The Power of Language #IWSG May 1st Post.
First I am starting with some of my official news related to Storm Dance Publications.
Call for Submissions Halloween Edition GOG
Grumpy Old Gods Vol. 3 Halloween Edition
Spooky Myths, Legends, Hauntings…
Deadline: June 29th, 2019
Details in the
Submission Guidelines
If you don’t know, I’m officially published on Amazon.
It is a short story, but it is a story I will be paid for writing.
I dropped the ball!
I didn’t get my form for an ARC up when we released Grumpy 1 March 30th. However, we are still looking for people interested in reviewing. If you are interested in reading a free ARC just fill out this form. and I will get back to you.
If you like it and would like to leave us a review we’d appreciate that too. It is not a requirement.
If you want to check it out first here is a link to the book blurbs.
Now on to IWSG post…
Twitter is @TheIWSG Hashtag: #IWSG
INSECURE WRITER’S SUPPORT GROUP
FOUNDED BY
Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh
Writer’s supporting, encouraging and learning from each other. Post on your own blog about your struggles, your triumphs, and your successes. Talk about your works in progress the good, the bad and the ugly or some other writing relating topic on your mind. Read others, interact, comment, and grow within this wonderful author community. Every month there is an optional question for those who may need help figuring out what to post about.
Join The Community
Check the IWSG Home Blog
CO-HOSTS:
Yvonne Ventresca / T. Powell Coltrin / Lee Lowery / Juneta Key
OPTIONAL IWSG Day Question:
What was an early experience where you learned that language had power? (This question is always optional)
Answer:
I can’t remember one particular experience. It was more an accumulation over time experience: awareness. What people have said to me in their reactions to the different things I have written helped me form this impression.
I wish I did have a memory to share but nothing specific comes to mind, or at least when I want it to, so I can add it to this post. LOL 🙂
I am somewhat of an emotive writer. It is one of the 3 words I chose to describe my writing and placed on my site under the site title center main page. It is what I want to do in writing touch others emotions, minds, and spirit to some degree. If I had chosen a fourth and fifth word it would be to inspire and captive,
EVOCATIVE – COMPLEX – MYTHOLOGICAL
The idea for this came from a word game another writer C. L. Roth introduced me to, where you make a list of words that describe your writing or you want to describe it, and then you start eliminating words. You can only pick 3 words that best fit and describe your writing in what you want the reader to get from it. The above were the three words I settled on.
Want to play the game for yourself? You can. You will find the rules and parameters here. The password is in small letters. Password: three words
Other words I might have chosen: entertain, escape, adventure, heart, intelligent. But you can only pick three words. My three words above won out. I give some reasons for my choices in the game if you check it out.
I learned that power words, active words that denote movement, descriptive words, and action words can make a big difference in a deeper and more connective reader experience. Small word choices can totally remake a story. I am still learning how to do that.
How to Make Readers Captivated Using Deep POV on Medium by Bre Miche –
Emotion Thesaurus 2nd Edition New Release
The above is the post in my Author Spotlight when they released this 2nd edition in February this year.
This is a link to several posts by the creators of this book, 55 extra emotions, on their site.
And images on their Pinterest page. Writing Tips.
Mary Buckham writes about using active Hooks & Setting
She has a workshop starting in May about how to use descriptive body language.
I would love to take but can’t right now. You can find out about that here.
You can watch a short video a look at the class with some wonderful examples of what I was speaking about here.
News & Insecure ANGST:
News is we are doing a third Grumpy Old Gods anthology: a Halloween edition. We are sorting and reading stories for Grumpy Old Gods two now. The tentative publications date is late June early July. We will set a real date once we make our final selections.
I joined Mediums Partnership Program in December 2018. These are my first four posts. I have not really figure out what I want to write about, so I am kind of playing around with whatever fits the mood.
I don’t feel like they are my best efforts, but I have been unsure about what I want to write about overall. These are just first efforts. I will figure it out. I need to get the right mindset about it too, which I don’t really have yet.
I made $7 on the first post-Dec-Jan and .03 cents on the second in Feb, none on the third. I just posted the fourth post on Sunday, so no data yet.
If you have a free account on Medium, don’t forget to clap, because claps count similar to reviews, letting Medium know people are reading. The more people show interest the more likely the post will be picked up for curation and shown to a larger audience of Medium readers.
If you don’t have an account you can’t clap but you can still read with my friend links.
And the only claps that count toward getting paid are those who are members of the partnership program, but all claps matter for getting Medium’s attention for curation.
Here are my Medium Friend Links, so you can view behind the paywall whether you are a member of Medium or not. Don’t worry you don’t have to sign up to view using these link you just can’t clap.
My Articles;
- A Search For Home. (A piece created using a writing prompt in my FOtM writer group.) (In case you are wondering, FOtM = Fellowship of the Muse(s). The logo is on my sidebar-Side bar Logo created by Kirsten Bolda)
- The Cinderella Guide (A Parody of Life)
- A Maurader Christmas (A short story)
- Surviving Life Drowning in Self Help (The most recent)
Our Next Writing Craft Read
Our next book for April and May will be Method Acting for Writers: Learn Deep Point Of View Using Emotional Layersby Lisa-Hall Wilson. Discussion Day will be May 22.
WEP CHALLENGE CONTEST
June Prompt
The cage can be real – a prison, a basement, a walled enclosure. It can be metaphorical – a bad marriage, an abysmal attitude, a mental block, a deal gone horribly wrong.
A war veteran trying to cope with PTSD, reconnecting with a lifestyle that no longer fits. A schoolboy facing the misery of cyber bullying. A young woman in a cycle of poor body image. A creative stuck in a dead end job. Any situation that can entrap and make a character feel claustrophobic.
How will your bird break free? or will s/he choose to stay?
VISIT WEP for rules to contest. Partner with IWSG for more writing fun. Check website for previous winners and prizes.
AUTHOR SPOTLIGHTS
There were a lot of Author Spotlights this month so you can check them out here. OR (recommended) to make it easier to access without scrolling you can look on the sidebar under recent post list next to this post. I have made it so the posts for the month will appear in that list for convenience.
When I have just a few spotlights it is easy enough to post a list here but when there are several, and April has been busy, formatting takes a lot longer than I have time to devote to it, so came up with this solution in the sidebar.
WANT TO BE A FEATURED GUEST IN MY AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT?
Author Spotlight Guidelines
LET ME KNOW HOW I CAN HELP
May 6, 2019 @ 17:06
I love Halloween, and I love stories about Gods. I wish I could come up with something and submit it, but I fear I won’t be able to. I have so much going on. *sigh*
Word Game Challenge – Renee Writes
May 5, 2019 @ 10:03
[…] The idea for this came from a post I read by a writer friend of mine, Juneta Key, in her latest post: The Power of Language #IWSG May 1st Post […]
May 4, 2019 @ 13:17
Three words that explain my writing? Wow! That’s difficult to do. You have very specific words for your work. I’ll need to think about specific words that could describe mine. Thanks for Co-hosting the May questions for IWSG, Juneta. Enjoy your weekend.
May 3, 2019 @ 17:58
That game sounds interesting. Going to try it out… Thanks for sharing it!
May 3, 2019 @ 18:54
You are welcome. Thanks for visiting.
May 2, 2019 @ 21:09
New anthology sounds like fun 🙂 And I loved the three words activity. I will have to give that a try! @mirymom1 from
Balancing Act
May 3, 2019 @ 15:33
The new anthology is fun, IMO. We enjoyed all the stories we selected because they made us smile.
May 2, 2019 @ 18:46
What a great idea to pick three words that describe your writing. I did one (online) writing course in my entire life and the instructor suggested we’d choose five words for how we wanted the reader to describe our book. Mine are: Inspiring, Engaging, Intriguing, Touching, and Entertaining. I’d pick the first three if I could only pick three.
You’ve been very busy! Thank you for co-hosting this month, Juneta.
May 3, 2019 @ 15:28
Thank you. I like your five words.
May 2, 2019 @ 14:27
Those are great words to choose! Very aspirational.
May 3, 2019 @ 15:27
Thank you.
May 2, 2019 @ 11:54
Thank you so much for co hosting this month! Thank you for sharing all this great information too.
May 3, 2019 @ 15:22
You are welcome. Thanks for visiting me
May 2, 2019 @ 10:24
Wow. Are you ever busy! Thanks for cohosting this month.
May 3, 2019 @ 15:18
Thank you for visiting with me.
May 2, 2019 @ 08:28
The Emotion Thesaurus is a great resource. Lots of good ideas and word choices there. Because yes, as you said, each word is important.
May 3, 2019 @ 15:18
Yes, it is. Thanks for visiting.
May 2, 2019 @ 07:33
Thank you for cohosting this month! Looks and sounds like you’re very busy!! Keep it up!
May 3, 2019 @ 15:16
Thank you.
May 2, 2019 @ 04:02
It’s been so long since I saw a post from you (I usually get them in my email). Now I know why. For some reason, I wasn’t subscribed to your blog anymore. Weird.
Anyway, glad to see you’re still writing! 😀
May 3, 2019 @ 15:00
Glad you figured that out. Yes, I am still at it.
May 1, 2019 @ 23:37
Hi Juneta: Bravo, you are one busy lady and looks like your having a ball. I see some of my friend authors come and go, but it is so nice to see you’re not just hanging in there, but obviously very successful. Blessings
Judy Weir / F. Stone
May 3, 2019 @ 14:58
Well if your definition of success is doing several writing things and publishing so far so good for me. I am happy with my steps forward so far in this journey.
May 1, 2019 @ 21:25
Talk about busy! Thanks for co-hosting this month, Juneta. I like your words also, thoughtful.
May 3, 2019 @ 14:55
Thank you.
May 1, 2019 @ 20:57
You’ve got me stuck on finding three words. Ha! I always love your posts. Thank you for co-hosting and Happy IWSG Day!
May 3, 2019 @ 14:53
Thank you. You’re a sweetheart.
May 1, 2019 @ 18:53
Love the words you’ve chosen!
I think my words would be hope, heart, & humour 🙂
May 3, 2019 @ 14:47
I like your words too.
May 1, 2019 @ 17:46
I’m with you about developing an awareness about the power of words rather than remember a specific instance as I think we begin to sense the power as we learn language–manipulating the emotions and opinions of others is part of the whole language experience and that comes early.
Arlee Bird
Tossing It Out
May 3, 2019 @ 14:45
You are so right. Words are so powerful they create wounds that never heal or stop bleeding yet you don’t die. Thanks for visiting with me.
May 1, 2019 @ 17:10
You have quite a bit going on this month! In the midst of it all, thank you for co-hosting.
May 3, 2019 @ 14:41
Thank you for visiting with me.
May 1, 2019 @ 16:28
Thanks for co-hosting today! I finally bought the emotions thesaurus. Love it!
May 3, 2019 @ 14:38
The Emotion Thesaurus is a favorite of mine too. Thanks for visiting.
May 1, 2019 @ 16:17
Thanks for co-hosting today, Juneta, and thanks for all the useful information and references! Your post is jam-packed with useful information. Three words: what popped into my mind immediately were heart, truth, and impactful, but I want to think about it more.
May 3, 2019 @ 14:32
Those are good words too. Thank you for visiting me.
May 1, 2019 @ 16:04
Congrats on getting out there and up-and-coming anthology. If I was to pick three words for me, they’d be: complicated, open-minded, adventurous. This is fun. 🙂
Anna from elements of emaginette
May 3, 2019 @ 14:21
lol, Great words and thank you.
May 1, 2019 @ 15:59
Man, I’ve never thought about describing my writing. Now I’m going to have to sit and think what three words would describe me.
May 3, 2019 @ 14:16
It’s a fun exercise. Have fun.
May 1, 2019 @ 15:29
Love the three word idea! It’s probably time to update my dog-eared Emotion Thesaurus 😉 So much to digest here, I’ll be back for seconds!
Thanks for hosting!
May 3, 2019 @ 14:12
So happy you enjoyed it.
May 1, 2019 @ 14:00
Love the idea of the 3 words – have to think about mine.
And the writing books you recommend sound interesting. Will definitely check them out.
May 3, 2019 @ 14:07
Thanks for visiting with me.
May 1, 2019 @ 13:30
Love the idea of the three words! Thanks for co-hosting this month. 🙂
May 3, 2019 @ 14:05
Thank you for visiting.
May 1, 2019 @ 12:48
Great words, ones that make you think.
May 3, 2019 @ 14:04
Thank you.
May 1, 2019 @ 12:43
The three words idea is cool. Thanks for supporting the IWSG anthologies and for being co-host.
I am earning pennies these days as an author. Good thing for the day job!
May 3, 2019 @ 14:01
IWSG anthologies are always good reads. Wahoo for earning anything counts. Thanks for visiting.
May 1, 2019 @ 12:33
It’s always tough boiling down our work to a concentrated essence. Creating a back-cover blurbs and tagline for a 90K novel? Not easy. My tagline for my steamy romance line is Contemporary Romance with heart and heat–so I guess my three words are Contemporary, Heart, and Heat. (’cause romance & heart imply the same thing.)
Congrats on your publishing success!
May 2, 2019 @ 22:04
Thank you. So true it is not easy I like your words.
May 1, 2019 @ 12:24
Thank you for making me aware of the new Emotion Thesaurus, and thank you very much for co-hosting.
Shalom aleichem,
Pat G @ EverythingMustChange
May 2, 2019 @ 22:00
Thank you for visiting with me.
May 1, 2019 @ 11:52
ONLY 3 words? That’s tough for a wordwright, but sounds like fun. I am trying to figure out Medium and how it would help me. Kind of selfish, eh? I love love love Emotion Thesaurus. I didn’t know there was a new edition. Checking it out next. Thanks. AND thanks for co-hosting!!
JQ Rose
May 2, 2019 @ 21:58
I love the Emotion Thesaurus too. Well, that is the same reason I am Medium to see if I can use it to find my audience. Thank you for visiting.
May 1, 2019 @ 11:42
What a chock-full post. Loved GOG–reviewed it (as you probably know). I’ll be sharing it on my blog soon (and will let you know the date!).
May 2, 2019 @ 21:51
Ah… Thank you Jacqui, you are such a sweetheart.
May 1, 2019 @ 11:37
I like the idea of the three words. I’ll have to think of which ones apply to me. That’s a cute picture of you with Grumpy Old Gods 🙂
May 2, 2019 @ 21:44
Thank you. *blushes* I made the silliest face I could for another purpose then used the picture for grumpy and put the book cover in it. I thought it turn out fairly well in a fun aspect, so thank you very much for saying that.
May 1, 2019 @ 11:21
The three words thing is interesting. I’m going for entertaining, uplifting and optimistic.
May 2, 2019 @ 21:39
I like them. I am little too dark inside to be satisfied with those although those are definitely things I want to bring to my writing. Also the type of person I want to be and used to be. I need to get back to that.
May 1, 2019 @ 10:51
Lots of great stuff here! I really like your three words. It’s tough to think of three words. Hmmm… mythical, haunted, askew, enticing, bewitching. I’ll need to think more on that. I couldn’t think of a specific moment for this month’s question either, but I realized young the power of words. Thanks for co-hosting this month. 🙂
May 2, 2019 @ 21:27
I like mythical and haunted interesting first picks. It does make you think. Thanks for visiting.
May 1, 2019 @ 10:41
The three word thing is quite intriguing! It sounds like you have a busy time ahead — remember to breathe!
Ronel visiting on #IWSG day: Help me, please!
May 2, 2019 @ 16:48
lol, things can get a bit overwhelming.
May 1, 2019 @ 10:36
Good grief, this post is packed with useful and interesting info! I don’t know where to start! Gonna have a play with the three word game 🙂
May 2, 2019 @ 16:43
lol, glad you enjoyed it.
May 1, 2019 @ 10:13
Love the three word exercise. Great idea. And great that you are putting together an anthology to release in October. Halloween is my favorite holiday, so I’ll look forward to seeing those appropriately spooky stories.
May 2, 2019 @ 16:36
Halloween has always been my favorite too. Thank you.
May 1, 2019 @ 09:27
Love your website and posts.
Teresa
May 2, 2019 @ 16:32
Thank you.
May 1, 2019 @ 09:23
The three word exercise is intriguing! Great choices. I love the Thesaurus series. Those books really do help writer’s replace weak words with strong, expressive words.
May 2, 2019 @ 16:25
Me too. I like everything Angela and Becca do. Their site is awesome. Thank you.
May 1, 2019 @ 09:16
One word I love to have related to books I read (or maybe even write) is devastated. I love stories that rip your heart to shreds.
May 2, 2019 @ 16:18
I like emotional stories but tend to lean to HEA or something close to it. Thanks for stopping by.
May 1, 2019 @ 09:08
I love words!
Your three words are powerful and paint an interesting picture of your writing style/inclination.
I’ve joined the Medium platform but I haven’t posted yet, since I first want to work on a goal; decide what I wish to achieve with it.
Thank you for co-hosting this month!
Happy IWSG Day!
May 2, 2019 @ 16:17
Yeah figuring it out what to do and goal once you learn that is where I am, but I post here in there testing different things. Thanks for visiting with me today.
May 1, 2019 @ 08:52
That game sounds interesting! I’ll have to try it. And congrats on your story being published! That’s always something to celebrate. Thank you for co-hosting the IWSG.
May 2, 2019 @ 16:08
Thank you. I thought a cool game too.
May 1, 2019 @ 08:05
Congrats on being published! Enjoy your special time. And I’m like you. I didn’t have a specific time when words suddenly became powerful. I’ve loved reading and words ever since I was a young kid.
May 2, 2019 @ 15:29
Thank you.
May 1, 2019 @ 07:42
Three words. I will have to think about that.
Thanks for highlighting the IWSG anthology. And for co-hosting this month!
May 2, 2019 @ 13:03
You’re Welcome! I enjoyed the challenge.
May 1, 2019 @ 06:44
Wonderful three words. I’ll have to ponder that. Thank you for hosting IWSG.
May 2, 2019 @ 12:45
Thank you.
May 1, 2019 @ 06:01
I LOVE words! Words are powerful, sexy, textured and active. When I read some of my first published books from the ’80s (Whoops, I gave away my age! I started publishing when I was 5-years old!) I’m horrified by how those sentences were diluted by passive voice and whimpy words. An old dog can learn new tricks! Thanks for hosting this month, Juneta!!
May 2, 2019 @ 11:51
No worries. I am an 80’s girl too. I started trying to write in a professional way late errr like 2011. I use a lot of excess words in my writing so takes time to weed them out and then I still miss some. Thank you.
May 1, 2019 @ 04:36
Those are three great words to choose, Juneta! It would be challenging to choose anything better.
May 2, 2019 @ 11:48
Thank you.