Naming Characters

Writers say it all the time: My story is my baby.

We nurture it and watch it grow and pick it up when it falls down. We're actively involved in the progression of its life.

I see the resemblance.

Why, then, don't we put more time into our characters names?

Parents spend months trying to find the best name for their little ones. Books are read, friends are consulted, names are Googled. They want something unique and memorable, but they also think about who they wish their child to be. Want them to be strong and taken seriously - better find a name that matches. More interested in your kid being creative - pick a name that fosters that.

Yet, as writers, we often think of name, write it down and then never go back and question it again.

Why is this a problem? Well, I'll give you an example;

The other day I was revising a short story I wrote. One of the main characters has a unique name that just kind of popped into my head one day. It was pronounced like it was spelled and it was powerful, all the things I wanted him to be. I researched everyone else's names, but this one character was always - from the very beginning - stuck to his name.

Two rounds of beta readers and five revisions later, I was ready to begin submitting the manuscript around to magazines and journals. Right before I began searching for this story's home, though, something made me pause.

I did a quick Google search of that one character's name and found out that it was the same name used by a Russian gang in the 40's.

Now, this character was not Russian, nor would he approve of gang membership. I knew instantly that I had to change his name. I went on baby naming sites and looked up names based on first letter (I knew it had to start with B), and based upon his culture and ethnicity.

I found him a better name, but it was almost a disaster. If any reader Googled his name, they would have found many hits on Russian gangs and probably would have thought very differently about my character.

But - don't fret - there are two ways around making this critical mistake.

1. Let's say you need to write, like - RIGHT NOW - because the idea's there and the magic is flowing. Okay, do it. Write your little heart out. Rather than stopping to research names, use what I call the First Date method. "He walks into the room and looks around. She notices him and waves. "'How are you HE?' she asks." ---- This allows you to write the scene you need and worry about naming your darlings after you've figured out who they're going to be.

2. Does the First Date method drive you bonkers? Well then your other option is to take the time and research baby names. (Google "baby girl names" or "Sanskrit names" or "Jewish names" to find millions of lists out there for free.) When you've found the names you need for your characters, begin writing then.

Whatever you do, don't leave one of the most important aspects of your characters up to chance. Sure, it's always nice to have a name pop into your head like a magic perfectly-fitting slipper, but it may not always be the right foot you're applying it to.

Take the time to name your darlings.

Your children would want that kind of dedication from you.

Challenge Post: Opposite Day

I was recently told that I have to do a pretty hefty revision of a short story I wrote months ago. In my mind, the piece was just as it was supposed to be with enough tension and explanation of the plot to get to the next story in the series while still allowing this piece to stand on its own. Of course, that was 5 months ago, so I probably feel differently about it now. (Readers and editors sure do! lol)

To keep myself from the defensive rut of, "I need this paragraph of delicious prose" or "How can they not understand the subtle characterization?", I'm challenging myself to an opposite day.

The rules of opposite day are simple: You must write in an area or manner which is completely opposite to your normal style.

For instance, I normally write behind tightly closed doors where no one but my rabbits (who are too short to see the screen anyway) can hear my fingers dance along the keyboard. I prefer a tomb-like silence and stillness and even the fan of my laptop kicking in can throw me from my meditation.

So, on opposite day, I'm taking my laptop to the coffee shop uptown and writing amongst human beings. There will be talking, cell phone noise, espresso sounds and smells. People will probably come up and ask me what I'm doing. I will have to be cordial.

The whole idea of opposite day is to jolt you out of your normal routine and mindset and make you see your work from the perspective of new readers - readers who often first encounter your piece on their commute to work, or on their lunch break, or while also watching TV.

But I don't want to be the only one using opposite day. I challenge you, fellow blog reader, no matter what day you stumble upon this post, to do opposite day with me.

Do you normally write surrounded by bustling action and many people? Then find a way to write in peace (yes, even if you have to shut yourself in the bathroom). Do you write listening to blaring music? Take off the headphones and see what your characters say in silence. Vice versa.

Change something. See what happens. Even if it sucks, you'll have tried one more option and be another step closer to perfection.

An Addition to the Books On Writing Series: BIG MAGIC

As you know from my Books On Writing post series, I read a fair share of books by famous writers talking about writing. So, when I visited my local library last week and saw Elizabeth Gilbert's new book BIG MAGIC: CREATIVE LIVING BEYOND FEAR, I just had to check it out.

Image From Amazon (Book also purchasable there): http://www.amazon.com/Big-Magic-Creative-Living-Beyond/dp/1594634718/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1449074141&sr=8-1&keywords=big+magic


However, this book wasn't the ABC XYZ step by step book on the craft that I was used to. Instead, Ms. Gilbert focuses on the most basic of building blocks upon which writing is founded - creative living. At first I though, well I don't need this, I already write and paint and draw and craft - I'm creative, dang it! I live it! But as I've read through (I'm about halfway now), I've found some helpful insight into the creative life that I've never thought of before or that I simply skipped over with tightly closed eyes.

In the "Permission" section of the book that I read last night, I found a delightfully put phrasing that applies so readily to writing and other writers.

To paraphrase the overall idea: Ms. Gilbert says that we need to defend our creative lifestyles (mostly to ourselves and our own egos) by first defining ourselves. "I'm a writer." Actually say it, out loud, to the universe. It is your proclamation of intent.

She then goes on to say:

"This proclamation of intent...is not something you can do just once and then expect miracles; it's something you must do daily, forever. I've had to keep defining and defending myself as a writer every single day of my adult life - constantly reminding and re-reminding my soul and the cosmos that I'm very serious about the business of creative living, and that I will never stop creating, no matter what the outcome, and no matter how deep my anxieties and insecurities may be." (Gilbert, pg. 95)

This paragraph is so inspiring to me because it reveals that even an extremely well known and successful author across nonfiction and fiction genres still has doubts. She still feels unsure of herself and her work. It's a feeling I'm not unfamiliar with myself.

So, whether you're just starting out as a writer and unsure you have anything new to bring to the table, or whether you're a seasoned pro unsure whether anyone wants what you've brought to the table all this time - know that your belief in yourself is enough. If you write, then you are a writer, and you deserve to be one. Your voice and your viewpoints deserve to be heard.

And just as you must dutifully work on your craft everyday, you must also affirm to yourself that you are enough in your creative life.

Go on, say it with me now:

I AM A WRITER

Believe it.



PS> I highly recommend checking out BIG MAGIC by Elizabeth Gilbert when you have some time. It's definitely going into my Books On Writing category. Both newbies and vets can relate to the primal info contained in this book.

Forcing the Muse

My schedule didn't allow me to participate in NANOWRIMO this year, but I do have a handful of friends who undertook the challenge. My conversations with them has led me to understand one very important thing: Sometimes the muse doesn't come willingly. Sometimes you have to drag it.

One friend of mine sat looking at her computer screen for the first four days of November, slowly falling behind in her word count. She fretted over the fact she had no concept, no characters, no setting, and no plot line.

Her imagination was an empty void.

"I would have quit," I admitted sheepishly to her. "Not writing, of course, but I would have quit NANOWRIMO. Obviously, it wasn't my year."

The beautiful thing is: she didn't take my advice.

On the fifth day, frustrated and crying, she began writing down absolute nonsense.

My headphones are red. The cord is longer than I think it should be. I have a sugar skull eraser. I don't wish to use it in case I erase off the face.

Pages and pages of nonsense ensued. Two lattes were downed and refilled. Somewhere, along the way, her muse remembered how to walk, then run.

By the end of the week she had a character and a novel plot. Her setting unfolded and she caught up, then surpassed her word count goals.

All of us have been here at some point - staring for days, thinking it's finally happened, we've finally lost our ability to write creatively. In fact, as I write this blog post, I'm in that boat. I've been sick for three weeks and with the surroundings of a new state, new house, and new job, I haven't had much time to devote to writing. Now throw in the holidays and it's like my muse no longer exists.

What I'll have to do next, and what you'll likely have to do eventually too, is force the muse. I'm going to have to get her out of her recliner, walking and remembering what writing feels like and how easily ideas can flow. I'm going to have to make her recall the beauty and the freedom in writing.

And while I won't be NANOWRIMOing anytime soon, I'm hoping a new short story or novel flows forth. I'm not giving up until it does.

A Recipe For Descriptive Phrases

There are two ways for you to describe your characters: through direct description and through indirect description.

Ultimately, the best novels utilize both direct and indirect description in combination with each other. Think of it like cooking. You need a cup of this, a pinch of that. Description works best when the concoction is mixed throughout the story.

First, let's define our methods of description:

Direct description is a clear explanation of what the character looks like/act likes etc. 

Suzie had blue eyes and silky black hair that always slipped from her braid before third period was even over.

Whereas indirect description is the characterization of the character through actions or implied thought.

Suzie slunk through the cafeteria, her eyes glued to her tray as she weaved between tables and ultimately exited through the doors to the field house. 

In the first example, we get a picture of Suzie's physical characteristics in a concise descriptive sentence. Nothing is happening other than the narrator telling the reader what Suzie looks like. We learn that she has blue eyes and silky hair.

However, in the second example, readers are in the action, watching Suzie slink and exit in a timid manner. We learn that Suzie is shy and possibly embarrassed to interact with her classmates. She gets what she needs and she's out of there.

I once had a creative writing teacher boil it down for me and say, "Direct description is telling, and indirect description is showing."

If you've been writing fiction long enough, you know that showing is always better than telling. We've had this drilled into our heads from our first high school writing course.

But wait! Before you go to your work in progress and delete every instance of direct description, hear me out.

We need both direct and indirect description to make a novel work.While, yes, indirect description keeps the reader in the action of the story and is more authentic to how we meet and interpret people in real life (we're not going to get a paragraph about their likes and dislikes spelled out for us before we meet a new person - however nice it would be!), sometimes important descriptive information needs to be conveyed in a concise manner.

For example, let's say the narrator of the above story notices Suzie's shoes:

They were wore out Chuck Taylors with mismatched sets of shoelaces. But Suzie hadn't been the one to give those shoes their scuffs. Those were Goodwill shoes. I knew because I'd donated them last week and my initials were still scrawled in Sharpie on the left sole.

This is a direct description of the shoes Suzie is wearing. We know they're Chuck Taylors, they're worn out, that they have mismatched shoe laces, and initials on the left sole. However, the description continues and morphs into indirect description as well. Suzie wears pre-worn shoes. This could say something about her socioeconomic status and could be contributing to her lack of self confidence.

So, as you can see, direct description is needed to make sense of indirect description. You can't have nameless, faceless characters acting on a blank set and expect your reader to understand it. Both must work in tandem to create the perfect story.

Your personal writing style will determine how much of each descriptive technique you put into your stories.

However, as a good rule of thumb, I like to use this recipe:

Add no more than one sentence of direct description for every page of indirect description utilized.

The Importance of a Writing Group

I've talked about writing groups in the past, but I wanted to reiterate their importance once again for any new blog followers who came on in the past few months.

When I was young and first writing, I didn't think writing groups were necessary. Why would I want to take time away from my own writing to review and critique other people's work. Also, if I didn't find a group that wrote solely within my genre, why bother? They're not going to know the subtle nuances I'm trying to achieve.

And then I joined a writing group.

I was 18 when I attended my first group session. It was a face-to-face session attended by roughly 3-4 different members every month. We shared pages a few weeks prior and then brought our notes for each other to some coffee shop here or there around Wisconsin.

There wasn't a single writer in that group that also wrote YA.

I absolutely loved it.

Sure, they might not have known everything about the YA genre, just as I sure as heck didn't know that much about memoirs at the time, but what young me had failed to notice is that I was surrounded by other serious writers. These were writers who put their fingers to the keys and plugged out pages of content every month for other serious writers to read. I grew in my knowledge of the craft in general  and I made some amazing friends.

Now that I've moved cross-country, I've joined another writing group (by the prodding of one of the original Wisconsin face-to-face members) that takes place entirely online. Rather than meeting for coffee, we have monthly quotas to fill (2 submission and 4 critiques per month) that keep all of us plugging away at our work. We stay in contact through email and Facebook and the occasional bi-yearly get together somewhere in the USA.

This format of a writing group has also helped me exponentially. Not only does the online format offer writers from all over the world membership, but it also allows me to read a variety of genres. I get feedback from a diverse group of readers and I give my own unique feedback to them.

Also, when I'm having a rough month and am unable to find time, energy, or inspiration to write, it helps to simply sit down with my laptop and a mug of tea and read the work of my writing group companions.

They inspire me to go back to my own work.

They help me improve that work.

Basically, writing groups are important because they force us to be who we are: writers.

I suggest, no matter your age, that you find a group that fits you. It may take a little while, but don't be discouraged, once you have them, you can never let them go.

The Morsel

Whether you separate your novel by chapters or your short story with asterisks or pound signs (let's face it, they're hashtags now. Forever hashtags.), there's one thing you need to remember before offering your reader a break. It's what I call The Morsel.

The Morsel is some tiny bit of information or foreshadowing that makes it impossible for the reader to stop reading at the intended break.

You give them a whiff - just the tiniest peek - at what you have to offer next, chances are they'll stay to read the next section and the next and the next, and before they or you know it, they're finding you on Twitter and Facebook and writing on your blog that they NEED the next installment of your work or they'll explode.

The Morsel is what makes people read past their bedtimes. It's what makes us fly through giant tomes in two days. The Morsel is the great locomotive of the story.


For example, let's say your chapter ends like this:

"He'll never know anything about it," Chester assured, winking. He then turned his back on me and sauntered out of the room. 

It's okay, right? The scene itself is over in that particular destination. The information has been relayed and we know that Chester is keeping a secret. There's plot here and character. 

But now read the chapter with the inclusion of The Morsel:

"He'll never know anything about it," Chester assured, winking. He then turned his back on me and sauntered out of the room.

It was the last time I'd see him alive.

That's so much better, right? Now the reader wants to know why it's the last time the protagonist sees Chester alive. They want to know how Chester dies and where, and if "He" who Chester is keeping a secret from has anything to do with it. 

The Morsel is what makes the reader turn the page and skim the beginning of the next chapter. It's what tricks them into reading "just ONE MORE." If you're good, your whole book will feel like this to the reader. One Morsel after another after another.

Because, when you boil it down, The Morsel contains one very essential aspect of storytelling: tension. 

It's what makes us stay tuned during the commercial breaks and the chapter breaks and the hashtag pauses. Because we know something is happening or going wrong and we need to find out how and why.

So, go through your latest project. Could your story be aided by some Morsels? Sprinkle them in. Have your betas take a read. Ratchet up that tension.