Kari started this yesterday. I teased her that I was going to post today about naming characters, but she beat me to it. Yet, I'm not sure our conversation has finished. There is something very personal in a character's name. Something that ties you to the image of the people you create. What do they look like? How do they talk? What makes them "real?" How do your characters differentiate themselves from each other?
In the manuscript I am now finishing (yeah!), I have characters from Italy, New England and Texas. They talk differently, have different mannerisms, and certainly have different approaches to the world they live in. But how do you do that? How do you make each one unique and believable? A name is important, for sure. Yet, there is so much more to who these beings become.
For example, my Italian macho hero has a former life in special ops. He's the silent tough guy with a heart. Yes, I know that is a stereotype, but that's who he is. One of his counter parts is also former special ops, but he's a bit of a dandy. What mechanisms can be used to show the difference between these two men without my saying what I just did?
My macho tough guy (who is very intelligent and contemplative, not in the religious sense but in the thinking-things-through sense) worries. He worries about details and about the safety of my heroine. While, my dandy special ops guy worries about the creases in his pants, about the cuff of his shirt being just right, about what people around him are thinking of him.
When you read my story, you need to see these differences. Two extremely talented men with different views of the world. I want it to become apparent, yet never spell it out.
As for my wonderful protagonist (I have spent lots of time with her and now consider her a member of my family), is a bit of a challenge. Her early life wasn't easy. So, how do I show that so when you read the paragraphs you figure it out for yourself? I have one scene in which she is kicking an empty soda can down the street, remembering what it was like to do that as a child when no one knew where she was, or cared.
These are small examples. As we write we build on the picture we want our readers to take away. In editing, I have become more and more aware that to paint the images we want to portray takes a subtle touch.
Thinking about characterization is what started this. How do I help you, as my reader, understand who I am attempting to describe, perform before you, work through problems, and I'm afraid-- also suffer. This I worry about. My characters are my puppets, but as I spend hours with them, they are also my friends.
I'd love to hear how you, dear writers, pull this off. At 3 am today I was up and trying to yet again "fix" that scene which would make my characters jump off the page. There are times I think I should set an extra place at the table. They have moved in!
12 comments:
LOL Great post Cassy.
I too feel like I should set an extra place at the table for my characters. I talk about them as if they are real people.
We writers are a strange breed, aren't we :-)
Kari: You are so right. I had one crit partner who said she wasn't fond of one of the names I used. I felt myself bristle. Not because I have issues with comments, not at all. Rather, the character (who is a newborn) is named after HER grandmother. How could I possibly change that?
And, excuse me? Aren't they real people? In this house they are!
Cassy, you are so right. I think it is so important to pull off characterization ...an do it early on. I talked about this in a January blog.
Since I'm taking my first shot at writing a series, I find that it is really crucial to make sure you keep everything about their personality the same from book to book. If they're wise-cracking and playful, they need to stay that way.
I'd love to see you post an excerpt to show us instead of telling us!! Ha Ha - writing lingo!!
Liz- you are too funny! I know of a writer who does a series and she has a huge spread sheet where she plots ahead what the character arc needs to be across the series. I find that an interesting approach to thinking through how your "people" grow and change.
It is interesting how our characters become a part of our lives. Recently a friend's father died. This friend is almost as familiar with my characters as I am. When I sent her a sympathy card I almost signed some of the characters names to the card. That's how close to these characters are to both of us.
Cassy, I have had a couple instances where I knew I hadn't matched my hero and heroine properly, and sometimes all it required was a name change for one of them. Somehow that changed their personality, and then they "fit" the way they were supposed to.
Right now I'm challenged by a chapter where the character isn't quite herself. LOL I think she may have sent in a stand-in, and I'm gonna have to fix that, with the details, as you mentioned.
Lindsay, I know what you mean. But, how do we create them? That's part of what I find interesting. As we build our characterizations, what makes these "people" real?
Donna: I know exactly what you mean. I named one of my characters Susan. No way was she a Susan. Once I changed her name to Caroline she jumped off the page at me. What is that? Do we have associations from gosh knows what?
There are names that are truly generational. Maybe that's part of it. My grandmother's name was Doris. You'd never see a Doris in today's books unless she was in her eighties or more. We do have these associations. But, even with contemporary names, there is some baggage that comes with them.
How do we create our characters? I think that we create them from and out of ourselves. Traits we have or want to have. Ex.-if you're afraid of snakes then either your H&H aren't.
On the opposite end of the scale-if we live a simple life then that opens up a whole world of possibilities. Your character might live in a mobile home or a 3 bedroom house in small town USA or some exotic place in the world-Tuscany comes to mind.
I always wanted to be in the Army-so some of my characters are.
We let our characters live the life we want.
Lindsay: I think you are in part right. We create them both from what we know and what we'd like to know. I find myself holding back at times when I go to write something and I worry if people think that it's about me. Rarely is it about me. Just about my imagination.
Sorry so late coming in Cassy. This is a great post. I will be honest it's so late I had to scan it, but I'm going to reread first thing in the morning.
After all the great posts this week, mine tomorrow is dorky. Sorry!
Mary: I had to laugh when I read your post. My husband travels a GREAT deal. It means I have two lives, the he-is-home-life and the I'm-on-my-own-life. It's always been this way and I think it works out very well. Doesn't give us time to squabble (grin).
I'll never forget the time, though, when my older daughter was about six. Jon had been home for a couple of days and was re-entering the parenting role. I received lots of rolled eye glances from my two kids. One morning my daughter asked me to please come with her in the other room. I followed. In a loud whisper, as only a child can do, she said, "Mommy, when is he leaving? It's time for Daddy to travel. How do we get him a plane ticket?"
Hang in there, girl. You are a problem solver. I know you can solve this one too.
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