Drawing from the Well
Yeah, another day with nothing. Again. Last night’s blog took FOREVER to write and by the time I was finished, I was wiped. Once this is posted, though, I’m diving into a query and mapping some scenes. I had this post ready to publish and then the website wigged out so we’re back. So frustrating.
Filling the Well
1984: 89%
Bloodwitch: 17%
The Raven Boys: 69%
With how little I’ve been writing and how much I’ve been reading, my well should be quite full for use in new scenes. Surprisingly, 1984 has become incredibly enthralling. I have to tear my eyes away to take care of real life. The ending has become terrifying and thought-provoking in its implications especially considering that it came out 70 years ago.
The Raven Boys is good too. I’m thoroughly enjoying it especially since they’ve included some time dilation and time travel-esque aspects. I’m a big sucker for those.
Polishing the Well
Today we had a lazy day with Tijuana Flats and a Legally Blonde marathon. It was a nice day, but hours later I am now stuffed and energized to write some scenes.
Well Chat
Details, Descriptions, and Names Are Important
Now I have a good topic! My son and I were talking in the car today. He has a writer’s itch in him, but he doesn’t like to write the story; he relishes in character creation. So today as we were driving, he was working on a new character.
By now, you should know that I, too, fall victim to Shiny Object Syndrome. Now, when it comes to talking to my son about his ideas, I get to chase every rabbit trail because it doesn’t affect my writing time. So I chased this one. He was making a “gunslinger” character who was proficient in using many types of guns and had a sharp eye. So I asked what his name was. My son didn’t know.
And my brain was off.
To me, names matter. They should incite an image in your mind or have underlying meaning in them that ties into the character. Rorian, for example from my series, means red-haired king. Yeah, that could mean something down the line. Every time I create a new character, I consider their name. I have a backlog of interesting names for major characters. Minors I pick a name that is sufficiently unique so that it doesn’t melt into major characters and move on. But for majors, I do research. I consider what the character’s path and purpose are and then start looking for names that fit that. I find one that’s unique in the story and Bam we’re done!
Right?
Well, I could be, but I stumbled onto something with my chat with my son today. For his gunslinger character, I thought a nickname like Hawk would be good because it suggest sharp sight. But what if we layer more on top of those two aspects to intensify the imagery? So I suggested giving the character a long, hooked nose. Now he physically LOOKS like a Hawk on top of having sharp sight. The imagery is stronger.
And now I’m thinking about how to do this in Book Two to make the images of my characters stronger through layering techniques like this. The best example I can think of is from the Dragonlance novels, specifically Raistlin Majere’s hourglass eyes. Fifteen years later, I still remember it, that’s how strong the imagery was.
Now I’ve got to think up ideas like a bright orange crest. That’s already in Book One so no spoilers. 😉
May the tide carry you to safer shores.
BSG