, asserted, assumed, averred,

claimed

declared, described, designated, doubtful, dubious

hypothetical

ostensible

presumed, presupposed, pretended, professed, purported, putative,

questionable

reputed, rumored

so-called, stated, supposed, suspect, suspicious

unproved

***
In which we play with a single word and turn it into, what else, titles! Afterwards the object is to pick one of them and write a little something.

It was Ray Bradbury, in his book ZEN IN THE ART OF WRITING, who taught me about making lists of words and turning them into titles. If you haven't read it I highly recommend it.




For no particular reason today's word is: 

Button

Actually there is a reason why today's word is button, and it's not because I happen to like buttons and have written an article about them. No, it because the other day in a conversation with my hubby he blurted out a great title for a story. Which was: 

Death of a Former Button Pusher
Button, Button, I Know Who Has the Button
Button-Nose Bobby
The Button that Saved the World
Buttons: More Than Just Closures
Buttons in History
Belly Button Billy
I'll Be Your Button if You'll Be My Button Hole

Do any of these strike your fancy? The article I wrote was called Buttons in History. You'd be surprised at the roll they've played...

***
Since this post seems to be about words, here's a tip from Angela and Becca of Writers Helping Writers fame. They are getting ready to launch a new writerly tool at One Stop for Writes. Today's tips is, what else, a short list of OVER USED WORDS!


***
Being Thankful

Today I'm thankful for books. Cicero wrote: A room without books is like a body without a soul.

The to-be-read stack.

Part of my collection of fairy tales and myths.

Books on writing and words.

Part of my hubby's scifi collection.

General information.

Classics and poetry.
What are you thankful for? How many bookshelves do you have in your home? Do you collect a variety or a few particular kinds of books? Do you know about Angela and Becca? Care to share a button title in the comments?

17 comments:

  1. More Than Just Closures - funny!
    You have a lot of books. I think we are down to six bookshelves now. No wait, seven. Used to be more.

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    1. We're seriously thinking of getting another bookshelf!

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  2. My thesaurus is my best friend and has pride of place on my crowded bookshelves! I often wonder how many different words I have in my book collection - thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions? Apparently there are 1,025,109 in the English language. Sorry, I'm rambling!

    Visit Keith's Ramblings!

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    Replies
    1. I LOVE my several different thesauruses, particularly an ancient one from 1930.

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  3. Really insightful post and nice photos -what a great book collection. Greetings!

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    Replies
    1. And the pictures only show a portion. Something's gotta give. :)

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  4. I love buttons, collect them and all because my grandmother used to give us a huge tin full of them to play with when we went to visit. I have a list of my personal overused words - provided by my editor. So bad! If it were my choice I'd have bookshelves everywhere. In my living room I have seven - five of them are floor to ceiling.

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    1. I think that's what got me interested in buttons. I have a few special ones that belonged to my grandmothers. They're like pieces of jewelry.

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  5. Lovely bookshelves! I love to see ones that dip in the middle with the weight of books. Somehow that speaks to importance of all those words. Glad you took Ray Bradbury's advice about words and title.

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    Replies
    1. All that's not all of our shelves, Lee. Ray Bradbury's advice is the best!

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  6. Theres nothing quite like the turning a page when your reading a gripping thriller. I've lots of books everywhere all over the place, textbooks, sci fi thrillers, hardbacks, classics. Books are fun!

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  7. I tend toward the mysteries, paranormal romance, Irish poetry, Irish mysteries...My bookcases are nowhere as neat!

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  8. I find it interesting that people keep the books they read and put them on the shelf, as if they are going to read all of them again. But who am I to say anything about that? I do the exact same thing. I have so many Sci.Fi. books it's almost shameful. Almost, Okay, not really. I'm proud of each and every book I own. Whether it's one of my Sci.Fi books, or a resource book, or one of my old Bloom County comic collection books. I could go on, I'm sure. I do love books and I do wish I had more time to rid. If only there was a great world ending event that would take place, giving me more time to read. But knowing me, I'd break my reading glasses.

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  9. I LOVE that first title. Epic.

    So they were missing one of my crutch words: light. Apparently I really like to reference brilliance in all forms.

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    ReplyDelete

Your Random Thoughts are most welcome!