Christmas Quiz 2023 by Lynne Benton

As some of you may recall, my December blog usually consists of a Quiz, which seems to go down well.  In previous years I’ve done Christmas carols and Christmas songs, so this year I thought I might go a little further and ask about the first and second lines of well-known Christmas carols.  (Everyone knows the first line, but how many know the second too?)

So here is this year’s Christmas Quiz:

HOW TO PLAY:

List A contains the first lines of well-known Christmas carols.

List B contains the second lines of the same carols – but in a different order!

You may find it easier to work out the first lines to start with.  THEN see if you can match them to the second lines.

For example:  If the first line (eg 1) is: t t l s (Twinkle twinkle little star) the second line (eg f) would be h I w w y a (How I wonder what you are)

The only whole word I’m including in any of the lines is “the”.  Otherwise you’re on your own!

Here we go; - Christmas carols!

FIRST LINES:                                                                       SECOND LINES:

1         O c a y f                                                                        a   O the f o s

2        A i a m                                                                           b  A p i a p t

3        W s w t f b n                                                                   c  A i c, a I b

4        The f n the a d s                                                             d  W t a b f g

5        L d, l d,                                                                           e  F h b a c s

6        I s t s c s i                                                                        f   G t the n-b k

7        The h a the i                                                                    g   S a l c s

8       D d m o h                                                                         h  H s w s t l

9        I c u t m c                                                                         i   B g w t a  

10    S n, h n,                                                                            j  W w l a c o f

11     O l t o b                                                                            k  t g s o o

12    O i r d c                                                                            l   F w m m

13    I h, i l,                                                                              m  A s o the g

14    L t a i b                                                                             n  O the d r

15     G k w l o                                                                         o  N c f a b

16    W t k o o a                                                                       p W t c p s i f a t l

17     L j s s, d n s                                                                     q  J a t

18    I the b m                                                                          r  O c d, o c d

19    H the h a s                                                                       s  I h the b a r

20   O the f d o c m t l s t m                                                    t  S the h b s

 

Good luck!  Answers in my January blog – but I’m sure you’ll have got them all by then! 

Website:  lynnebenton.com

Books you'd forgotten about by Lynne Benton

 Last month, when the weather in England was fairly cool and damp (remember that?) I set a quiz of children’s book titles.  And I promised you the answers in this month’s blog.  So, for anyone who is still stuck on one or two, here are the answers:

1 A T the L G  by L C    (Alice) Through the Looking Glass  by Lewis Carroll  (Sorry, I forgot "Alice" wasn't part of the title till I checked the book cover!)

2 T T of J P  by B P  The Tale of Jemima Puddle-duck  by Beatrix Potter

3 F G to K I  by E B   Five Go to Kirrin Island  by Enid Blyton

4 T S G  by F H B  The Secret Garden  by Frances Hodgson Burnett

5 H  by J S   Heidi  by Johanna Spyri

6 F C and I by E N   Five Children and It  by E Nesbit

7  T W in T W by K G  The Wind in the Willows  by Kenneth Grahame

8  B S by N S  Ballet Shoes  by Noel Streatfeild

9  H by L S   Holes  by Louis Sachar

10 J E by  C B  Jane Eyre  by Charlotte Brontë

11 T H at P C  by A A M  The House at Pooh Corner  by A A Milne

12 T T W C to T by J K  The Tiger Who Came to Tea  by Judith Kerr

13  A of G G by L M M  Anne of Green Gables  by L M Montgomery

14  M  by F C B  Millions  by Frank Cottrell Boyce

15  J W by R C  Just William  by Richman Crompton

16  C of T N F by C M  Children of the New Forest  by Captain Marryat

17  L W by L M A  Little Women  by Louisa May Alcott

18  W K D  by S C  What Katy Did  by Susan Coolidge

19  H P and T P S  by J K R  Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone  by J K Rowling

20  T U D  by H C A  The Ugly Duckling  by Hans Christian Andersen

21   T M G  by P P  Tom’s Midnight Garden  by Philippa Pearce

22 T L T T and T W  by C S L   The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe  by C S Lewis

23 G M T  by M M  Goodnight Mr Tom  by Michelle Magorian

24  T V H C  by E C  The Very Hungry Caterpillar  by Eric Carle

25  J S S  by R K  Just So Stories  by Rudyard Kipling

So how did you all do?  Did you remember some books you’d long since forgotten about?  Did you dive back to your bookshelves and find an old copy of a childhood favourite?  Did you immediately sit down and start reading it all over again?

I’ve also been discovering books I’d forgotten about – only not on my bookshelf, but on my Kindle!  When I first had my Kindle I carefully noted down in a notebook every ebook I downloaded – because, as everyone who has one knows, all your downloaded books appear as a list in “Your Library”, but the more you add, the longer your list becomes.  And after a while you have to really search for an ebook you know you’ve got somewhere…  except that only works when you know exactly what you're looking for!  

Which of course is where my notebook comes in.  But because I’ve become rather remiss of late in writing down every single book as I added it, and because I've now got a lot of books on my Kindle, I couldn’t remember what I’d already got.  So eventually last weekend I started on the mammoth task of making a new list of every book in my “Library” – this time in a new notebook with margins, in which to put a tick when I’ve read and deleted them. 

Readers, it took a very long time, and used up two new gel pens, but at last I finished it.  And surprise – I discovered several books and favourite authors that had completely slipped my mind of late, and am now really looking forward to reading! 

And I realised how well this discovery fitted in with the answers to last month’s quiz: notably, how good it is to be reminded of books you’d forgotten about!

website: lynnebenton.com

A Christmas Carol Quiz by Lynne Benton

 I love Christmas carols – they are almost my favourite part of Christmas.  There may be some among you who love them too – and I hope you are as familiar with the words as you are with the tunes.  Because my Blog today, as befits a blog for and about writers, is all about the words.

In each case I have taken a line from a well-known Christmas carol and given you the initial letters of each word, together with one complete word for each carol.  All you have to do is work out a) the line, and b) the carol from which it comes.  Simple, eh?  Not quite – no matter how familiar you are with the carol, you often end up having to sing through the tune in order to remember the exact words.  

FOR EXAMPLE: We Three Kings of Orient Are would come out as w t k o Orient a. 

Only I’ve not used the first lines – that would be too easy!  Instead I’ve used mostly the second or third lines of each carol, but you’ll soon get the hang of it. 

Here is the quiz:

1 - n c f a bed

2 - t angel o t l c d

3 - s a l cattle s

4 - a i c a i bright

5 - t g song o o

6 - c y o c y t Bethlehem

7 - w t c poor s i f a t l

8 - s s a-s s g a-l

9 - i h m steps h t

10 - p o e a mercy m

Well, that should keep you busy over Christmas!  Feel free to try it out on your friends and family too, and in case anyone is still stuck on any of them, I’ll give you the answers in my next Blog, on 14^th January.

Meanwhile, I hope you will all have as good a time as it’s possible to have in the current circumstances.

website: www.lynnebenton.com

Quick Character Quiz - Kelly McCaughrain

This is a quick test to see how credible your character arc is. The whole book hangs off that skeleton and I often find when I’m having problems, going back to this provides the answer. It’s based on story theory as outlined by KM Weiland in her brilliant podcasts and I use it all the time.

Basically, all you have to do is answer these six fundamental questions about your characters. We know all this subconsciously but I find putting it into words can clarify things or highlight where you’re missing something. If you can't sum up the answers in a short sentence, or two at the most, then maybe you have work to do. 

The answers will be more complex for the main characters but really all the characters should have answers for numbers 1, 2 and 6 at least. 

You can also use this in writing workshops to help people flesh out their ideas.

So here goes:

1. What do they want? – this is the external goal they’re aiming for, eg to win the race, to get the girl, to defeat the monster, to find the buried treasure etc.

2. What do they need? – this is an internal transformation that they’re probably not even aware that they need, e.g. love, to learn to ask for help, to be themselves, to be less arrogant, to learn to trust someone, to stand up for what’s right, to see their own or someone else’s worth etc

3. What is the lie they believe? – this is the reason they have to be transformed. E.g. they believe they are worthless, powerless, guilty of something, unlovable, that one person can’t make a difference, that boys don’t cry, that winning/money/popularity is all that matters, that people can’t be trusted etc.

4. What is their ghost? – this is something that happened in their past and it’s the reason they believe the lie. E.g. someone betrayed them and now they believe that people can’t be trusted, or their parents rejected them and now they feel no one could ever love them, their dad yelled at them for crying and now they think boys shouldn’t show emotion, etc. It doesn’t have to be a big thing; it could be as small as a passing comment or as big as a death in the family.

5. What flaw results from their lie? – as a result of their lie they will behave in a certain way, e.g. if they believe people are not trustworthy, they may be hostile and keep people at a distance. If they believe they aren’t worthy of love they may be very shy and try to hide. If they believe winning is everything, they may be arrogant and competitive.

 

6. What truth will they discover? – this is the thing they needed all along and it’s the opposite of their lie, and finding it will fix their flaw, transforming forever their behaviour and their life. E.g. they discover that there’s more to life than money/popularity, or that they are capable of making a difference/being brave etc. Once they know this truth, it will help them to either achieve their original goal (their ‘want’) or see that they don’t need it after all. How they discover this truth is basically the plot of your novel.

 

Doing this for all your characters can reveal common themes and motifs that can enhance the whole story. 

Try it, you’ll be amazed what you’ll discover. 

Kelly McCaughrain is the author of the YA novel Flying Tips for Flightless Birds. 

She blogs about Writing, Gardening and VW Campervanning at weewideworld.blogspot.co.uk 

@KMcCaughrain