Naming Characters in Fiction

Often my characters names just come to me quickly as I'm writing down the first words in my story, other times I have struggled with them. Here are some of the things I have considered in naming. 

I have found when I'm reading a novel I get mixed up too easily if two similar characters have similar names. For example, best friends named Mike and Mark. So I avoid that in my own writing. 

I also decided that relatively insignificant characters shouldn't have significant names. In "Love, Sex, and Understanding the Universe," I changed one character from Alison to Alice for this reason. 

Another thing I have done when naming characters is to have a little fun with it. I had a character named Carol, and when I changed Alison to Alice, I decided I should also have a Ted and Bob - as the theme to the movie Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice, was somewhat relevant to my novel. In my second novel I also use all four of those names.

One of my main characters started out as Clara but I changed it to Bonnie because it was useful to the story-line. Bonnie is not her real name and there is significance in several scenes to both her name being Bonnie - a West Indian guitarist singing My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean on a beach - and the secret behind her real name, which Bonnie is short for.

It can be tempting to have a little fun by giving a character an unusual name, but that can be distracting. I only use unusual names for unusual characters, such as Flash, a bisexual, punker artist who has an orange crew cut. I originally spelled Derek as Derrick just because it seemed more interesting, but then I decided there was no good reason for it to be spelled in a more unique manner and this might just needlessly divert the readers attention.  

I once changed a very minor character's name because I realized that Jamie is short for James and Jamie's brother was named James but called Jim.

Whatever you do, make sure you're being consistent. For a long time, while developing my second novel, I would interchangeably use, Rosalyn, Rosemary, and Rachel for the same character. In the same book I was also accidentally using both Wicked Wendy and Wicked Wanda for another character. The Find and Replace feature of word programs are great for fixing this kind of problem. 

I like it best when the character's name just pops into my head and fits well, as if his or her name was inevitable and somehow obvious. Another one of those moments when you feel like the words you are writing somehow already existed and were just waiting for you to come along and transcribe them.

Fist Impressions - Book Covers!

Fist Impressions - Book Covers!

Been struggling for weeks now to come up with a good cover for my novel "Love, Sex, and Understanding the Universe." If this had been anything but seriously daunting, my book would have been published already. I admit, I'm a slow learner. Not slow as in dull witted, but slow as in it takes me a while to process, assimilate and digest info that requires an important creative output on my end. I've been doing a whole lot of learning and digesting, and have found some interesting and useful bits of info and advice.
A book's cover is of utmost consequence - it's that all important first impression. This is especially true in today's internet world of massive, quick, and ever-evolving information. In a book store or library, once you've bothered to pull a book off the shelf, chances are you're going to look at the blurb on the back, or read the first paragraph, if the cover is anything less than repulsive. On the internet,  people make split second decisions to move on if their attention is not immediately sparked by the initial image they encounter.
One of the great things about e-publishing is that one can change one's cover easily and relatively quickly if a cover doesn't seem to be capturing an audience. In fact this convenience has demonstrated quite clearly how much difference a good cover can make. I read of a woman whose first book wasn't selling so well even though those who bought it gave it great reviews. She came up with a much better cover and her sales exploded.
With e-publishing size matters. Covers on e-books are only virtual and most often seen in the size of a thumb nail. An author's graphics have to be big enough to be clear in that size. Same with the title. Extra long tittles, like the working title I've had for my second - soon to be finished - novel "Bonita Verses Ivan Rastaman and the Monkey-Go-Round," end up needing smaller font sizes to fit, and thus become illegible. Which is why I've decided to go back to my original title, "The Man with the Camera."
Color is an issue too because many e-readers show the cover only in black and white. The first option I tried for "Love, Sex, and Understanding the Universe" had a black silhouette on a blue background; the effect was pretty cool in color but didn't work at all in black and white.
Some other useful advice on creating a cover, that I discovered, includes:
Don't depict some profound aspect about your story that isn't going to mean anything to someone who hasn't read it yet.
Figure out what feelings your book is meant to provoke and create a cover that will provoke the same feelings. You can do this by exploring what your book's themes are.
Sex sells, so if you have a lot of sex in your story use it on your cover. Duh; but someone did have to point this out to me. Well I said I was a little slow.
Don't bring your potential reader down. Another thing someone had to point out to me. I had chosen an image of  a sexy guy on a bed looking distressed. Yeah, my character is frustrated a lot, but I don't want those considering downloading my book to think it's a sad story when it's actually quite uplifting.
Anything else anyone reading this would like to add, I'd greatly appreciate it. I'm still working on that cover.

Universal Themes.

Universal Themes.

I could be wrong.
I've held the position, ever since I started working on my novel "Love, Sex, and Understanding the Universe," that this story did not have a mass audience. After all, how many people out there want to hear about the trials, tribulations and triumphs of a bisexual man? How many people want to hear a story that rises the question: "Can we love more than one and the same time?"
Fringe. That's what I've felt. It's a fringe story about fringe issues facing fringe people living fringe lives. The fact that I waited nearly 25 years since I started writing this story to get around to publishing it, could make it even more fringe. Who in 2013 wants to hear about a tale from the 1980s? Well, to this last question I have an answer - oddly enough as far as the themes in the story go there isn't much that would be different now.
This is where I begin to wonder if I might be wrong about who would be interested in my novel. Not much has changed in regards to the themes because the themes are universal. My novel is about about trying to find a way to function in a world that wasn't put together with you in mind, about struggling to be true to one's self, about choices, about desire, and ultimately about unstoppable love.
These are all themes that nearly everyone can relate to, themes important to the human condition. The exact details of how these themes are portrayed in the story really aren't important to the reader; what is important to the reader is that the story is told in a way that rings true to them, and touches them, and helps them better understand themselves, others, and the lives we lead.
This is what storytelling is all about. This is why we have storytelling, why people love a great book or a great movie.
So maybe I'm wrong - maybe my novel has a mass audience? For the answer to these and other burning questions, stay tuned.

Writing from the Opposite Sex's Point of View.

Writing from the Opposite Sex's Point of View.

My novel "Love, Sex, and Understanding the Universe" is written from the first person point of view of a man (Jim). What made me think I could pull this off despite the fact that I'm a woman? First of all, to my credit, I would like to note that I didn't think it was a good idea, and fought (valiantly, I might add) against the notion. But, alas, to make the novel work that is what had to be done. When you read it you'll see, getting inside Jim's motivations, emotions, and internal conflict is what makes the story.
But my reluctance was not because I didn't think I could pull it off. My reluctance was because I was concerned that others would find fault in the notion.
So, back to the question, what made me think I could know what a man would think, feel and want? There are a few things that contributed to my confidence in this task.
For one thing I am, personality-wise quite androgynous. I don't feel especially female, but nor do I feel especially male. Personality attributes that are mainly considered highly feminine or highly masculine are mostly puzzling to me. Thus, by making Jim not hyper masculine in personality, it was fairly easy for me to get a grasp on how he'd think.
Another thing about me - and I think this is the norm for all good writers - is that I have a strong sense of empathy. Being able to put yourself in another person's shoes (or bed, or bar scene, or classroom, or dinner conversation) enables one to imagine, or understand, what that person - based on what you know about them and I know a lot about Jim - would be sensing or experiencing, no matter who they are.
Indeed, there is so much that is universal to all humans when it comes to issues of love, desire, being true to oneself, loneliness, friendship, fear, hope and longing that no matter what sex you are, you can tap into those themes (all of which are in my novel) and the accompanying feelings, actions, and reactions.

Every Experience is Potential Fodder for a Future Novel.

Every Experience is Potential Fodder for a Future Novel.

If you're a writer, one way to help cope with a bad experience is to realize that it might come in handy someday when you're writing. Years ago, as I was being wheeled down a hospital corridor to go into surgery, I kept telling myself to pay attention. I may want to use this someday in a book. What does this moment feel like? What are the sights, smells, sounds? Of course, the irony is, what I was feeling at the moment was that the moment might someday be useful in a book. Oh well, I guess I can always write about a writer going into surgery and thinking about how that might be a good experience to put in a book some day.
In "Love, Sex, and Understanding the Universe," my main character's parents turn fundamentalist christian when he is a teenager. I use statements that a born-again relative of mine used in conversations with me when writing dialogue Jim has with his parents.
Likewise, in "Bonita Verses Ivan Rastaman and the Monkey-Go-Round" I have Bonnie's father, Ted, and her mother Karen make some bizarre comments to the mysterious Rachel that someone once said to me.
So remember when things get bad, at least your gaining another tidbit for a great scene in a novel.

Are Novels Largely Autobiographical?

Are Novels Largely Autobiographical?
People who have read my fiction often make comments that assume much of what I write is autobiographical. My character's all live lives that are extremely different from the one I've been leading, but that doesn't mean my experiences didn't help me write my novels. Events, people I've known, things people have said to me, and places I have been, have frequently inspired me. For example, in "Love, Sex and Understanding the Universe," my minor character, Carol was initially modeled after a woman I once saw on a bus. I have my character seeing her on the same bus route, wearing the same outfit, but when I couldn't get a good grasp on this woman's personality, I went and borrowed the physical attributes of an acquaintance of mine in the Ozarks. Suddenly Carol came alive and she's nothing like my acquaintance except in looks.
Likewise, for years I poked around with the idea that eventually became my second novel, "Bonita Verses Ivan Rastaman and the Monkey-Go-Round," but could not get it to take a hold on me. When I had my main character say and do some things a woman once said and did with me this brought Bonnie alive, though she is extremely different from the real woman I know. Then after I went to the Rainbow Gathering here in the Ozarks I decided to put Bonnie and her father in a scene there. While she sees some of the same things I did at the Gathering, her experience is her's alone and the people she meets are fabrications based on bits and pieces of people I have come across in my lifetime. It is this scene that made the novel finally take off for me.