What's in a Name?

How do you come up with names for your characters?  And when you come up with them, how do you make them believable?

I recently watched the movie Gentleman Broncos, which I highly recommend to anyone who has ever:

a)  Been homeschooled
b)  Been to a local writer's workshop for young people
c)  Had a Writer in Residence at your school

Seriously.  This shit is so accurate I had tears streaming down my face while I was watching it.

There is a scene pictured above where the famous science fiction author at the writers' workshop, Chevalier, describes to a group of young writers how to create "believable" fantasy/sci fi names.  Chevalier has been lecturing them on how if you add "anous" or "ainous" to any name, it becomes... magical, when one small girl raises her hand.  She says that she has a troll in her book named Teacup, and Chevalier chastises her because it's not believable enough.

"It's just that I'm...as an author, picturing myself as a troll mother. I have just given birth to a litter of troll cubs, they're covered in placentia, pawing at my many teats, for this vital, life giving collostrum... Now I'm not thinking...hmmm...Teacup, am I?!"

Fair enough, Chevalier ;).  Fair enough.

My question to you is:  How do you come up with names for your character, and how do you keep them from edging into the ridiculous, like Harry Manchester, Werewolf Bounty Hunter?

What's your secret formula?

It's Rantin' Time!

I'm not sure why, but I sort of hate the world today.

It's been a long, long week at work, and I'm feeling like having a bit of a rant to help lift some of the black clouds currently floating over my head.

Either that, or spread the doom clouds until they blot out the sun. BWAHAHAHAHA! *ahem* Sorry, about that..

So, our topic for today is going to be PET PEEVES. Everyone has them. That thing that people do that makes you just want to punch them in the throat.

A few of mine? Well! I'm so glad you asked!

*Disclaimer--if any of these apply to you, please note that you are the single exception :). Blog follower love!

Top 10 Pet Peeves:

1) People who mispronounce simple words! It's lib-rar-y, not LIBARRY, frustrated with an R and not FUSTRATED, and prob-ab-ly, not PROBALY! Seriously, people. It's not that hard.

2) Close talkers! What is up with those people who corner me at the water cooler and insist on talking in my face from a mere 3" away? Are they trying to read my mind by being closer? Are they trying to pick my pockets? Do they not realize that their coffee/cigarette breath is melting off my eyebrows?

3) The phrase "Well, at least you still have a job!" I think this is the new version of "Sounds like somebody's got a case of the MONDAYS!" Just..... stop it.

4) Office thermostats! When it's 90 degrees outside, it's inevitably 90 degrees inside, because the heat was left on from the previous day. Then, when I wear short sleeves to compensate for office hotness, it's 40 degrees outside, and 40 degrees inside because they fixed the previously problem and now the air conditioning is on a timer. A pox on you, office thermostats! Why must you mock me??

5) People who I've never seen before telling me their life story! Note: this does not apply to lovely, lovely internet people :). I love you all. This has to do with me standing in line to buy a soda at the grocery store, and having someone tell me all about their sister-in-law's tumor with the teeth growing out of it. OMG, have we met??? NO?? Then why are you telling me these things?!

6) The price of delicious, life-giving energy drinks! When I get mad, all I want to do is buy a Monster and get caffeinated like a crazy jungle monkey. However, energy drinks are always like $2.50. This enrages me further. I do not have exact change past 1.00! I carry plastic! PLASTIC!

7) Being mauled by boy scouts! In my town, it's Boy Scout Season, which means scouts are staking out the doors of every local establishment and pressuring me to buy cookies from them when I leave. Just let me get to my car, boy scouts! Why can't you go door to door like I used to when I was a kid? Then I can just pretend I'm not home. If I want your cookies, I will find you.

8) People who ask me how to spell something while sitting in front of a computer! Seriously, you can't just use spell check? Or google? Or dictionary.com? Nothing?? Sure, I could spell it for you, but it feels ... somehow... like you're just being lazy.

9) Red Lobster commercials! I recently became allergice to tasty, tasty shellfish, and now everytime All-You-Can-Eat-Shrimp comes on the TV, I feel like crying or else trying to dip random food into hot, melty, butter to compensate. It's just not the same...

10) Plumber's crack at work! Can you really not feel the draft, there, buddy? How about you, lady-bending-over-the-copier? Somehow, I don't think naked asscrack is an official part of the dress code.

I realized today while fuming over petty details of my everyday life that our characters probably do the same thing :). Do you guys give your characters pet peeves?

If so, what are they? If not, why not?

Blog Chain: Gender Bender!

Sandra starts our blog chain off this round. She asked:

Have you ever created a character different from yourself in some significant way, such as (but not limited to) different gender, race, ethnic group, religion, or sexual orientation? If so, what, if any, research did you do to portray these differences?

Was this character a main character, secondary character, or walk-on? Did these differences have an impact on the story?

Gotta love these questions!

In my first novel, LEGACY OF THE EMPRESS, one of my two main characters is a dude--Torin. Writing his dialogue and character was very natural about 90% of the time. HOWEVER, there were definitely moments where I'd stare at what I'd just written and think "Something's.... off." These were usually the moments where, unbeknownst to me, I'd made Torin react to a situation like a lady. Poor Torin..

In these scenerios, I turned to my Resident Man Expert, or RME for short (my husband.) I'd force him to read a scene, or even just shout "What would a dude do in 'blank' situation??" Once I found out that instead of crying, a dude would actually punch the ground. Hence the scene feeling .. awkward. Once I had Torin punching stuff dry-eyed everything made a lot more sense, and the other character's reactions felt much more natural. Thank you, RME!

In HOLLOW LAND (the novel I'm currently working on), I have a few east asian characters as well as a Jewish female lead. This is definiely going to require not only a trip or two to the library but also for me to consult with some non-whitey whites. The good thing is, not only am I friendly with several nice Indian folks at work whose brains I can pick, but there is something wonderful we have now, called The Internet. I've started following a few blogs from the countries my characters originate from to get a feel for the culture. I'm hoping I can eventually get some beta readers of the same religion/culture to help me out and make sure I'm not being a dork about some detail or another.

If I had any advice for you guys, it's to be brave :). Don't be afraid to write a certain character just because they are outside your immediate frame of reference. Learning new things is what makes this fun! Go for it, and get excited to learn about other cultures, sexual orientations, and even how the other sexes think.

What do you guys think? Have you ever written outside your comfort zone? How did it turn out?

Don't miss Shannon's answer coming up tomorrow!

Blog Chain: Dialogue Rules!

It's blog chain day!

This time around, we're going to do some talking about... well... talking :).

The chatty Kate asked:

Do you enjoy writing dialogue? Do you use a lot of dialogue in your writing (for our purposes "a lot" will be defined as more than a smidge and yet not so much that the quotes key on your computer is completely worn out.)? Do you have example(s) of dialogue you especially enjoyed from something you've read? Do you have example(s) of dialogue from your own writing? What about these examples makes them special?

Great questions!

I'm going to follow the thought train of the kick-ass Cole and talk about my undying and passionate love for Joss Whedon. Have any of you guys seen the show Firefly? If you haven't, seriously, go get it! It's one of the best shows I've ever put into my eye holes. Two words: Space cowboys.

However, it's not just the space cowboy goodness that makes this show one of my favorites. What is it, you ask? The dialogue! Joss is the king of witty repartee.

Here are some of my favorite exchanges from the show:

Kaylee: "Well, we're headed for help... right?"

Zoe: "Captain will come up with a plan."

Kaylee: "That's good. Right?"

Zoe: "Possibly you're not recalling some of his previous plans."

Mal: "Well, look at this! Appears we got here just in the nick of time. Whaddya suppose that makes us?"

Zoe: "Big damn heroes, sir."

Mal: "Ain't we just!"

Mal: "I would appreciate it if one person on this boat would not assume I'm an evil, lecherous hump."

Zoe: "No one's saying that, sir."

Wash: "Yeah, we're pretty much just giving each other significant glances and laughing incessantly."

What I love about this dialogue is that it is jam-packed with voice, and each little scenario gives us not only something to snicker at, but lets us get a glimpse at the character.

Great dialogue is the epitome of showing instead of telling.

Instead of describing someone as "sassy," you can have him/her sassing someone before our very eyes. Much more effective, don't you think?

I personally love dialogue, but I also don't overuse it. There is a place for everything. As a wise man once said, in all things moderation is key.

So, what do you guys think? Do you love dialogue? Why or why not?

Memory Lane: It Sucks to be Young!

For those of us who write YA stories, or even just have characters who are kids, I ask you...

Do you ever think about what you don't miss about being a kid?

I think a lot of the time as adults we remember the fun things like sleepovers, first kisses, and snap bracelets (those things were BOSS!), but are we really staying true to character in our writing if we don't round out the picture?

Let's indulge in some anti-nostalgia to get in touch with our inner child!

Top 10 Things that I DON'T Miss About Being a Kid:

10) Massive pimples before major events! Before prom when I was 16 years old, I got the biggest zit of my life on the end of my nose. Can you say, Rudolph the Reindeer? I covered it in about an inch of coverup, but yeah, my nose was officially misshapen for The Big Night. I do not miss zits.

9) Parental control of the TV! I'm not saying that I hate Jessica Parker or anything, but what kid really wants to be watching Murder She Wrote? 60 Minutes? Crossfire? Bonanza? (Sorry, Hoss, and Little Joe. You're boring.)

8) Bedtime/Curfew! When I was young, I had a 9 p.m. bedtime, which means that no matter how badly I wanted to stay up for The X Files, I wasn't allowed. Also, I live in the northwest, so during the summer it's light until about 11 p.m. I would lie in bed with the sunlight streaming in through my curtains, listening to the sounds of kids without bedtimes shrieking with laughter down the block. Not. Cool.

7) No money! Oh, I'm sorry, you wanted the new CoolNameBrandThingyMcStuff? Get a job. I once saved up months and months and months for a toy only to realize when I finally had enough money for it... that I'd outgrown it and no longer wanted it.

6) Homework! At least at my job I don't have to take anything home. Remember staying up late desperately trying to read the last of the book you'd been neglecting so you could finish that project that's due tomorrow? Yikes. Stress levels are on Defcon 1! I literally still have nightmares where I'll be in a panic over some research paper I forgot to write.

5) Stuff marketed for kids/teens is gross. I bought a shirt at the store 20 Below which was geared toward teens with no money--everything is $20 or less! The stitching came out in the first wash cycle and that was that. Also, anyone here remember Crystal Pepsi? I was reminded of that today, and thought "Why the hell would they make a pepsi that is only cool because it's clear... and then sell it in school vending machines INSIDE A CAN. The teens who buy it don't have glassware, people. They're at SCHOOL. We can't see the coolness. Also, now it tastes funny. Brilliant.

4) No one listens to you. "What's that, little Sally? You saw Old Man Jenkins shoplifting down at the store and then he blamed it on your friends? Well, that can't be possible! Old Man Jenkins is an adult. Stop making up stories--you're grounded!"

3) No car. Oh, you'd like to go on a date? You want to go to the mall? You forgot your coat at school? Well, I sure hope it's within walking distance, otherwise tough luck. Otherwise, you'll be taking the bus.

2) Other kids are jerks. Are you overweight? Too tall? Too short? Too skinny? Hair too curly? Have braces? Wear glasses? Walk funny? Too smart? Too average? Use big words? Use small words? Laugh too much? Act too quiet? Big boobs? No boobs? ...Well, you're pretty much screwed.

1) Feeling sorry for yourself. Everything seems worse when you have more hormones coursing through you at light speed and no control over the things that seem most important.

So, what about you guys? What do you not miss about being a kid? :)

Blog Chain: Kicking Ass By Choice!

It's that time again: Blog Chain time!

This round, Eric started us off by asking the question

Do you create characters that are larger-than-life or are your characters more like the average Joe?

Hmmm. Good question!

I'm sick of what I like to call, The Superman Problem.

Superman is as awesome as it gets--he doesn't even break a sweat fighting supervillains. Nothing can stop him except for a tiny green rock, and let's face it, kryptonite has been less than successful at taking him down. He can fly, has super speed, is impervious to bullets, can hurl a planet at you if you piss him off, and has even turned back time to save Lois Lane.

What's the problem then, you ask? Well, as I see it, why do I care if Superman's in trouble? He's just going to kick some ass and save the day. Like always. Because he's Superman. He's almost perfect.

He's not flawed enough to be interesting!

Spiderman on the other hand, is behind on the rent, flunking History class, and his girlfriend thinks he stood her up, all because of that damn Doc Oc! Now, this is a superhero I can care about! :)

When I'm creating my characters, I don't want them to be Superman, so I try to make them as real as possible... even if they have super human abilities. I want my characters to be flawed and relatable.

However, there is one more problem to avoid in the other direction. I call this, the Twilight Problem.

Here is an example:

Girl: "Oh, I am just a normal, average, run-of-the-mill boring, not very attractive person just bumbling through high school. OMG!!!! Who is that tall, dark, AMAZING stranger who has come into my life?!"

Stranger: "I am special, and for some reason am paying attention to you, normal person."

Girl: "SQUEE!! Now my normal, average, boring life has become interesting due to someone cool talking to me!"

Stranger: "Um... yeah. I guess. I'm now going to sparkle and brood. Also, have adventures that maybe you can be a part of. Maybe."

Girl: "I can't wait!!!!"

In this scenario, the main character is normal... but also doesn't choose to do anything special or have any cool adventures on her own. She waits for someone awesome to come and make choices for her. Hooray. Oh, wait. THAT SUCKS.

I want my chracters to be realistic, relatable, but also to CHOOSE awesomeness and adventure :). I want my heroines and heroes to say to themselves, "Self, let's take our talents and our courage to go save the world!"

I guess my answer is, I want normal characters to choose to become larger than life.

I want to be larger than life in real life. Doesn't everyone? We can choose to make the most of what we're given, or we can wait for some sparkly person to come along and do it for us. I, personally, chose action.

What do you guys think? Superman, Twilight, or a Happy Ass-Kicking Medium?

Please check out the Courageous Cole's answer before me, and the Karate-kicking Kate's answer tomorrow!

Blog Chain: Meeting Your Characters!

It's blog chain time again!

This round's topic is brought to you by the character-driven Cole who asked:

How do you get inside your character's world?

Apparently, Cole actually stalks her characters, google maps their haunts, etc, to get to know them. This got me thinking about my own process.

How the hell did I first meet my characters?
How did I know what they looked like? How they thought? What their strengths and weaknesses are?

To tell you the truth, I'm not really sure. They just sort of showed up in my brain like strangers knocking on my door. For example, in my head I have a picture of Astrid and a picture of Torin from LEGACY OF THE EMPRESS in mind from the start. I don't know where they came from, but I knew that Astrid was an 18 year old girl with long dark hair and deep blue eyes, and Torin was a 19 year old boy with dark hair that stuck up in weird angles.

This is seriously the first I knew about them, and I had to figure it out from there. It really was like I saw strangers in a cafe, thought they were interesting, and then tried to get to know them from afar. The first thing I do is try to google for images that are close to what I have in my brain. I feel like if I can give my characters a physical form (at least in my own head), I'll be able to hold onto them long enough to figure out what makes them tick.

So, I googled.

For Astrid, I came up with this picture of Kate Beckinsale, only in my head she's younger, and has longer hair. For Torin, a picture of Jake Gyllenhaal was the closest I could find. From there, I spent time with them in my head and felt out how they talked, if they were quiet or loud or shy or obnoxious, and then checked in with them at random intervals throughout the story to see how they would react to different situations. For each scene I thought "what is driving them?" and then basic questions like "what would Torin do? How would he feel here?"

Being a woman writing a male character, I also had times where I checked in with my Resident Man Expert: AKA, my husband. For example, I had Torin crying over something and it didn't feel right. I asked my Resident Man Expert what a guy would do in that situation. His answer? Punch something! That explains why crying doesn't seem like a good choice here :)! Torin wouldn't cry, dangit, he'd punch the rock until his knuckles bled! (needless to say, my R.M.E. was extremely helpful. I highly recommend getting one if you don't have one already, or a Resident Lady Expert if you are a dude.)

I admit it's kind of weird that my characters show up in my head before I get to know them. I'm not sure how this works. For my new WIP, HOLLOW LAND, I knew that the main character had short, dyed fire engine red hair... but when I tried to name her she basically told me her name was Davida, and the name I'd chosen for her was nickname. Then she told me she's Jewish. Jewish? Great! Now, I'm going to have to research!

Sometimes these characters turn out to be more high maintenance than I bargained for, but who am I to complain? They are who they are.

Okay, now I'm worried that this post makes me sound insane.

How the heck do YOU come up with your characters? How do you get into their heads? Do you meet them first like I do and then let them unfold, or do you have a system I need to know about?

Don't miss the fabulous Kate tomorrow!

Blog Chain: Dramarama!

Okay, so this blog chain is actually a wee bit FUBAR because of me this time around. Heh. Oops! I apologize that this chain is a little loopified.

This time around, Christine chose the topic:

How do you create a wonderfully dramatic story? Are there any questions you ask yourself, or specific things you keep in mind to ensure that you have the level of tension necessary to propell the story forward?

Fantastic topic!

One question that never fails me is "What is the worst thing that could possibly happen?" Usually we ask this to reassure ourselves that we're okay, but when I ask it, my characters cringe inside my head. They know I'm gunning for them.

The question is really "What's the worst thing that could possibly happen to my characters right now?" followed by "and will it work?"

Sometimes you can't do the worst thing. You can't kill everyone off in the first chapter, for example, because then your story would be very short. And boring. And sort of pointless. However, you can put the characters into an impossible situation where they might be killed at any moment! The conflict in your story rises automatically.

Show no mercy. Life isn't merciful after all. But I also can't forget that I'm trying to tell a good story which means it has to be satisfying. "Satisfying" can mean different things to different people, but nothing can be senseless or without purpose in your story. Every bad or crazy thing must happen for a reason. Even unpleasant or cliffhanger endings were purposefully crafted.

So, in summary I suppose I ask myself three things while writing:

1) What's the worst thing that could happen?
2) Does it work?
3) Is it satisfying or purposeful?

Also, if you're in a jam, I've heard people swear that all you need to do when you're stuck is shoot a character. It doesn't work for me, but it might for you! :) Let the bodies hit the floor, and have fun.

So, what say you? How do you create drama in your stories?

Please check out Amanda before me, and Sandra tomorrow!

Blog Chain: Facing Your Fears!

It's blog chain time again!

The devious Kat started us off this round with the following topic:

What are the primary fears that drive your characters? Do they battle aliens of gangsters or monsters? Or do they battle unreconciled issues in their lives? Which do you prefer writing about? What do you fear?

Wow! Love the topic, and not just because it's almost Halloween... Mwahahaha!

In my book, Legacy of the Empress, my characters have issues. Astrid, my heroine, spent the last ten years of her childhood locked away in a tower room. Her mother imprisoned her when she was eight after murdering her courtiers and usurping the throne using dark magic (what a bitch, right?). When Astrid escapes and finds the magic consuming the land and its people, she fears two things:

1) Being locked up again
2) Her mother killing more innocents before she can stop her.

Torin, the boy who joins her quest to find an ancient Empress and defeat the dark magic, has his own set of fears:

1) Living an unremarkable life
2) Letting Astrid down.

He longs to be something more, a hero, and sees himself as Astrid's protector on her journey. When he is weakened (no spoilers!), he struggles with feeling useless--a burden instead of a warrior.

I prefer writing about internal fears because those are the ones that haunt us the longest. We all have them: those tapes in our heads that tell us things we wish we didn't believe, but struggle with on a daily basis. We long to realize these fears and rise above them, to change the tapes to say what we want them to say. Instead of hearing "I'm not good enough," we want to hear "I'm good enough the way that I am!" It takes a journey to get there, though, and we're afraid of failing ourselves the most of all.

I read this quote the other day, and it really spoke to me:

"Death is not the biggest fear we have; our biggest fear is taking the risk to be alive — the risk to be alive and express what we really are."– Don Miguel Ruiz

We want to change, to better ourselves, but that requires a journey, and sometimes, a painful sacrifice. That conflict makes for some great storytelling, don't you think? :)

As for myself, some of my greatest fears include:

1) Losing loved ones before I'm ready to
2) Sliding down mountains (a weird phobia)
3) Living a fearful life and dying with regrets

The first one I can't control, the second is odd and means I don't like skiing, and the third is up to me. Regrets are for pussies! I can choose to follow my dreams, even if it means risking failure, and dammit all, I'm going to!

What about you? What fears do you characters face? What fears do you face in your everyday life?

Please check out the remarkable Cole answered before me, and the fearless Kate answers tomorrow! Don't miss it!

Blog Chain Time: Character Journeys

It's that time again! BLOG CHAIN TIME! :)

Sandra starts us off this round by asking this question:

What kind of journeys do your characters make? What effects do they have on the characters and the plot? Also, if you wish, please tell us about one of your personal journeys and how it changed you.

Please check out the awesome Cole who answered before me, and make sure to stop by and read Kate's answer tomorrow!

This is a really interesting set of questions, and some that would definitely take more than one post to go in depth on. The journey of a novel's characters is one of the most important things to me both as a reader and a writer. Everyone is shaped by profound events in their lives, and watching those changes occur is what makes a story interesting. How will the characters react to different situations? Will they make good choices? Will they stay true to their values? Will they crack under the strain? These questions create delicious tension!

I like to torture my characters :).

Like Kat said in the comments on Cole's post, the more shizna that people go through, the greater their triumph when they come out the other side. My family (like many others) has gone through some serious poo during my lifetime. I've learned that there are certain ways that people react to horrible circumstances: they can choose to thrive or choose to give up. I've felt the victory of going through the darkness, coming out the other side and thriving my ass off.

The thing is, no matter how well people triumph over evil or adversity, there are always scars. I want my characters to suffer and see what choices they make, but I also don't want it to be 100% happily ever after. Everyone has to make sacrifices, and everyone has memories that change them and linger throughout their lives. It's what makes us human, and I think, what makes a character's redemption beautiful.

The ways people deal with the pain of living just makes the joys that much sweeter, and the characters' lives that much richer.

How do you think about your character's journeys, as either a reader or a writer?

I'd love to hear your thoughts!

What Characters Do You Love to Write?

We all have them. Characters that we just can't get enough of, whether we're reading about them, or writing their stories. But what makes us love these characters so damn much?

I was wondering this week what makes us writers tick when we choose the characters we do. Are they people we want to be? People we are? People we could never be but want to test drive? What's the story?

As for me, I want to be Starbuck from Battlestar Galactica. I've always been a sucker for a tough chick who says all the things I want to say, but am too darn nice to actually let fly from my lips. I like tough gals who don't have to wear thigh high leather boots and a corsett to fight bad guys, but can do it in sweat pants and a hoody and be just as awesome.

In real life, I try to be badass as often as possible just for the fun of it. I lift weights, drink Scotch and whiskey *neat*, and have bungee jumped ( discount bungee no less.) This bleeds into some of my characters because a normal chick who becomes an awesome tough chick relates to my inner fantasy of being that chick. Minus the cigar smoke, because eww.

On the flip side I also love writing really evil people, because I'll never actually get to be evil. I don't actually want to murder anyone, but it is sort of morbidly fascinating to don a murderer's skin for awhile and write them out. I like it when my characters are super bitchy, because I myself try really hard not to be bitchy on a day-to-day basis.

Is that wrong? I'm not sure.

You tell me! How do YOU write your characters? Why do you love them?

Are they are a part of you, or just something you like to try on for an hour?

What people do you love to write and why?