What’s In A Name?

 

I had never really given it much thought into how I go about naming my characters. It took me by surprise when members of my writing groups mentioned how they took time to research their names and meanings. My eyes were open as I realized how serious they were with this.

For my children’s book the main character is called Jasper in real life and I molded his personality from what I knew of him. The other names I just picked out of thin air. My book “ A Woman of Color” is based on true people though the names have been changed to protect their identity. But again I did not spend time in deciding what alternatives to use. When I write I toss in a name and keep on going.

So now I have these questions. Do you take the time to pick your character names? If so how do you go about it? What is the process? How do you start? Does it really matter?

Even as I research into this topic my mind set is still not big on picking any particular monikers for my writing. Maybe it is just me? Perhaps I am doing something wrong in not taking greater care of my characters. I am more focus on getting the story out on paper as the hook is developed, the plot unfolds and all is nice and neat at the end. To me being a good story-teller matters a bit more than the names I attach to the people involved in my novel.  As I asked more questions I am left wondering as the answers just don’t seem to connect the dots in how I process my writings. I want to understand how much does this impact my MS.

So to my viewers out there if you take time to naming your peeps can you give me some insight into this? I want my book to not only be read by others I want it to stand up and shine and be taken noticed. That is what we all want right?

Books Books Books

When I go to a used book store the first place that is sought out is the section on writing. There is usually something that can be useful. Lately I am finding that most of the books shelved are also on my bookcase at home. I am getting a nice collection of books on writing. In fact there are so many novels that I can run my own mini library if needed. Yes you would need to sign them out thank you very much.

Topics that I have books on:

-Two high school English books

-How to get a literary agent

-How to get your book published without an agent

-How to write for children

-How to write short stories

-How to get published

-How to write query letters/cover letters

-Every edition of Writer’s Digest for the past two years

-Writer’s Market for the last two years

-Children’s Market

The list goes on. I can not be alone on this right? The ones that I gravitate to and are within easy reach are:

-Story Engineering

-Stephen King On Writing

-Hook

-The Elements of Style

-Write Where You Are: How to Use Writing to Make Sense of Your Life

-The Essential Writer’s Companion

-MLA Handbook

There are so many books that one can get overwhelmed. Especially if you are just starting out. The fact I had to get a new bookcase just for these books said it all. Hopefully among the volumes of books you come across there will be useful information that you can apply to your own writings. If there are books out there that has helped you, let me know. What’s one more book, right?

Character Development Class Finished

Eight weeks ago I signed up for a Character Development class. I had taken this instructor before and had learned a lot from him. In the short span the following was taught:

-Character Development

-Creating Real Life Characters

-Bringing a Character to Life

-Characters creating the plot

-The Villain

-The Character/Inner Life

The last two weeks we concentrated on the story that was growing by each passing session. We had a story that had been created by groups and the overall story that as individuals we were nurturing.

By the time the class ended I had a story of over 5K words. It is in a genre that I have never truly tried before which is action and drama. Well not one of this length anyway. The critiques the class gave me on the last day when I read the WIP was favorable and I will probably when there is time, feel free to laugh here, to expand it into a novel.

This class has caused me much sorry and joy. I truly had a love hate relationship with it. There would be weeks where my teacher would say “ Yes yes you nailed it.” to “No, you missed the boat this time.”

I learned that there is so much more for me to discover. Also it showed me that there are some aspects that I am getting right. In the last eight weeks I have shared with you my class notes taken each time there was a lecture. I hope some of what was shared on this blog has helped someone along the way.

Telling him I would take this class again my instructor asked why. Simple answer really. Every time a class is taken over, I am starting at a different place with a better understanding of what I am trying to accomplish. I have never worked this hard for a writing class in my life. That is a good thing, right?

By doing so I had growth in my writing.