writing tips – Page 12 – Jean's Writing

How to choose the best name for your character

Published on August 7, 2018August 5, 2018 by Jean M. Cogdell27 Comments

A name is very important to your reader. Names, first and last, define a character enabling the reader to envision the character.

Do you struggle with selecting a cool name?

I do! Every time I sit down to develop a new character, I struggle.

This isn’t the first time I’ve written about selecting the best name. I’ve tried name generators and had mixed results. On rare occasions, a name comes to me and just fits. You know what I mean?

Other times as with the antagonist in my current WIP, selecting a name is a major pain in my ass. I’ve changed her name a dozen times or so it seems. Her name still doesn’t work for me. At times I’ve called her Madame X just so I could get a scene down. Come to think of it Madame X, hmm. No, definitely not.

I recently received a newsletter with a video about this very subject. And as usual, I learned something new. This video is so good, I watched it three times. So I decided to share.

Here are the tips I gleaned from Chris Fox.

Start with an adjective that describes the character.

Short or tall?
Fat or slim?
Little/small?
Rugged or polished?
Young/old?

Next, add color.

Black, or white?
Pale or tanned?
Red
Dark /light

Combine these attributes with a noun that describes temperament or appearance. Such as…

Beard
Hair
Eyes
Mad
Hateful
Funny
Humble

Or combine with social status.

Baker
Politician
Doctor
Lawyer
Knight
Farmer
Blacksmith
Social climber

Or combine with the region they’re from. A city, wealthy, and well-educated or a person from Europe, may have a longer first name. If they are from a small town their name is more often as not a shortened version or nickname.

City (highrise, small apartment)
Small town (suburban house)
Farm
Northern city/town
Southern city/town
Swamp
Mountains/beach
France
Africa
Italy
Ireland

A name comes from 4 primary categories.

Patronymic: a name derived from that of the father or a paternal ancestor usually by the addition of an affix
Locative: If a person from a certain region, or country, you may want to anglicize a name or translate to a different language. Google translate is great for this.
Socioeconomic/Job title/status: of, relating to or involving a combination of social and economic factors
Nicknames: a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place, or thing, for affection or ridicule
1. Looks, behavior often attributed to this name.

My tip: What finally helped me select the perfect name for my antagonist?

Google! After using these suggestions I came up with two or three I liked. Then I Googled the meanings of each. Voila! Found what I needed.

At last, I settled on Margo Richardson for my troublemaker.

Question:

How do you select your characters name?

Want another great website to find a cool name?

Try: 13 Ideas for Creating Cool Character Names

For your watching pleasure…

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What will suspend the disbelief of readers?

Published on July 31, 2018July 31, 2018 by Jean M. Cogdell3 Comments

The character or the story?

Kind of a chicken and egg question.

My husband loves action movies. Lots of action with special effects and death-defying stunts. The bigger, higher, louder and most incredulous the better. Me, I can take or leave them. However, good actors are a must for me to sit through any movie.

So with the promise of dinner, I agreed to go see Equalizer 2 with Denzel Washington. A win-win for us both. Hubby gets lots of action and I don’t have to cook plus I get to watch Denzel. Be still my heart. Beating heart Later that evening, over dinner, we discussed our likes and dislikes. Hubby could use more action. Sigh… But, our conversation did get me to thinking about the suspension of disbelief. About how I can accept a temporary acceptance of a particular reality or situation that normally strain credulity? Because that’s what it takes to keep me in my theater seat or turning the pages in a book.

Now everyone knows movies like Mission Impossible, and Equalizer aren’t real. So, what is it about these movies that keep fans coming back? That gets us so involved we jump in our seats every time there is an over the top explosion? Cringe when an actor leaps from tall buildings in a single bound, and he isn’t Superman?

For me, it’s the actor and he must sell the story. Same with books. A reader cannot get lost in our story unless they become invested in a character. Hate or love doesn’t matter. But the reader must have strong feelings about your character.

Which brings me to my writing.

What is it in a story that enables a reader to suspend disbelief?

Is it the character, plot or storyline?

For me, it’s the character. If I feel an attachment to the character, he becomes life-like. I want him to survive and succeed or die and disappear off the face of the earth. See what I mean about strong feelings?

What makes a character life-like when there are unbelievable stunts and wild special effects that we know are not possible?

Is there a way to show a vulnerability that will make a reader care?

Yes. Through everyday events. Back to my movie example. In the Equalizer 2, a lot of regular, believable, and even mundane things give the Robert McCall depth. He drove a Lyft car, lived in a simple apartment, helped neighbors, cared for an elderly customer, made tea, cooked, read books, etc. You know, normal stuff. With these normal human activities scattered throughout the movie, I liked the man. And when the wild, out there unbelievable began to happen, I gladly suspended disbelief to cheer in on.

What do you do to get a reader invested?

How do you connect with unbelievable stories?

Got any tips for me?

Go to the bottom of this post and click on the links.

Writing Fiction: How To Write Evocative Characters Through Action And Strong Language

Suspension of Disbelief

FICTION AND THE SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF Eva Schaper

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How to keep all the writing advice in perspective

Published on July 26, 2018July 23, 2018 by Jean M. Cogdell12 Comments

Do you feel besieged with advice?

Overwhelmed and unsure where to start? Well, keep reading.

Writing is hard. Writing well is harder.

But cutting the process down to bite-size pieces helps. So, if your feeling a little overwhelmed with the do’s and don’ts of writing, reading this great post by K.M. Allan will help. At least she helped me.

How? What did I get out of her post?

Get the story down first. Fix later.
Not everyone will love my story. So, what.
When editing, take one issue at a time. (bite size)
Listen to the advice that is helpful.
Consider the source of the advice.
Last but not least, take a break and then get back to writing.

You may get something totally different from I did after you read her post. That’s okay. We all see things through different filters. The important thing is to keep writing.

When Writing Advice Becomes Too Much By K.M. Allan

Well? What did you glean from Ms. Allan?

Do you become overwhelmed with too many advice rules?

How do you handle criticism from readers and editors?

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Boost your writing with these awesome free tip sheets

Published on July 19, 2018July 18, 2018 by Jean M. Cogdell5 Comments

Putting into words, emotion, desires, hopes, and dreams are not always easy.

I could hardly contain my excitement when I spotted this post. Y’all know how much I love shortcuts, tip sheets, and lists of all kinds. So you can imagine my excitement when Becca Puglisi and Angela Ackerman co-authors of 6 bestselling writing guides. If you haven’t read any of their books, I can only assume you’ve been hiding in a cave somewhere.

They’ve provided 41 lists to make writing and finding a character arc so much easier. You’ll want to download shortcuts to your computer for easy reference.

It may not be easy to capture the essence of a character, but with these free writing tip sheets brought to you by One Stop for Writers, it gets easier. Now you can take your writing to a higher level.