Wednesday, August 25th, 2010 I’m continuing my discussion on naming characters for your novels. If you missed Part I, and the reference to poor Dick Filthey, see this post.
A Few Special Rules for Writers of Fantasy and Science Fiction
There are a few special rules pertaining to writers of fantasy and science fiction that authors should consider before settling on a name. These are:
- Choose a Name that Readers Can Pronounce
This goes for both genre and non-genre characters, but I’m cataloging it here because I think authors often shoot for inventive, alien-sounding names for characters when they’re building their stories from the ground up. If you’re creating an entire world or planet, surely you’ll be creating names, too, eh?
So, if you make it up, please, make certain it’s pronounceable.
Even if you don’t make it up, it pays to choose wisely. If your story is set, for example, in Italy or Ireland (or a locale that resembles Italy or Ireland), it’s too easy to pick an “exotic” sounding name (ahem, like Salvagia or Theodicar) which may bother some readers.
(An aside: even run-of-the-mill names can become unpronounceable after a while. Try reading Benjamin or Kristiana over and over again. It becomes tiresome. Your readers may nickname your characters Ben and Kris – completely negating what you had in mind.)
- Nix the Apostrophes
Why ‘do some fantasy writers in’ject so many ap’ostro’phes in their char’acter n’ames? Author James Clemen’s Banished and Banned series begins with Wi’tch Fire. In Terry Goodkind’s Sword of Truth series, the wise wizard is named Zeddicus Zu’l Zorander.
The problem is not with the apostrophe, per se, but 1) where they’re placed in the word (Wi’tch, really ?) and 2) the frequency in which they’re used…not to mention they’re just one more stumbling block for the reader. Why make it hard?
(Another aside: a few years ago the Evil Overlady decreed that all apostrophes in the middle of fantasy names are to be pronounced, “boing.” Thus James Clemen’s book becomes Wi-boing-tch and Goodkin’s wizard becomes Zu-boing-l Zorander. I find this endlessly hilarious. You should, too.)
- Don’t Mix Exotic with Prosaic
Using the Goodkind example again: he’s named the wizard Zeddicus Zu’l Zorander, and a witch Shota, but the wielder of the sword is named plain ol’ Richard. In worldbuilding, the author should look at the whole…which isn’t to say that the names can’t be different. In my novella, Blood Soup, the Omarans have Italian-sounding names, the Borgunds are all Germanic. They’re different, but the rules of my world allow for that.
As I said last time, just because I refer to these as “rules,” it’s not necessary to adhere to anyone of them – but keeping them in mind while naming characters can only be helpful to the process, and perhaps prevent a few embarrassing names.
Next Time: Naming Resources
Monday, August 23rd, 2010 
I love logic puzzles.
They’re are often written tongue-in-cheek and rely heavily on puns, but I guffawed over the moniker, “Dick Filthey” in this puzzle I worked recently about bad reporters writing for the Daily Muckraker. It led me to thinking about naming the characters in my stories and novels.
Character names are vital. A good one becomes part of the character’s entire persona, lending credibility, resonating with readers, even adding subtly to the subtext or theme of the story. A bad name will toss a reader out of the story and have them laughing, or cringing, each time it’s read. It may even turn your book into a wallbanger.
Names should be accepted by the reader, not analyzed or dissected for meaning. They should enhance without being obvious.
Here are some things I try to keep in mind when choosing names:
- Choose a name that reflects the character.
If your hero is (for example) strong and charismatic, name him something that sounds, or can be perceived as, strong or charismatic. Of course there’s a bit of a judgment call here, but Robert or James beats Biff any day of the week in my book.
This logic applies to the heroine in the book as well. If she totes a gun or drives a starship, you probably don’t want to name her Sissy.
- Choose a name that reflects the time period.
Do your research. If you write steampunk, for example, you’ll want to choose Victorian-age names such as Liza or Benedict and refrain from using modern appellations such as Aiden or Britney. (Here’s a fun Steampunk Name Generator.)
- Choose a name that reflects the region or ethnicity of your story.
This should go without saying, but if your story is set in Italy (for example) you’ll want your character’s names to reflect the region (unless they are simply visiting Italy). Name your character Paulo instead of Paul or Lucia instead of Lucy.
- Don’t name your characters with similar sounding names.
This is especially terrible if you have more than a few characters. Similar sounding names can cause confusion, making it difficult to keep them separate (not to mention that it gets hard on the ears) to read only about, John, Jacob and Jessica.
- Don’t worry about the hidden meanings of names.
Many baby name lists also supply an origin or meaning of a name…but limiting yourself to choosing a name that means “strong” or “pretty” or “wise” can lead to bad choices. Keep in mind: how many people actually know the hidden meanings of names?
Minor Rules
These rules are less important (in my opinion) than those above, but still valid.
- Don’t use names ending in “s.”
Names ending in “s” can be difficult when using the possessive form. (Do you use ‘s or s’?)
- Don’t use the name of someone famous.
It’s not a bad idea to check out the name you’ve chosen in a good internet search engine. You may have picked a famous (or infamous!) name without realizing it. Maybe the reason your name sounds “so perfect” is because you’ve heard it before.
- Avoid “Cute” Spellings.
It’s trendy to find an alternate spelling for common names these days, but why make the reader figure out that “Chehllie” is pronounced “Kelly”?
- Avoid Gender Neutral Names
Who’s the male lead, Chris or Pat or Sam? Maybe it’s Terry? This list grows yearly as names such as Taylor and McKenzie are added to the mix. Androgynous names really only pose a problem at the beginning of the story, until the reader sorts out who is who…but again, why make it hard for the reader?
Although I’ve called these “the rules,” it’s not necessary to abide by any of them. In fact, I’ve broken more than one or two of these in many of the stories I’ve written. It’s when more than a few of them are broken in the same story that trouble starts to happen. It pays to be cognizant of the overall picture when you’re naming your characters.
Next Time: Genre Writing and Names
Resources:
Writing-World.com – A long list of name resources on the internet.
Friday, August 20th, 2010 August is National Inventor’s Month.
I wish I’d heard about that sooner. Just thinking about inventions makes my mind spark with ideas.
Here’s a photo of the insides of a robot built in 1960. Note the gun in his right hand. This robot’s sole purpose was to draw that gun and fire more quickly than a human. I like the fact that in 1960, the inventor took the time to pretty the thing up.
Interesting that the robot was a cowboy, but (I believe) cowboy TV shows were popular in the US in the 1960s. I’m assuming the inventor was American. There’s always been a certain level of coolness associated with cowboys, yet I think it’s incredibly stupid (irresponsible? dangerous?) to invent a robot for dueling. I’d much rather have a rifle-toting guard-robot walking the perimeter of my house. Or standing sentry at the front door.
This robot was popular enough that it made the cover of Life Magazine. I can’t find any data on whether or not it could outshoot a human opponent, but the photo looks pretty convincing that it at least did what was intended: fire a pistol.
Ideas seldom change, but the execution often does. In 1960, the robot’s inventor took pains to make it look human. Attractive, but not really necessary. More than four decades later, inventors used the same idea, but gave over form to function. Check out these gun-toting “soldiers” from 2005. There’s nothing human about them, nothing attractive, nothing soft and warm:
Here’s Your Prompt: Invent something. Since we’re only doing this on paper, it doesn’t matter if you think the invention will work or not. We don’t care about the science – we’re only interested in the idea. Be outlandish. Be creative. Design something you’ve always wanted. Be certain to describe how it looks as well as what it does (are you building a 1960 model or a 2005 model?). How much does it cost to build? How long does it take? Does anyone help or is this a solitary invention?
Have you told anyone about your invention? Do they consider the idea crazy? Do they think you’re mad for even attempting such a thing?
You could write a newspaper story about this new invention (“just the facts”) or a feature article about the inventor: why did they create this new thing? How was it conceived? What did it take to build it? If you like to sketch, skip the narrative and draw a sales poster: a large picture of the invention with all the reasons why someone should buy: it will make your life easier by doing what? It will make what job more efficient? It will save a person time or money (or aggravation, etc.) by doing … what?
Tuesday, August 17th, 2010 I went to the county fair on Saturday. Cool and overcast, the day was perfect for strolling.
Anytime I think of a fair, Charlotte’s Web pops into my mind and I start singing ala Templeton the rat:
A fair is a veritable smorgasbord orgasbord orgasbord…
Melon rinds and bits of hotdogs
Cookie crumbs and rotton cotton candy
Melted ice cream, mustard dripplings
Moldy goodies everywhere
Lots of popcorn, apple cores
Bananna peels and soggy sadwiches
And gobs of gorgeous gook to gobble at the fair
There’s more, but you get the idea, right?
Like Templeton, I’m on a mission when those gates open: to sample whatever I can. Alas, this year, there were no deep-fried oreos or twinkies, so I had to settle for regular fare.
But who doesn’t like pit beef, chocolate-dipped soft ice cream, funnel cake and french fries…?
And yet: I was there for more than the food. I was looking for story ideas…
(What, do you think I can go anywhere and not think about writing?)
I chalk up all the story sleuthing to my journalism training wherein I learned: there could be a story in anything…
…even odors.
I walked by a vendor and remarked to my Husband of Awesome™, “Something smells lemony and sweet and… mmmm.” (Unintentionally, it sounded kinda sexy, but falls flat in the re-telling. Just pretend for a moment, ‘k?)
I’m still trying to find the words to describe that fragrance. They’ll come.
A few steps later, we walked by an obvious patch of vomit. Remember I mentioned it was cloudy? The odor was obnoxious, but not as bad as it could have been on a humid, sunny day.
What if it were lemony, sweet…vomit? There’s a story there, I know.
And take this chicken, for example:
In the fowl barn, lined with cages and cages of gorgeous, plump roosters and hens and ducks, this poor specimen was pulling his own feathers out. I snapped a few photos. The flash startled him up to face me, but he returned to his picking almost immediately. (Was it the two prize hens on either side causing him grief? Maybe he just didn’t like being caged…?)
The rabbit barn sported one empty cage with a sign on it, “Gone home to have babies! Have a happy fair!”
How about this sheep? It’s called a Jacob Sheep (I’d never seen one before. Aren’t all those horns cool?) Both the males and females sprout horns, and some of them will grow six at once.
I also fired my camera into the crowd to see what turns up. I’m not publishing those photos here, but looking at them reveals a host of ideas in a single image: the 4-H girls in their short-shorts and shi–stomping boots, the disheveled carny folk with their bright orange shirts and world-weary expressions, an amazing number of very young children wandering by themselves.
My favorite photo is of a group of teens, perhaps 20, sitting on benches watching the crowd stroll by. Each of them had a notebook and was writing furiously. School’s not in session until next week. What were they writing about?
Even if there’s no complete story in what I witnessed at the fair, there are scads of images I can pepper my stories with, and I’ve got the pictures to prove it.
What can you find at your local coffee shop? Or see on the bus? On campus? At the ballpark?
Thursday, August 12th, 2010 On my way to work this morning I saw a leaf fall, and then several more.
Autumn already? I thought, accelerating around a curve only to find three deer in my path. I slowed, and they leaped into a nearby hayfield.
So…I’m seeing deer in the morning again, leaves are beginning to brown and drop from trees, and school is starting. It’s early yet, I know, but I’m thinking of new beginnings.
I usually feel this way in January, when like countless others, I try to get my act together.
Maybe it was prompted by a blogpost by fellow Broad, Hunter Liguore, of Sword and Saga Press. Her article, The Fear of Writing struck a chord within me. It begins as an essay discussing the various reasons people don’t allow themselves to write, but morphs into a strategic plan for getting writing done. For folks who are already writing, but (perhaps) lament their lack of time or discipline, the tail-end of Hunter’s post is where the real meat is.
I’ve always advocated using little bits of “found time” to get writing tasks done, but Hunter goes so far as to suggest stealing time from other activities in order to gain a large block of time you can devote to your writing. It’s a different way of looking at things, and makes a lot of sense.
And it all starts with a making a list. Hunter refers to it as a “writing actions” list, but in my mind, it’s a to-do list. When you wake in the morning, you should plot out all the writing items you want to accomplish during the day. For example, this might be a typical list for me:
- Write 500 words.
- Plot chapter 2.
- Research five possible agents.
- Draft a query letter.
- Find a market for a completed short story.
- Edit a previous chapter.
Once you know what you need to accomplish, start considering what you can do during the day (at work or between classes or kids’ naptimes) in order to leave you more time for the most important tasks. I call it using “found time,” Hunter calls it stealing. Call it what you want, it’s often all that’s needed for added productivity.
For instance, I have a clipboard filled with blank paper in the car. While I’m waiting at a stoplight, I usually plot out a scene, write 30 – 50 words or jot down some ideas for a story. You can do the same while standing in line at the bank or waiting in line at the local coffee shop.
Instead of using these “found bits,” Hunter suggests using time you may have devoted to another task. Say your morning routine takes an hour. Can you shave off 15 minutes by altering it? Use the time to plot a scene or return emails (so you won’t have to do it later and cut into your writing) or do your evening chores with that morning block of time, thus freeing it later for writing.
Hunter offers other good suggestions, and has written an oath you can take to commit more time to your writing. (Is taking an oath to silly? Perhaps you won’t feel obliged to honor it, even to yourself. But, you could print it out and leave it in strategic places around the house to remind others not to bother you while you’re writing.)
I keep a running to do list of writing items, but I like Hunter’s targeted approach. With this change of the season, I’m going to give it a try.
Tuesday, August 10th, 2010  I never run out of ideas to write…they’re all around me: that conversation I heard at the coffee shop yesterday sparked an idea, so did the newspaper story on pre-teen marriages. Then there was that flash of genius I had while reading last night… the list goes on an on.
But I’m smack in the middle of the final edit on my WIP and, well, I’m a litle dry.
I want to write. I prefer to write every day…but the editing and re-writing I’m doing doesn’t leave me much time. Not only that, I feel drained by the time I complete my editing quota. (And because editing is my priority right now, I do that before I get to the fun stuff; i.e., new words.)
In that situation, it’s hard to be creative. So where do I turn?
I don’t keep a journal or carry a notebook to jot down ideas. (I know, some of you are rolling over in your figurative graves right now. Get over it. And for the record, I don’t rely on free-writing either.)
I’m currently experimenting with an idea Marcia Golub describes in her book, I’d Rather Be Writing. Her son’s second grade class used “story envelopes” to keep ideas together. They jotted down ideas and put them into an envelope for safekeeping. When they had time, out came the envelope to pick through.
Marcia talks about idea-gathering in a way that isn’t how most people think when they’re scrambling for something to say: delving into the personal.
- that weird old woman who lived down the block when you were growing up
- that dream in which you were making love to a mountain
- Momma’s gefilte fish ordeal
- the time the cops came because they thought Mom was chopping someone up
- the smell of the basement when it rains
She also talks about paranoia, reminiscences, and old photographs and feelings to be good places to look for ideas.
She says, “I found it wonderful to learn I had this storehouse of story ideas inside me, that the misery of childhood had a purpose: to give me something to write about.”
Marcia also talks about the joys of childhood being a good place to search for ideas, too – but I digress. Let’s get back to those envelopes…
Marcia’s son had one envelope for all his ideas, but I like the idea of having several envelopes into which you can place multiple ideas which might go together. Use a different envelope for each story you might write.
For example, in one envelope you could put the smell of the basement when it rains with the old woman who lived down the block. Add the idea of some toe-pinching black shoes you were forced to wear to school as a pre-teen and what can you come up with?
(If you write genre, as I do, remember that each of these ideas could be transferred to another milieu. The smell of the basement becomes the smell of something in the forest after a deep rain. The old lady becomes the witch or the crone or the seer (or the mother-figure, nurse, angel, etc.). Those pinchy shoes become sandals, or leather boots, or a uniform, etc.)
If you don’t fancy the idea of multiple envelopes, I suppose you could write the initial idea at the top of a notebook page and add subsequent ideas below. The same could be done in a computer file. But I find that reading the words sometimes isn’t enough. The tactile sensation of opening and shuffling the ideas around forces me to consider the thought literally sitting in my hand.
What do you do when you’re looking for inspiration? How do you organize your ideas?
Wednesday, August 4th, 2010  I had lunch with a good friend yesterday and she asked me about my novel WIP. I was going to give her my elevator pitch until I remembered she has a Masters in Literature.
So I started telling her about my protagonist who is upstanding, moral, and ethical – and who lives by a set of personal rules of honor that isolate him from others: he lacks a core group of friends and also lives apart from the main community.
He’s flawed of course, and much of the making of his rules stems from a troubled history. I won’t bore you with the details.
After I explained my protagonist, I told my friend all the things I did to him:
- made him honor-bound to escort a group of women he abhors back to their home through dangerous territory
- had him kill one of those women as he tries to help them
- required him to obtain a drug that has been declared illegal (and didn’t tell him it’s illegal)
- made him fight the militia – who inform him the drug is illegal – in order to escape and maintain possession of the drug
- tricked him into promising to help a thief, who helps him flee the militia
- had him declared an outlaw and put a price on his head
And this is only in the first three chapters!
As I sat there ticking off the ordeals I put him through, I was reminded of Kurt Vonnegut’s “Creative Writing 101” rules, number six of which is:
Be a sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them—in order that the reader may see what they are made of.
My main character holds himself apart from everyone else, and tends to think in black in white. By putting all these obstacles in his path — and making him do things he clearly doesn’t want to do — he learns that there are many shades of gray. He’s got to learn to loosen up his personal rules before he snaps.
It’s this learning process which makes the book interesting. And it’s the obstacles that make it so exciting – and so fun to write, too!
Is your story suffering from a lack of excitement? Is your character staid or boring? Be a sadist! Put your characters in interesting and dangerous situations. Make him work. Take away the easy: make all of his desires difficult to obtain.
All you writers out there: how have you been a sadist? What kinds of things have you made your characters do?
In case you’re interested, here is more information on Kurt Vonnegut’s Rules.
Friday, July 30th, 2010
I took a lot of photos while I was away…more than 500, actually. That’s the beauty (and the horror!) of owning a digital camera. Over the next few days I’ll be reviewing those for only the best and discarding the others. With a little luck, I’ll reduce them to a hundred or less.
One of my favorite vacation pics is of these pelicans.
On the seashore, the wind never quit. There were days we couldn’t open the umbrellas for fear of seeing them launched. On those days, the pelicans (and other seabirds) had trouble flying.
Because of the wind, they couldn’t spend time doing what it is they normally do: soaring over the ocean looking for food and diving in after it. Instead, they flew over the beach houses, quite low, in fact, looking for a means to get back to sea.
On more than one occasion, the birds barely missed flying under the covered porch I sat on, hence the up close and personal pelican pics.
Poor birds! They went days without getting a meal.
Here’s your prompt: Write a story about someone unable to accomplish a goal due to something as innocuous as the wind. Make sure the stakes are high: these pelicans couldn’t eat for days because the wind kept them ashore. Choose something equally important to your main character. What actions does your protagonist take to try to circumvent the problem? How does he feel about being thwarted by something inanimate? Is he angry? Frustrated? Both? How is the problem finally resolved? In order to have a satisfying ending, make certain it’s your protagonist who finds a solution to his dilemma (and not that the problem goes away on its own).
Friday, July 30th, 2010 I’m back from vacation and already back into the swing of things. (sigh)
I love being at the beach, and I’m already missing it. To me, there’s nothing grander than sitting on the porch overlooking the ocean and hearing the waves roar and crash. It’s a nice background to writing.
While I was gone, my review of Stays Crunchy in Milk by Adam P. Knave was posted over at SF Reader Reviews. I loved the idea of this cereal box story, chock-full of 1980’s pop-culture references, and looked forward to reading it. But the execution fell flat for me. A child of the 80s who spent the majority of his existence in front of the TV or playing popular video games may enjoy it.
— and —
I posted a short time ago that Anna Marie Catoir mentioned on her blog (Anna Marie’s Corner) that Blood Soup was on her wish list. Since reading and reviewing is what Anna Marie does, I had no problem sending her a review copy.
And guess what? She loved it.
Anna Marie’s review begins with a quote from Blood Soup:
“…he found the literature could sometimes take his mind off the pain.”
She writes:
“Now there is a true statement. You can always find them in good fiction.
This was a short novella of my favorite sort. I couldn’t see the conclusion from the opening, there was recompense paid at that end, and just enough open-endedness to let the imagination fly.
This novella covers a lot a time, but never feels fractured or too compressed. It also feels like it belongs to a different time. I don’t mean it’s the historical setting. Harmon’s story feels like it belongs to the myth and legend class of stories or maybe just a scary tale told in the dark. I loved its dramatic feel (in the theatrical sense).”
What a great feeling! Not only did she rate Blood Soup 4 out of 5 but she called it “good fiction.”
Read the complete review here.
What a way to make my day. Thanks, Anna Marie!
Friday, July 16th, 2010 My alarm went off at 5:00 a.m. Static, rather than rock-n-roll greeted my morning. Moments later, the bed began vibrating. The entire house shook, making a noise like heavy rain on the roof – only amplified a dozen times.
According to the US Geological Survey, an earthquake measuring 3.6 had struck the Potomac-Shenandoah Region.
The vibrations ceased about eight seconds later, and the morning silenced. I found it an exhilarating way to start the day!
Nifty, eh? Here’s a handy map:
I probably wouldn’t think so highly of this morning’s occurrence if it had rocked the house so much that all the glassware broke. It’s only the second earthquake I’ve experienced. Scoff all you want, westerners… earthquakes are rare on the East Coast.
According to USGS:
Earthquakes in Maryland and Northern Virginia are uncommon but not unprecedented. The earthquake on July 16th, 2010 occurred in a part of the Eastern Seaboard that is less seismically active than central Virginia, New England, and the area surrounding New York City… Earthquakes east of the Rocky Mountains, although less frequent than in the West, are typically felt over a much broader region. East of the Rockies, an earthquake can be felt over an area as much as ten times larger than a similar magnitude earthquake on the west coast.
We were lucky. The quake was mild. Nothing broke. Just a bit of fun to liven the morning. But what if it hadn’t been?
Here’s your prompt:
Write about a single person or a few tight friends caught up in a natural disaster. It could be a landslide, a flood, an earthquake…anything. But stretch: pick a disaster uncommon to the area you live in. How did it start? Was your character the instigator? (That is, did someone throw a pebble that caused a landslide? Or toss a lit cigarette that caused a wildfire?) How do they feel about causing the situation? Do they even know they caused it? Are lives at stake? Or homes, schools and businesses? How does your character escape? What has he lost during the situation? What has he gained?
Make the stakes high in order to ramp up the tension, but don’t kill off your character. (That’s too easy.)
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