Julie? Melissa? Perhaps Hildegard? What's In A Name and Does It Matter?

You bet that it matters!
It is neither as important nor as damaging as a poorly written or flat story, but giving your characters the right name is certainly key.

I find it is rather like choosing a name for your child; the name has to suit the personality and it has to make sense for the time and, in some respects, the place.  In fact, some countries have rules about what you can name your child, but that is another topic.

Of course, it should be memorable or represent something (be it a value or an idea) that defines your child - or your character, in this case. And if we are talking about fiction, the type of book you are writing also dictates how freely you may choose.

Although I had no difficulty choosing names for my children (luckily, my husband and I were on the same page there), selecting a name for each of my characters in my first novel has been grueling.  Yes, that painful and difficult.  The only name I settled on with relative ease was that of the main character.  The rest?  I may still change them.

That said, here are a few, common sense rules I read about that I have found helpful in tackling this task.

1.  The name should match the era and the place
If you are writing historical fiction and your novel is set in 18th century Romania, Jennifer is obviously not the name to go with. Catalina or Constanta would be a better choice.  On the other hand, if  your novel is set in the future, somewhere far in space, Jennifer and, say, Fhyssia could work equally well.

2.  The names of the cast of characters should, in the collective, make sense
Whether your novel has a large or a small cast of characters, the names should make sense collectively as well.  You might not want every name to be short and snappy, of the same number of syllables or with the same places of emphasis.  It might be boring to the reader and certainly easier to forget.  Also, unless you have a good reason for it, vary the first initials. A family of five with Lilly, Lenny, Kelly, Pippi, and Patty, does sound rather mundane, does it not?

3.  Think about the first and last (and middle, if any) names together - and pronounce them
Although the complete name of a character is not necessarily prominent throughout the work, you want to make sure it is realistic or interesting (depending on your genre) and memorable.  Also consider that your book may become an audio book or even an e-book with text-to-speech features. Whereas Myra Mendelssohn rolls off rather easily, Myrtle Isles is more of a tongue twister and (sorry to any Myrtle Isles who may be our there) rather clumsy. Use your imagination - I bet there are lots of Jim Cook's out there already.

Thank you for your time and your thoughts.

The Fault In Our Stars

Every once in a while a book comes along that hits all the right notes and you cannot bring yourself to put it down until you read the last sentence - and then you start over.  Whether it is the tone, the characters, the underlying story itself, or all three, it captivates you from the first word to the last, every time you read it.

 

For me, the tone of the book is always the initial determining factor.  I can fall in love with a story after just three or four sentences (or still keep reading and trying after 50 pages before finally giving up) and know that I must buy it and read it right away. 

 

And for me, such a book is The Fault In Our Stars.

 

The first sentence (Late in the winter of my seventeenth year, my mother decided I was depressed, presumably because I rarely left the house, spent quite a lot of time in bed, read the same book over and over, ate infrequently, and devoted quite a bit of my abundant free time to thinking about death) immediately drew me in.  I was curious - why was she thinking about death? Why did she as a seventeen-year-old feel like she had abundant time to do anything? Who ever does? And why does she sound like an overachiever?

 

The main character Hazel, who suffers from thyroid cancer and metastatic lung cancer since age thirteen, is captivating.  She is a simple girl yet there is nothing average about her; in a way she is completely withdrawn from the entrapments of teenage life, but in other ways she is your girl next door, living as if she were healthy, not ready to give up.  Almost dying from pneumonia, a side effect of cancer, she travels to Amsterdam to meet her favorite author, mother, boyfriend, BiPAP and oxygen tanks in tow.  Therein lies her strength and the appeal of the story - it is not just a book about cancer, it is a book about living despite it. The other characters are great as well, and the unexpected relationship between Hazel and Augustus is perhaps more emotionally mature than most fictional adult relationships.  He lost a leg to cancer and thus can relate to her and understand her, more than we first realize. The characters you feel sorry for are the parents - as Hazel puts it, "There is only one thing in this world shittier than biting it from cancer when you're sixteen, and that's having a kid who bites it from cancer."

 

And that is something I, as a mother, can well imagine but hope to never ever have to understand.

 

Anyway, if you are looking for a great book that is a pageturner where you can wait to turn each page so as to savor the well written words - pick up The Fault In Our Stars. 

Can you use a title that has been used before? Would you want to?

I am not actually looking to use a title that has been used before, but what if I did?  What if I thought that a title already given to a story was also perfect for my work? Or perhaps someone used a title and somehow I fail to discover this coincidence?

Although I am not an intellectual property lawyer (I focus on the much more exciting area of tax law....) I do know the answer to this one.

Like ideas, names, and slogans, titles are not protected by U.S. copyright laws - which is why you may find that certain books share the same title.

Copyright protection,is generally available only if a work possesses “a significant amount of original expression.”  While “a significant amount of original expression” has not been specifically defined for this purpose, courts have found that expressions as short as book titles lack the required amount of original expression and cannot receive copyright protection.

However, while copyright laws will not protect a title, trademark laws may. 

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has declared that a trademark protects words, phrases, symbols or designs that identify the source of the service or good offered by one party - in effect allowing a word or phrase that is a recognizable "brand" (think Twilight) to receive trademark protection.

Thus, while you are not going to be able to title your next vampire teen series "Twilight" (why you would want to is another matter), calling it "One More Bite" is not going to violate any laws (but would make an awfully boring and predictable title).

Any titles that are taken that you would have loved to use? 

How Much Can An Editor Edit Your Work?

Seeing that I do not even have an agent yet, this subject might just be a bit premature to address, but a recent article on this subject in Writer's Digest caught my eye for obvious reasons.  I have been working on my "work in progress" for over three years (yes, that's three years).  I am as finished as I will ever be; I just re-read it after taking a few months break and I actually really do like it and have changed no more than a word here and there.

So, assuming that I am fortunate enough to land an agent and then get signed by a publishing house, am I back to square one?   What if the editor is not too thrilled with the work and starts re-writing?  How much re-writing can she or he do or ask for?  What types of edits can they request or recommend? Can they rip into pieces what I spent years to put together?

Thanks for your thoughts on this.

I am back!

Well, I never physically left (although a few months traveling around the world sounds pretty good right about now) but my mind and heart had been absent from the creative world for a while.  I had set my novel-in-progress aside, almost afraid to touch it for some reason I still cannot identify, hardly any reading, and no writing at all.

 

But I turned on my computer last night, opened my writing folder, and there I was!  The dread lifted and I am going through the final edits - and have dropped three books on my coffee table. 

 

What was the source of my problem?  Fear of failure and rejection, lack of time, and "unripeness."  While I might fail at this art, will certainly receive rejections, and definitely do not have time for this pursuit, I know one day I would regret not trying.  And the time that passed has allowed the work to sink in and become ripe for the final review.

 

But now back to the more important and interesting things!

 

As I read my query letter again for the first time in months, it almost felt like I did not write it, allowing me to read and digest it without emotional involvement.  I was able to determine whether it worked or not and why.  In the process I thought about what should and should not be on a query letter.

Of course we all have exhaustive lists of what we should have on our query letters (and I will not bore you with more of that) but what we omit is equally important.

 

Here is what I have learned NOT to do on a query letter:

 

- Address it to "Sir or Madam" or provide other general salutation.  Pick an agent and know his or her name.

- Be reasonable and try to avoid any comparison to other authors, especially bestsellers like Dan Brown etc.

- Mention or explain things about you that in no way or tangentially relate to your writing and the novel you are submitting.

 

Do you have any to add?

 

Out With The Old, In With The New

The golden masks were aglow under the chandeliers,  the smiles were genuine and enchanting, and the feet were sashaying to Strauss' Blue Danube.  And the company was exceptional, as only family can be. It was New Year's Eve 2006.

It was a different life for us, the closing year of a decade of fancy New Year's Eve Balls in old capitals of Europe.  Before my child was born, before I switched jobs, before my father passed.

I was thumbing through photo albums yesterday, bringing back the years that passed so fast.  And they were good years.  I was lucky and I knew it.  They will stay with me forever.

But things change, some for the worse, inevitable.  Others change for the better, always welcome.

May this new year bring only the good (and so far so good).

Have a happy and healthy 2013!

Does writing affect your mood - or does your mood affect your writing?

Or maybe both? 

 

As I was reading through various blog entries over the last week it struck me, plain and simple, that we as writers become either gloriously miserable or inexplicably chipper as we write, re-write, or try to fit writing into our lives, already crammed to the brim.

 

I am, as many of you know, always suffering, not so much during writing but rather trying to find the energy and time to write, at times almost dreading it.  The anguish the process causes for me inevitably spreads through my mind as I put thoughts to paper, affecting what I say and how I say it.  A chapter a month is a miracle.

 

Then there are those writers who can write a novel in a month, full of energy and optimism, seemingly without effort.  Is it their positive attitude that turns the pages out or do the words create their sunshine?

 

Which one are you?  Is there a group I am missing? What is the biggest impediment to your happy writing?

Sitting on My Laurels

But at least I am ahead of Julius Caesar and know exactly where they are.

Which makes it worse - resting, perhaps content of having finished it but definitely petrified of having failed.

I have not looked at my novel in weeks, not since I received a rejection.  Naturally, I expected that I would get one (well, a lot more actually) but the automatic five-minutes-after-I-submitted rejection was annoying nonetheless.  What I did not expect was the effect it had on me - not upset or sad or indignant or whatnot, just hit with a surge of self-doubt.  Normally I regroup within minutes and move on, so by all accounts I should have sent a query to the next agent on my list within a few days.  But nothing, which is why I have also neglected this blog and writing in general.

Anyone else experience this sort of inability to move ahead?  Somehow uncertainty, filled with possibility, was so much kinder.

The relationship between work and talent

I was reading Nicole's latest post about conquering our writing weaknesses.  Inside her post she had a quote: "Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard."

I love quotes and words of wisdom and this one stayed with me after I closed the browser.

When you are an accountant (a subject I majored in), working hard can compensate for initial lack of mathematical talent - all you have to do is practice and practice some more.  Or when you are a lawyer (like me), drafting and redrafting an agreement or a submission will make you better - it is not that hard to pick up the mechanical skills.  All you really need is patience, time, and hard work.

But when it comes to creative writing, can hard work really compensate for lack of talent?  Can someone with just a good measure of talent get better by working consistently?  Or is the resulting novel or story going to be only as strong as that person's underlying talent?

I understand how hard work can improve one's writing if that person does, in fact, have a way with words that is combined with an impressive imagination.  But what if all you have is good language and grammar skills but not enough imagination?  How can you improve that?

Imagine a story where the words sign, but the story goes nowhere because of lack of imagination.

Or am I looking at this from the wrong angle?

Ready to Query

My first novel, which I have titled In The Shadow of Honey Locusts, is finally finished.  It took five drafts and 19 months, many sleepless nights and countless lunch breaks, a good number of hopeful days and hundreds of others when all I wanted to do is quit.

But I did not and, for better or for worse (I hope the former!), it is now done.

I have also crafted a query letter and a synopsis, and made a list of agents.

Yes, I know, there is always that what if I go over it just one more time and change a few more words but I think I am now satisfied.  At last.

But now comes the silly question - is there a best day and time to send the query?

Do some of the unwritten rules of business apply to querying?  That is, don't really send an email / query on Monday, especially early morning, because everyone is too busy focusing on the must-get-this-done tasks, and certainly don't bother to send one on Friday because everyone is in weekend-mode and won't really pay attention.

Any thoughts or experience with this - or am I going too far?

Thank you!

On the Move

The shuffling of folding boxes.  The screeching of packing tape.  The towers of books and the mountains of dishes.  And the gentle wave of dust that inevitably settles on everything.

The pains of packing and unpacking are many and are topped by several sleepless nights as we move through the process.

Yet there are a few unexpected highlights.  The long-forgotten articles I saved from old magazines. The mementos from childhood, thought lost for years.  And the letters written by family and friends almost two decades ago.

Letters.  Yes, words written by hand on neatly folded crisp sheets hidden inside pretty envelopes decorated with kind words or pretty stickers, and, occasionally, an ink spot or two.  It must be years since I last received one and seeing the yellowing papers and faded ink I realized how much I miss them.  But I am just as guilty of resorting to the faster and cheaper email as the persons who I wish still wrote real letters to me. By hand.  With a pen and a paper.

Do you still write and get letters?  Do you feel it is a lost art?

Rejection Before One Word Is Read

That is my biggest fear.

My manuscript will be thrown right on top of the slush pile, without the agent (or, most likely, his assistant) ever having read one word of what took me over two years to write.

Yet that is what is most likely to happen to me - and most of us who are "amateurs" and unknown.

Is there anything we can do to avoid that?  Who really knows!

But we must certainly try.

Below is a list of questions to ask and points to consider in getting your book stand out (thank you Writer's Digest).  Most of these are obvious and dead on - but sometimes those are the first ones to slip our minds (at least mine, as I get lost in crafting each sentence or thinking about the theme).

- Why does the publisher have to read it? (If you are not sure, how can they be?)
- Why do you believe in what you are doing?
- What is it about this book that warrants the attention of the reading public?
- Start thinking like a marketer - condense the story into just two sharp, attention-grabbing sentences.
- Target your book - which market are you aiming for?  How is your book different from others targeting the same audience?

Grammar Hang Ups And The Like...

I returned from a family vacation a couple of weeks ago, but since the office was eager to have me back, I am still catching up on my "writing" emails, including the weekly emails from Writer's Digest.  Always looking to improve my grammar and avoid uncommon pitfalls, the article "The 13 Trickiest Grammar Hang-Ups" caught my eye.  Most of the so-called hang-ups were fairly basic and I am sure most of us are comfortable using the terms correctly or using suitable replacements.  Some of the hang-ups were interesting, albeit for different reasons.

Take "until," which the author said was ambiguous.  I absoutely agree and have thought about this not just when writing fiction but when doing work (legal writing).  If you have until April 15 to file your tax returns, does it mean you have to file it no later than the end of the day on April 14 or do you have until the end of the day on April 15? As you all know I am sure, we are all happy that the tax authorities are more specific and specify that the due date is April 15. Certainly an easy hang-up or pitfall to avoid in your writing.

"Next" also made the author's list of ambiguous words. It is Monday morning and you are making plans with your friends for lunch next Thursday.  Does next Thursday mean this upcoming Thursday or Thursday of next week?  Again, this is an easy pitfall to avoid.

And then the article got interesting... discussing the use of the word "American" to refer to persons who are US citizens or other persons who are considered "US persons."  The author opined that using the term American to refer to US persons is fine (although technically incorrect) because there is no other single word we can use to refer to a US citizen and because most people in the US and Europe will assume that an American is a US person, as opposed to a Brazilian or Mexican person. Maybe this usage is commonplace and, as such, is becoming acceptable, but you should see the responses given to the article by Americans who are not US citizens...

Writing, like everything else, cannot escape politics.

Thank You - and the Award Goes To...

Thank you Shannon for the Kreativ Blogger Award :-)

I am going to break the "rules" a bit but here we go:

The Answers

1.  I don't really have a favorite song (more of a classical music lover) but I do like Enter Sandman by Metallica and With You in My Head by Unkle.
2.  Favorite dessert?  Too many to name...but must be organic or at least all natural.
3.  What ticks me off? People who are mean, rude, ignorant, and always "entitled."
4.  When I am upset I'll take a few deep breaths and close my eyes for a minute.
5.  I don't have a favorite pet (no pets, actually) but I did have a dog when I was a child - Caesar.
6.  I always wear black.
7.  I am an eternal optimist but the realist in me is always watching and on stand-by.

The Random Facts

1.  I used to run miles every day, sometimes twice a day (morning and night...)
2.  I speak three languages fluently, still working on perfecting the fourth.
3.  I am a total neat freak.
4.  I love to travel.
5.  I am passionate about clean, healthy, non-toxic living and products and all that relates (eating local & organic, recycling and so forth).
6.  I keep another blog which relates to #5 above - SmartMommyHealthyBaby.
7.  I am a natural gray :-) at least by now.

And The Award Passes to:


1.  The Desert Rocks

2.  Kelly Hashway

3.  Motivation for Creation

4.  One Word at a Time

5.  Margo Kelly

6.  Will Write For Cookies

7.  The 20th Century Man

Have you ever felt embarrassed by your writing?

I was organizing my writing projects and as I put them into different folders, I could not resist the urge to flip through some of the pages I put inside the YA folder. I have never had much success with this genre (as far as I have had success at all in some writing competitions) and have never managed to get published in any journal or magazine, traditional or online. What I read made my heart race and then plummet. Neither in a good way. At first I almost felt proud reading the introductory paragraphs, the intense and descriptive words, thoroughly enjoying the aura they created. But as I progressed down the page, the words and sentences started to pull away and any sense of them being representative of the genre just melted away. As the story developed, or rather, as the story stalled, I almost felt my blood drain into my toes. The dialogue was flat, the characters uninspiring (and definitely not young adults), and the storyline common and boring. I felt embarrassed that I had actually been ignorant enough to submit something so amateurish and poor. As I never had any positive responses to my YA stories, I stopped writing YA and now I focus only on general fiction and literary fiction. Perhaps not being able to (or work harder to be able to) cross over makes me a bad writer - or at least an embarrassed one! Anyone else feel these pangs of literary pain?

Three Day Weekend - Three Books

I have been meaning to write this post for over a week now but, finally, here it is!  I can't help but "brag" that I managed to read three books in just three days over the long weekend (my teenage self would be laughing at my old self - I used to devour books when I had more time...).  Here are my thoughts on the books, in the order I read them.

Blood Oath by Christopher Farnsworth
I first few chapter were quite good, fast and fun, and the secondary characters and their stories quite interesting, especially with the historical layers and explanations. But the more I read the less impressed I became.  Although the main characters work quite well, the smug, young politician and the complex, quiet vampire, the sci-fi element (as distinct from the horror element) introduced through the storyline of the key villain did not work for me at all.  I simply could not believe the story.

Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith
I picked up this book expecting it to be ridiculous and silly, but I was hooked after the first few sentences.  The writing is interesting and solid, the story intriguing and believable, and the voice unique and impressive. The concept sounded so bizarre I had to smirk, but the story built by the author is so believable that I suspended all disbelief, almost expecting vampires to turn the next corner.  When I finished the book I wanted to read more about Abe and his vampire hunting adventures.  I also loved the introduction and wish the author had finished that thread of the story too.  Definitely a great read.

The Technologists by Matthew Pearl
If I had not shredded the packing slip, the book would be back in the Barnes and Noble warehouse.

There Is No Writing Without Reading

I have recently read somewhere that there are now more (self-professed) writers than readers.  If it is indeed true, it is rather disturbing - I know I am not the first one to say that in order to be a good writer one needs to be a good reader first.  As writers we must read more than we write; we have to let our imagination soar and utilize what we learn by reading the works of other writers, whether established or just starting out.

That said, I am terribly behind on both my reading and my writing.  I am still on the last draft of my work-in-progess / first novel and I dread reading it. I think I am afraid that after two full years of writing and editing, I may find it still lacking here or there - and I fear having to rework it.

As for my reading, I simply don't know what title to pick up next!  Can you help me out?

I just finished reading Arthur Schnitzler's Dream Story.  Before that, I read Jonathan Safran Foer's Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close.   I tend to reach for classics, literary fiction, or YA, especially if it is by Laurie Halse Anderson.

Any ideas?

Like I Said, We All Make Mistakes

And that is the one I keep making. I know the rule, yet I manage to "forget" it ever so often.  I could try to blame it on the fact that English is not my first or second language, but that would be a cheap excuse. After all, I use English everyday, practically all day long.

The rule is a simple one and quite easy to follow.  In theory like (a preposition) should be used only with a noun, a pronoun, or gerund.

You look like a princess.  Be like your brother - start studying. 

As, on the other hand, is a conjunction, and is used with a verb or before a clause containing a verb.

Why don't you walk to work as we do?  As I told you, I left my coat at the office.

That said, why is it so easy for me (and others) to make this mistake time and again?  In colloquial English people have been using "like" as if it were a conjunction for about 100 years. The Harper Dictionary of Contemporary Usage states that “probably no single question of usage has created greater controversy in recent years” than the conjunctive use of like.  Why we have been switching like and as - that they did not explain.

Any rules of grammar you have difficulty adhering to?

The Length of Chapters

I am done with the hard revisions of my work (which is called In The Shadow of Honey Locusts) and I am giving it a last read, making minor changes here and there.  I think I have said that before but hopefully it is true this time.

In the absence of former training or coursework, I find it challenging to manage some aspects of writing.

Take, for example, chapters.

How long should each chapter be?  Should their length be somewhat uniform or can one be 5 pages and the next 500?

As one who reads a lot, I know there are no hard and fast rules (although having a 500-page chapter is probably not a good idea), but some guidance, even if by analogy, is helpful.

I look at each chapter as telling a mini (although not necessarily stand alone) story that forwards the overall plot, just long enough to serve its purpose.

One blogger / author likened chapters to TV shows. When a TV show finishes its first act (which often happens right after something significant is revealed), it goes to commercial break. Then the second act comes, with the same set-up and rules.  Same for the third act and so on.  He suggests we look for our chapters to have similar elements and when we reach a “commercial break,” we are wise to end the chapter and start a new one.

Do you follow any rules in creating chapters or do you just let it flow as it may?

They Said It

While pondering my purpose as a writer I came across the quotes below.  Some are curious, others strange, but they are all true.

Enjoy!

"The reason one writes isn't the fact he wants to say something. He writes because he has something to say. "


--F. Scott Fitzgerald

“If you have a story that seems worth telling, and you think you can tell it worthily, then the thing for you to do is to tell it, regardless of whether it has to do with sex, sailors or mounted policemen.”


--Dashiell Hammett

"Genius gives birth, talent delivers."


--Jack Kerouac



“Long patience and application saturated with your heart’s blood—you will either write or you will not—and the only way to find out whether you will or not is to try.”


--Jim Tully



"I was working on the proof of one of my poems all the morning, and took out a comma. In the afternoon I put it back again." 


-- Oscar Wilde

"Coleridge was a drug addict. Poe was an alcoholic. Marlowe was killed by a man whom he was treacherously trying to stab. Pope took money to keep a woman's name out of a satire then wrote a piece so that she could still be recognized anyhow. Chatterton killed himself. Byron was accused of incest. Do you still want to a writer - and if so, why?"


-- Bennett Cerf

"Easy reading is damned hard writing."

--Anonymous

"A writer doesn't solve problems. He allows them to emerge." 


--Friedrich Dürrenmatt

"Half my life is an act of revision."

--John Irving