|
|
|
|
Solving your writing problems since 1998! |
|
| |||||||||||
|
The
Write Way
6 June 2008 Dragons! Greetings, We were on one of our regular weekend strolls along the Bay a couple of weeks ago, chatting amiably about what waterfront block we'd buy to build our dream house when we won Lotto when we rounded a bend in the path and were astounded to see ... dragons! Well, not actually fire-breathing, scaly dragons, but the next best thing ... dragon boats! It seems there was a carnival for dragon-boat racers on our fair shores that day, and we'd unwittingly stumbled into their lair ... So, what's the first response of any healthy, normal action-loving couple when confronted with such a sight? Right ... we made a bee-line to our favourite coffee house, grabbed our takeaway mugacinos and settled in to do what we do best ... enjoy the spectacle. You can see what a lovely day it was for dragons. Naturally, all this excitement sent my little grey cells into a spin, and I spent the rest of the week with my head full of dragons. When you stop and think about it, dragons are very common in just about every human culture, so there must be something about them that appeals to our deeper longings and desires, so this week, gentle reader, we're off on a quest for dragons ... We find the Baylonians trying to cope with many dragons, among them a dainty little creature that was "300 miles long, circumference of 100 ft, and a mouth that opened 10 ft. She could undulate 6 miles high and had a huge scaled body, legs, forked tongue, head and forelegs of a lion, feathered wings and eagle's hind quarters. Her skin was immune to all weapons." Then there was Gilgamesh, king of Uruk in ancient Babylon, who fought and killed a huge dragon called Khumbaba, presumably not the abovementioned one with the 10-foot jaw. The Greek dragons were the original serpent-like creatures that spent their time terrifying humans. Anyone who's seen any of those Jason and the Argonaut movies from the 60s would be familiar with the Hydra - a typical Greek dragon if ever there was one. Moving right along, we find tales of Beowulf (c. AD 495-583) of Scandinavia who killed a monster called Grendel, and its mother, as well as several sea-reptiles or dragons. Their neighbours, the Teutons also battled with dragons, and Siegfried had a run in with a dragon called Fafnir. Most of us have heard of King Arthur and Sir Lancelot and perhaps the most famous of all, St George who slew the dragon and in the process became the patron saint of England and a logo and slogan to die for with advertising moguls around the globe. This was a use for dragons that many of the ruling classes discovered early on ... the Romans had a purple dragon as their ceremonial standard (called the drakonteion); English kings from the time of the Norman Conquests onwards have had dragons on their ensigns, and Chinese Emperors incorporated the dragon as the national symbol of China until the Republic ousted them in 1911. There are dragons associated with lots of Christian saints (think the previously mentioned St George), and we haven't even touched on the dragons of South America ... Dragons were tailor-made for the blood-thirsty Aztecs. And of course, we can't forget the Vikings and their dragon-headed boats, which brings us nicely back to our dragon-boat racing ... We can nod smugly at the foibles of our forebears and their belief in dragons, but I bet, like me, you've handed over hard-earned cash to buy one of the Harry Potter books or the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, haven't you? Hmmm? Yes, I thought as much. See? Dragons still have a firm foothold in our hearts and minds. And the reason for this is simply that they provide the perfect makings of a good yarn, so if you'd like to try your hand at writing fantasy, here's a great place to start: Some rules when introducing any sort of magic into your stories. And a brief overview of dragons throughout history.
Speaking of Harry Potter books, who among us wouldn't like to have written that little series, eh? Well, you can certainly write a novel using the same techniques J K Rowling uses ... just by investing in this natty little program: When you've had a bit of a look at the program, don't forget to sign up for their Guide on Writing Great Prose and Guide to getting Published. And here are some famous last words you might hear if in the vicinity of dragons ... "Of course it's evil, kill it!" "It can't talk to us like that!" "No really. I can do this." "You mean it was a GOOD dragon?" "What do you mean, the dragon wakes up?" "There's no such thing as a bottomless pit. Everybody knows tha-a-a-a-a...." "Let me handle this." "Trust me." "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" This week's quiz: Match up these fantasy words and you have the start of your novel! wraith, troll, daphnomancy, talisman, necromancy, banshee, paladin, mage, cleromancy, scutage 1. the casting of lots as a means of divination 2. an apparition of a living person supposed to portend his or her death; something shadowy and insubstantial 3. (in the feudal system) a payment exacted by a lord in lieu of military service due to him by the holder of a fee 4. someone who fights for a cause 5. in Irish folklore, a spirit in the form of a wailing woman who appears to or is heard by members of a family as a sign that one of them is about to die 6. supernatural creature of Scandinavian folklore, variously portrayed as a friendly or mischievous dwarf or as a giant, that lives in caves, in the hills or under bridges 7. a magician; caste of priests, philosophers and magicians, among the ancient Persians; any holy men or sages of the East 8. stone, ring or other object, engraved with figures or characters supposed to possess occult powers and worn as an amulet or charm; anything whose presence exercises a remarkable or powerful influence on human feelings or actions 9. a method of divination through alleged communication with the dead; black art 10. divination by means of the laurel And if you've ever wondered ... Q: How many Hobbits does it take to change a light bulb? A: 1 to complain that the light bulb isn't working, 5 to hold a meeting to decide what to do about it, 20 to form an expedition to the fabled Light bulb Mines of Mythrill, 30 to throw a going-away party, 1 to ask Gandalf for directions, 1 to sell into slavery when the directions aren't stuck to and they end up in entirely the wrong part of the country and ready cash runs low, 5 to get lost through natural wastage (bandits, murderers, monsters, etc,) 1 to be thrown to the Dragon that guards the Light bulb hoard, 1 to be thrown to the Dragon to cover the retreat, 2 to carry the box of light bulbs, 5 to find a large, sword-wielding barbarian to escort them home with the light bulbs, 30 to throw a safe-return party, 5 to get rid of the barbarian who, in typical style, got drunk at the party, 5 to find an Elf in the neighbourhood tall enough to change the light bulb, one tall elf, and 5 to compose ballads of derring-do, heroism, sacrifice and light bulbs. A grand total of 118. Phew!
Did you know that every newsletter is archived? So if you've missed anything since 1998 or want to revisit some favourites, you can do so any time! Don't forget to bookmark the page when you get there ... or even make it your Home Page. (For Internet Explorer, just click on Tools ... Internet Options ... General ... fill in www.write101.com/archives/index.htm and click OK. For Netscape, select Edit ... Preferences. Then select Navigator from the left menu, click Home Page and enter the URL above next to Location and click OK. For all the flash new browsers, you'll have to do a search on my mate google to find what to do. There's a search box on the archives page!) If you've received this little missive from a friend, you can get your very own issue, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed every Friday morning by clicking here: mailto:WritingTips-subscribe@yahoogrups.com And I'm even prepared to offer a shameless bribe. An Ape that wants to play Hamlet after being type-cast as King Kong, a talking anvil and that rottweiller ... Dr Morgenes is still caught in the nightmare that is the casting couch. Help him find a plot! Just click on the Comments button at the end of the entry to add your contribution. If you have friends who fancy themselves as writers, invite them to contribute (just forward this newsletter in its entirety to them). I often trawl this for comments to post on my site ... so if you say something about the newsletter or site, be warned, you may end up being read by one of the 2,000+ unique visitors who visit Write101 every day! Make your Mark on the World. Then stop by our Map of the World and read the messages. (Just click List) and add your mark. Last week's quiz: Match each word with its synonym:
A Little Something Extra Here's everything you'd ever need to know about every sort of dragon from Aberystwyth University on the Welsh coast (now they'd have to know about dragons if anyone does!) Word of the week: The word "dragon" comes from the Greek (drakōn), "a serpent of huge size, a python, a dragon" and that from the verb (derkomai) "to see clearly." So the word was originally applied to extra large serpents, but soon took over our collective imagination and morphed into the "fabulous animal usually represented as a monstrous winged and scaly serpent or saurian with a crested head and enormous claws" that we all know and love today. Oxymoron of the week: friendly dragon And what better Latin phrase for this week than the motto of Harry Potter’s alma mater, Hogwart’s School of Witchcraft and Wizardry... Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus [DRAH-koh dohr-MEE-enz NOON-kwahm tee-tee-LAHN-doos] (Never Tickle a Sleeping Dragon) Did you know that you can have your very own Latin reminders? How about undies proclaiming, Bene est rex esse? (It's good to be king) Or a shopping bag that warns, Emptrix nata sum (Born to shop)? Kind regards, Jennifer P.S. Want to donate to the upkeep of this newsletter? Just $17 a year seems a small price to pay for all this wit and wisdom, don't you think? C'mon, that's just a tad more than 30 cents a week! 1.Toss a few pennies into my Running Away Fund at PayPal (Send to jennifer @ write101.com ... without the spaces, of course) OR 2. Click here to subscribe for a full year OR 3. Use your credit card on my secure order form. (You can also access the PayPal subscription link from this page if the link above didn't work for you. With PayPal, you can use your credit card, PayPal account or pay online using your own cheque account.) OR 4. Send a cheque (made payable to Jennifer Stewart) To unsubscribe from this list, send
a blank email to: mailto:WritingTips- Copyright Jennifer Stewart 2008 Individual articles copyrighted by their authors. |
