Believe it or not my old tattered dictionary is an idea factory. When I am looking for something fresh and new that's where I go ... to my dictionary. With just about everything having already been done before ~ it's tough to come up with something new and original. So instead of looking at what everyone else is writing, I just peruse my dictionary for unique words and then think about them. Can I use it? Is it too played? Wow, I never knew that! These are all thoughts I had the last time I took a stroll through the land of forgotten words.
Dagon, the name of Neptune's son came from the dictionary, so did gribbles {okay they are wood boring crustaceans that become carnivorous crustaceans in my story}, Neptunium, my version of the royal blood line ... I know that ichor is supposed to be the blood of the gods, but if I were to ask my kids which word means being related to King Neptune ... hands down it would be Neptunium Blood not ichor, unicorn narwals {so I embellished a little by adding unicorn to creature's name} but narwals are real sea animals that are a cross between a whale and a seal, with a spotted pelt and a spiral tusk ... the boys and Mystisette will be riding these in book 2 of Aquatica, Beneath the Blade.
I could actually see J.K. Rowlings flipping through the dictionary to create the Quiddich games when I was looking through the B section with bludgers, beaters and such ... I wonder if that's how she came up with the idea. Don't know really, just thought I'd share.
Dictionary + Imagination = Idea Factory ;-P
~ Ancient Mariners, Water Guardians, King Neptune and the Wicked Banshee of the Bay ~