Playing with Words

1-31-10

I have always been fascinated by word games, meanings of words, codes, and ciphers. I even toyed around with making my own 'codes' (both ciphers and codes, technically) since I was in the sixth grade, most of which are not viable on any level. I think that coincided with my intense love of anything to do with spies, detectives, or people solving any sort of mystery. I loved the Boxcar Children, Encyclopedia Brown, and the Babysitter Club books--all of which have mysteries at some level. It's not surprising that my earliest stories are kid detective stories; I'm assuming that's what I wanted to be.

I still do love a brain-stretching read that keeps me guessing. (And guessing wrong! I like to be surprised, but I'm usually a decently good guesser, so if I guess wrong, and what the author has written is plausible with the facts I was given, I'm that more impressed.)

Names usually mean something in the stories I write, even if those meanings never come straight out and hit the reader in the face. I mean, readers are not stupid. At least, I don't think they are. I'm a reader, and I like an intelligent read. Anyway, there are a couple different ways I get names.

If the meaning is important, I usually do a name search on this really cool baby names site. Or look it up in one of the three baby name books that I have gathered together. When I was younger, I scratched out the word baby and wrote character underneath.

If the name just has to sound interesting or exotic, I usually combine names or sounds or spell things backwards. Occasionally, I will employ some of those word games (like shifting letters, replacing letters with letters that sound similarly, etc.,). Of course, I'd give too much away if I gave any examples!

But sometimes a person just wants to have fun with anagrams--which is easy to do when you have a server, found here, to help you do it. A lot of what comes out is nonsense, but sometimes really profound or really hilarious options come out. (Funny how there's a thin line between humorous and profound, but that's a topic for another time.)

Have fun!

~Ashlee