Friday, September 10th, 2010  September 10 is “National Swap Idea Day.”
I’ve had some difficulties locating any truth in that statement…there’s nothing “national” about it, apparently. Yet all sources — even Hallmark– consider it “national” and grant it “holiday” status.
All sources agree that it’s more than just a day to swap ideas, it’s a day during which everyone should share ideas for helping each other out, making each others’ lives better, and helping out fellow man.
This source also encourages the use of a creative imagination.
I’m all for helping fellow man, and, from a writing point of view, I can see the advantages of sharing ideas with each other. Ideas are a dime a dozen. Everyone has an idea…the problem, sometimes, is in the execution of it.
The idea I have, I may not be able to satisfactorily complete.
Or, there are times when I want to write, and I’ve got a zillion ideas on my idea list, but none appeals.
So why not share with someone else?
Here’s Your Prompt: Swap writing ideas with another writer. Give away the seeds of a story or novel that has been moldering in your journal (or your mind!), fruitless. Choose several of your most intriguing ideas, the ones which you really like, but for whatever reason, have been unable to devote the time to write them. Cast them away, like dead weights.
Now, accept the ideas of another writer. Read them. Write them in your own journal — or type them into your files — put them in the place you collect your own ideas. Give it a few hours, a few days, a week at most to percolate. With luck, you’ll be inspired sooner, rather than later. Now, write your story.
I wouldn’t be joining into the spirit of the day if I didn’t share some of my own ideas. Here are a few:
- An author is haunted by the ghosts of characters he’s killed off.
- A sudden sun shower, a field of dead trees, a human skeleton, a small whirlwind of dust, wild horses and sun-bleached papers
- Worry not. Pray not. Don’t have one, don’t need the other.
- A man on a bus, carrying his lunch–two slices of pizza–in a disposable grocery sack.
Good luck! Please share your stories.
Wednesday, September 1st, 2010  This was supposed to be the entry full of character naming resources, but I’ve had a fun offer I want to tell you about.
Matt Marotta, the programmer of The Name Stooge software program, happened to wander by my blog as I was discussing character names. He offered me a free copy of his program – no strings attached.
Well, of course I couldn’t pass that up. And of course I’m going to tell you all about it. But the best part is: Matt’s going to give away some extra copies to readers of this blog!
We haven’t worked out the details yet…but keep your eyes here over the next week or two for the details. It’ll be something easy, like leaving a comment about characters, or maybe linking to mine or Matt’s blog.
Name Stooge is intended to help you choose the perfect name for your character. You enter a few bits of data:
- Your character’s age and gender
- When the story takes place
- How common the name should be
…and it spits out the possibilities.
I like the idea that you can determine how common (or uncommon) the name is. And knowing when the story takes place helps to weed out names that weren’t used in a particular time period. (How many Brittany’s or Aiden’s were walking around in 1920?)
I’ve already installed the program (very easy to do) but it’s begging me to register before I take it for a test drive. And you know my litany: I’ve got some writing to do…
So, look for a review of the Name Stooge software sometime in the next week or so…at which time you’ll get your opportunity to score your own copy.
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.
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?
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 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.)
Wednesday, July 14th, 2010 Hi, my name is Kelly, and I have a filing problem.
Actually, that’s not true. I don’t have filing issues. I can file if I absolutely have to.
Unfortunately, I always have more paper to file than I have time to do it in. And, I have other priorities…so when I get squeezed for time, filing is the last thing I want to do. After a while, the piles get so numerous I shove them into boxes.
See the crazy notes I leave for myself? The note on the left-most box says, “Writing To-Do: Immediately.” The note on the box beside it says, “To Do by December 31, 2009.” Um…yeah.
I took these photos in December, but the boxes had been sitting there months before that.
I have whittled it down to two boxes. But that’s only because I’ve had to paw through the boxes several times in the last few weeks and I made some executive decisions to throw a bunch of stuff in the trash (which is much easier than filing). But the fact is:
I just don’t want to do it.
Every once in a while, that attitude spills into my writing.
In Chapter 10 of my WIP, there’s a particularly badly-written scene with some unbelievable dialogue that needs to be reconstructed from scratch. It’s full of archaic language and I’d bet a few “as you know, Bobs.”
It’s going to take some time. And I don’t want to waste it…even knowing that the scene can be a hundred times better.
I’ve procrastinated so long that I’ve already edited through Chapter 21. Imagine how anti-climatic it’ll be to get to “The End” and have to go back and edit something halfway through the book. I’m not looking forward to it. When I type “The End,” I want it to be the end.
So…I’m going to take care of it. Within the week.
Maybe after I tackle that scene, I’ll get up the gumption to finally get those boxes out of my office.
Won’t you join me? What have you been procrastinating about? If there’s nothing in your way…take care of it!
Thursday, July 1st, 2010 What do you do with all your old notes?
Last night was my monthly meet up with my critique group and the topic of critique paperwork came up. The majority of our group does as I do:
- accepts the paper-based copy of the critique
- goes through it page by page as we edit and update our WIPs
- files it away for future refernce
One brave soul in our group updates his work in progress and then tosses all the critiques he received!
I’m not the only one who was sitting at the table stunned and amazed. Why would you ever throw out notes? What if you needed to refer to them later?
I’m in the process of editing a novel. To the right of me, on my desk, are all the copies of the critiques I’ve received from my current group, and some from fellow on-line writers. (Those I could have kept electronically, but when I refer to one document and am typing on another, I like to have a hard copy.)
As I’m working, I realize that I’ve worked through some of these crits already…but advice I wasn’t willing to take a few weeks or months ago is starting to look pretty good right now. What if I’d tossed these papers when I’d done my initial re-write?
I know of one author who painstakingly logs into a spreadsheet each comment from every critique she receives for a story. I’m not sure if she tosses out the critiques when she’s done — though having gone that route she certainly could. But to me, that just seems like too much work. I’d rather spend my time writing something new.
So: what’s your process? What do you do with your critiques once you’ve evaluated them…this inquiring writer wants to know.
Sunday, June 27th, 2010 We’ve been reading a lot of “Frog and Toad” books around the house, lately. They’re juvenile, but I’m really enjoying them. The author, Arnold Lobel, has an understated wit that sometimes flies over the head of youngsters, but is quite humorous.
Right now we’re reading “Frog and Toad are Friends.” (I HIGHLy recommend it. It’s a Caldecott Honor book, too, if you need more than my endorsement to pick it up.)
In the book is a short story called, “The Story,” in which Toad’s friend Frog is sick in bed and he asks Toad to tell him a story while he is resting.
Toad’s game for this, but he isn’t sure where to begin. So, for inspiration, he sits down and thinks about it for a while. He can’t come up with anything he likes, so he goes out on the porch to pace while he thinks. Unfortunately, this proves as fruitless as sitting and thinking. So, he comes back inside and stands on his head.
“Why are you standing on your head,” asked Frog.
“I hope that if I stand on my head, it will help me to think of a story,” said Toad.
Toad stood on his head for a very long time. But he could not think of a story to tell Frog.
Next, Toad tries water as a stimulant.
“Why are you pouring water over your head?” asked Frog.
“I hope that if I pour water over my head, it will help me to think of a story,” said Toad.
Toad poured many glasses of water over his head. But he could not think of a story to tell Frog.
Then, Toad banged his head against the wall.
“Why are you banging your head against the wall?” asked Frog.
“I hope that if I band my head against the wall hard enough, it will help me to think of a story,” said Toad.
This scene just makes me laugh.
There are days, like Toad, when I feel like banging my head against the wall when approaching a particular scene. I usually make myself a little note in brackets [write fight scene here] and then move on to the small stuff. I come back to the troublesome prose later.
Poor Toad’s problem was that he wanted a “good” idea for a story. My opinion: he should have run with whatever he came up with first. A bad idea is still an idea. It can be used up, embellished upon, and discarded (if necessary) later. Any idea is one you can work with. Dressing it up usually leads to others.
If you’re stuck: try writing about the first thing that comes into your brain. Use it as a thoroughfare to your next writing destination. You don’t need to keep it forever. Edit it out at the next pass. But use the idea to stimulate others.
In my opinion, there’s no such thing as a bad idea. There may be better ones, but how do you know until you’ve written it?
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