Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Naming Characters

When you name characters, do you use very common names or one that's a bit unusual? I think of Robyn's Jullian--not common, but not wierd either. Do you start a time line, character profile, etc. before you start writing? For example, the original owner of our property, could have been in the Mexican-American War. His widow sold the property in 1862. Is it feasible that he could have been killed at Bull Run? To be believable, he would have to re-enlist as an officer. Or he could be killed in a logging accident.

Since I have the absract, my thoughts are to follow the land's disposition and write a story to follow. For example, at some point, a court ordered one of the survivor's claims to be thrown out. She stated the father had given a piece of the land to her, but apparently she had no documentation.

Someone sharecropped a vinyard with another owner. Conflict with the land, nature and the partners.

If nothing else, I'll learn a lot doing the research. Like what was the land like in the 1850s and did Indians occupy it at some point in time?

3 comments:

smcelrath said...

I'm not very good at the naming thing. I bought a book--I think it's called Naming Characters (it's at home so I'll have to check)--that has names grouped according to ethnicity. Sometimes, like in IFFY (my third novel) the name just comes to me.

smcelrath said...

Sorry, I started to comment and then had to go troubleshoot some equipment. But I'm back.

Larry wrote: "Do you start a time line, character profile, etc. before you start writing?"

Depends on the book. When I started Black Dragon I started with a rough outline. Free lunch started with an idea and then I wrote an outline. The outlined changed as I wrote the book, but that was okay. I liked having it for when I got stuck. Then I could go back to it, like okay, yeah, I remember what I wanted to write about next.

IFFY (I Feel For You) started with a character--or really two characters. Then a basic plotline. I created extensive character profiles. But IFFY is a Sci Fi novel, so I really needed to think things through as far as what the characters could do--or not.

Sounds like you just need to write your way into it. Should be fun. I have a separate journal for each novel so I can jot down scenes, characters, ideas, dialog, whatever comes to me.

outdoorwriter said...

Thanks, Sarah. I did give some thought to ethics, especailly for this area. Irish or Scotch wouldn't work very well around Holland. I've been sketching birth dates, wedding dates, maiden names, occupations, etc. If I use the vineyard, I'll need to follow up on the varieties. I think I'll take all the abstract pages and get copies; then I can doodle and make notes at each entry.

It's that first line. Where to start. Since the land is a prominent part, do I go back ala Mitchner and talk about glaciers, pre-settlement, etc. or just get to the story. I like Mitchner, but don't think that's my style. Still, could be something that might show up. For example, an Oklahoma firm bought gas and oil rights at one point.

Since I don't write even short stories, the whole thing may crash. But I'll give it a try--and maybe, just maybe, I'll learn something. I like the journal idea.