Every month a question will be posed that may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Remember, the question is optional. You can write about anything that relates to your writing journey.
Let's give a warm welcome to our co-hosts: Kate Larkinsdale, Diane Burton, and Shannon Lawrence!
This month's question is: Have you ever written something that afterwards you felt conflicted about? If so, did you let it stay how it was, take it out, or rewrite it?
Conflicted in what way? Subject matter? How it was written? The answer for me is, can't say that I have.
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Origins: a recurring post in which I delve into the history of a word or phrase.
It's August. It's hot. What better word to explore than something heat does to ice cream (which itself has a long history.)
Melt has an old and prestigious pedigree. It comes down to us from the Middle English word melten, which comes from the Old English meltan, meaning to "become liquid through heat". They are in turn from the Proto-Germanic words meltanan and gamaltijan. If that weren't old enough, those two Proto-Germanic words can be traced back to the Proto-Indo-European word meldh - also the source of the the Sanskrit word, mrduh, meaning "soft, mild" - AND the Greek meldein, "to melt, make liquid" AND the Latin mollis, "soft, mild", both of which come from the Proto-Indo-European root mel, meaning "soft." Got all that?
Proto-Indo-European is hypothesized to have been spoken between 4500 BC and 2500 BC, which is late Neolithic to early Bronze Age. That's approximately 6500 to 4500 years ago.
So, when the Wicked Witch of the West cried out, "I'm melting!" maybe it was August.
Then there's this great hot summer song from the Lovin' Spoonful.
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LoanWord: A word adopted from a foreign language with little or no modification. Today's loanwords come from three beautiful "Romance" languages. Spanish: Cigar, Tobacco, Patio, Savvy, Vigilante, Vanilla, Cockroach. (That last HAD to come from SOMEwhere!) Portuguese: Massage, Cashew, Zebra, Breeze, Grouper, Lingo, Caste, Coconut, Cuspidor, Marmalade, Potato, Sargasso, Zombie. (Blame them on the Portuguese.) Italian: Cartoon, Broccoli, Graffiti, Piano, Lagoon, Marina, Bank, Money, (those two would have to go together) Bandit, Casino, Balcony, Patio, Veranda, Stiletto, Gusto, Torso, Replica, Studio, Orange, Magenta, Sepia, Umber, Cantaloupe, Cauliflower and NOVEL!
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Novel Quotes
(Isn't it interesting that novel can also mean new or unusual in an interesting way?)
“No one says a novel has to be one thing. It can be anything it wants to be, a vaudeville show, the six o’clock news, the mumblings of wild men saddled by demons.”
“Writing a novel is a terrible experience, during which the hair often falls out and the teeth decay. I'm always irritated by people who imply that writing fiction is an escape from reality. It is a plunge into reality and it's very shocking to the system.”
“I read anything that’s going to be interesting. But you don’t know what it is until you’ve read it. Somewhere in a book on the history of false teeth there’ll be the making of a novel.”
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Being Thankful
Today I'm thankful for a minor break in the heat. We're back to our more "normal" mid to high 90s. Between June and July we had 25 days where it was 100 degrees or more. 11 consecutive days in June, 13 in July. The hottest day was June 22, at 104. We wait with baited breath to see what August will bring. Hopefully rain.
Have you ever been conflicted about something you wrote? Did you do anything about it? What do you do to cool down when it's hot? Did you know that NOVEL came from Italian?
That's a really old word.
ReplyDeleteAugust has brought some relief from the heat here.
It's fun to think that the witch in the Wizard of Oz melted due to August heat. I'm glad you're getting a break from the super hot heat. It's been a mild and lovely summer here in Michigan. I'm grateful.
ReplyDelete"A novel idea" - I've heard that expression.
ReplyDeleteWe've been in 60's in the morning, which is far better than waking up to 77 degrees.
I like the concept of Loanwords. It goes beyond traditional languages. How many technical terms sneak their way into everyday language?
ReplyDeleteGoing over the history of "melt" is certainly appropriate for your state! What a summer you've had.
ReplyDeleteAppropriate word for this summer! We're cooler today too for a change.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your break from the heat - supposed to be 103 here today. Again.
ReplyDeleteI've dealt with the heat by moving back home to Seattle. Though nowadays even here we can have hotter weather than I want, it is mostly not bad.
ReplyDelete"Summer in the City"! I love this song. "Back of my neck getting dirty and gritty." FYI, I remember the year it first came out. I probably shouldn't admit that, but it was 1966 and I had just graduated to junior high. I was 3. Just kidding. Hi Bish. Great post. Happy IWSG Day.
ReplyDeleteUgh, the 80s in Maryland were pretty unpleasant, but I'm no longer accustomed to humidity. Then again, humidity levels have been in the 90%s here in Colorado this summer, so I guess I'd better get used to it again! So much for living in the high desert.
ReplyDeleteHi Bish - I feel for you with the heat ... when it's 'hot' here, I do very little ... but we've had cooler, damper times and avoided the mega-heat in Europe. Love your various informative ideas you've given us here - I love words and their origins - cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteThat's a whole passel of information. Love Flannery O'Connor. That quote certainly applies to her own stories.
ReplyDeleteLee
I loved the three novel quotes you included (and was struck by the coincidental mentions of teeth in both the second and third)! Melt is very much a word I can relate to at the moment, considering how meltingly hot it is here. Thank you for delving into its old and prestigious pedigree -- I learned a lot!
ReplyDelete