It’s National Novel Writing Month in November – a US contest, but it draw authors from all around the world. Which means a lot of writers are going to be sitting down right now, all around the world, and figuring out what to do. I’ve been supporting the event with advice and tips for years … More Getting started for National Novel Writing Month 2017
This week’s obscure English word is anomie. It means lack of the usual ethical standards. I can think of at least one subculture in New Zealand’s intellectual world that deserves it. Your challenge? Write a sentence (or two) in the comments using this word. Copyright © Matthew Wright 2017
It’s a century since a transport company was founded in my home town of Napier with the epithet Aard. A word that founder R. R. Woodcock coined so he’d be at the very front of the phone book. He knew what was doing. It’s a lesson driven home to me whenever I walk into bookshops … More Being a writer with a name at the end of the alphabet
Zyzzyva has to be one of the most obscure English words ever. It’s the name of a kind of South American weevil (Curculionidae) discovered by Thomas Casey in 1922. However, according to the OED its etymology (not ‘entomology’, geddit, geddit?) is that it was actually coined as a way of being the last word in … More The obscure word of the week is zyzzyva
Call it lame, but to me word play is king when it comes to jokes. Groucho Marx was a master at it. Especially when it came to exploiting the dangling modifier. I could go all technical on this, but instead I’ll just cite one of Marx’s classics, from Animal Crackers (1930), where as Captain Spaulding … More How to make jokes with a dangling modifier
This week’s little-known English word is a noun, gadabout. It means someone who habitually seeks pleasure, and can also be used as a verb – ‘gadding about’. Your challenge? Write a sentence (or two) in the comments using this word. Copyright © Matthew Wright 2016
It’s kind of hard to imagine these days, but way back in the nineteenth century New Zealand had gone all American. It wasn’t just the ‘Little House on the Prairie’ look of the colonial towns with their limed streets, hitching posts and detritus of recent construction scattered around clap-board fronted buildings. It was also in … More When New Zealand went all American
