Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Y?

Photo from Wikipedia
Here are some common English words that contain no other vowel except y. Use them all in a writing piece.
  • cry
  • crypt
  • fly
  • gypsy
  • hymn (song praising someone or something, most familiarly the Christian God but can be any deity)
  • lymph (can also mean pure water in addition to the clear liquid in blood)
  • lynch
  • lynx
  • myrrh
  • myth
  • nymph
  • pry
  • pygmy
  • rhythm
  • scry (predict the future with a crystal ball)
  • shy
  • sly
  • spy
  • sphynx (hairless cat breed)
  • spry
  • sync
  • tryst
  • wyrm (a dragon without legs)
and if you can fit it, just because it's a cool word ;-)
  • syzygy
And some short but less inspiring words you may want to sprinkle in:
  • by
  • my
  • dry
  • fry
  • gym
  • ply
  • sky
  • sty
  • try
  • why
  • wry

There are more words at List of words in English without vowels but most are pretty odd, obscure or specialized (like srsly in text-speak). The page is part of a larger collection of English words with uncommon properties, like words with alternating consonants and vowels (honorificabilitudinitatibus for instance), q not followed by u (which gets its own whole page!), kangaroo words (words that contain the letters in the right order of a similar word like masculine/male, observe/see), pyramid words (where one letter appears once, another letter twice, another three times, like banana and sleeveless).

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Dear John

Dear John,


I know it's been 127 years since we last saw each other ...


Take it from there!

Why has it been 127 years? Was it supposed to be 100? Was it supposed to be 5?

Did their previous encounter(s) cause the long lives or is that normal for their species?

Was the last time they met right before a classic "Dear John" letter?

Does "John" need to be a man? Human? The same species? On the same time line? What if the writer or John is a self-aware machine?

Hmm, John is Sherlock Holmes's companion's name ....

Wednesday, July 06, 2011

Classy characters

As with most images, they lead somewhere when clicked!
Anyone who's familiar with role playing games knows about the class system of thieves, warriors, priests, sorcerers and various others and combinations that you choose from for your characters. The following are humorous classes generated at Seventh Sanctum. Generate your own Humorous Fantasy Class or pick one or a few of the following and let them inspire you. You could write a typical scene for such a character, or a run in with the character currently working with in a story, a series of gag comics, epic poetry ...

Mercenary/Traveling salesperson
Enchanter/Manicurist
Alchemist/Cook
Plumber/Shaman
Inquisitor/Maid
Stripper/Swordsman
Nanny/Ninja
Priest/Streetsweeper
Pirate/Decorator
Launderer/Sorcerer
Assassin/Tailor
Comedian/Prophet
Druid/Groundskeeper
Warlock/Knitter
Matchmaker/Mystik
Thief/Conceierge

If you'd like to add in some generated personality quirks, try the Detailed Character Generator at Serendipity. (You can just ignore the profession.) Where you'll get stuff like:

This calculating, impulsive spinner has golden skin, brown eyes, and red hair. She is delicate, with a heart-shaped face. She is married, with a single son.

This irresponsible, melodramatic fisherman has brown skin, green eyes, and dark brown hair. She is muscular, with a long, mournful face. She is unmarried.

This man is slender, with pale skin and a square-jawed face. He has long, silky, black hair and amber eyes. He is a physician who is cynical by nature, though polite.

This man works as a dyer, although his real interest is romance. He has hazel eyes, and his hair is shoulder-length, straight, silky and brown. He is delicate, with a small-featured, delicate face. He is stubborn and clever.

This platinum blond-haired, green-eyed man is a historian with a fragile build and round, bland face. He is contrary, and is interested in travel and children.

This serious, wary thatcher has nearly black skin, green eyes, and black hair. He is big-boned, with a round, cheerful face. He is newly married.