Category Archives: Writing

June 29, 2011 · 3:37 pm

What’s In A Name?

For most writers, naming a character is like naming one’s own child.

Names are important. They are carefully considered for their meaning, spelling, and personal preference, as well as the general “feeling” they will give to the reader, especially for main characters. A well written story can make a character name as famous as any person. For example, if someone (usually a tween-aged girl) walks around wearing a shirt with the words “Team Edward” scrawled across it, most people don’t have to ask who Edward is.

A good name is recognizable to all, even if you’ve never read the book.

Scarlett O’Hara. Mr. Darcy. Harry Potter. Heathcliff. Sherlock Holmes. Holden Caufield. Atticus Finch. Jacob Black. Eliza Doolittle.

But have you ever read a story where the name did not fit the character? Or perhaps something about the name took you out of the story a bit?

This happened to me with the first episode of my favorite TV show, The Vampire Diaries. When introduced to the Salvatore brothers, I was a little disappointed with the names. Stefan is not my idea of a very ‘masculine’ name, but that aside, the history nerd in me took over as their backstory unfolded. Plantation owners in Virginia of Italian decent? The odds of that are next to nil. Every time it’s mentioned on the show, it really, really bothers me. On the other hand, Katerina Petrova is a perfect name for Katherine’s backstory.
**Disclaimer- I have not read any of the books in this series because I love the show so much. I don’t want to know what’s going to happen.

Another instance when this happened to me was when I began reading the most famous book series in the world- Harry Potter. When first introduced to the characters, the one name that stuck out to me immediately was Ron Weasley.

I expected the Weasley family to be sneaky, scavenging, underhanded weasel-like people, of course. But they are completely the opposite of that, providing Harry with the only stable family he’s ever known, which threw me a bit. Of course I eventually got used to it, but I still don’t like the name choice. It would have been better for Pettigrew to have been Ron’s last name (and his family) and let Peter Weasley be the one to eventually betray Harry’s parents.

But that would have been obvious. And that leads me to my next point.

I don’t like obvious names.

When I’m reading a story and the character’s names actually do fit their personality, it makes me roll my eyes. For example, I was reading a novel not too long ago where the hero’s last name was Knight.

Knight, White, Truly, Love, Mary, Shepherd, initials J.C., Gabriel– examples of names that elude to the character being squeaky-clean and heroic.

It goes the other way, too. Naming a character Cain or Lucifer when he’s a bad guy is kinda overkill.

Much of this boils down to personal preference. For example, I don’t love any of the names of the main characters in the Twilight Saga. (I’m now dodging the rocks, pencils, computer mice, and other objects that some of you are launching toward me.)

I love love love the last name Cullen. Great choice, Steph. Oh, and the fact that Hale is also a surname in the book makes me happy. But again, I had issue with other name choices. Edward? I know she was trying to be period correct to the turn of the century, but it’s not my favorite. Jacob? Yep, this one is okay. Bella? Bella means beautiful. The beauty of the name made me long for a character of grace and charm…and we all know that one of Bella’s main issues is that she’s a giant klutz. But, hey, this is my preference against the author’s. And as for the rest of the Cullen family, the only name I actually really liked because it “fit” the character was Alice.

But did my so-so feelings about the names in the story dissuade me from reading (more like devouring) the books? Not at all. The story hooked me so well that the names no longer mattered to me. Eddie and Jake made their way into my heart the same as millions of other readers.

One name that sticks with me is another from J.K. Rowling- Mathilda Hopkirk. I just like the way it rolls off the tongue.

When I’m naming my characters I start with names I like. Sometimes I research the background of the name–this is how I discovered that Molly and Mary both mean “bitter.” I definitely consider the spelling of the name. It has to be easy for the reader to pronounce (right, J.K. Rowling?) and I think the spelling lends itself to character traits.

For example, if a character’s name is Ashleigh, a reader might find the young woman to be more delicate or soft than if her name is Ashli or Ashlee. Or if his name is Max, his ethnicity can change if it becomes Maks.

As a teacher, I’ve had lists and lists of student names to use as reference for naming characters. In my mind, some of the names are synonymous with negative behavior, while others bring to mind the cute, cheerleader type, and yet others the studious scholar. These frames of reference help quite a lot in choosing names for characters.

A character’s name in a story, just like with people we know in real life, needs to be remembered.

Tips for naming:

It’s important to make the name unique and somewhat catchy, all while maintaining the essence of the character’s personality and making sure to be true to the story. For example, a wealthy aristocrat businessman from New York City should not be named Bubba or Skeeter, as an intelligent nuclear physicist probably shouldn’t be named Fifi or Duffy.

Keep it consistent. Don’t have too many nicknames for your characters throughout the story. Have your characters refer to each other consistently so that the reader is not confused.

When in doubt, keep it simple.

Even if your novel is rather fantastical, when all of your names are creative and unique, readers can find it difficult to remember and differentiate between them all. (Harry Potter is a good example again here- some of the names in the novels are creative & wild, others are normal and somewhat plain.)

Don’t give several characters in your book the same name. It works to have Kelly A., Kelly B., and Kelly C. in a kindergarten class, but not in a novel.

Also, if the name is too off the wall, not historically appropriate, or just plain doesn’t make sense (Abcde will not be a name featured in any of my novels), it takes the reader right out of the story and doesn’t allow them to connect with your character. So don’t look for any of the characters in my novel that deals with Islam to be named Bob.

Speaking of, how would you have liked for Bella to fall in love with Bob Cullen?

Share with me: What are some of your favorite names, both from books you’ve read and people you’ve known?

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Filed under Writing

Tagged as character names, Edward Cullen, Harry Potter, Jacob Black, Jennifer K. Hale, Ron Weasley

June 9, 2011 · 3:47 pm

Mommy “Me” Time- Pursuing Your Passions Purposefully

Imagine the following–

Mom #1 is a stay-at-homer, a homeschooler, who has several children of various ages and genders, and spends her days on housework, schoolwork, and shuttling kids from one activity to another. She’s organized, she’s intelligent, and she is creative. She likes to make sure that her kids are challenged, and she spends the majority of her time finding teachable lessons in every activity.

Mom # 2 is a stay-at-homer with young children. She spends her time cooking, cleaning, doing housework, picking up toys that keep getting vomited from the playroom, changing diapers, feeding babies, and chasing said children around until she’s too tired to function. Her prayer is that the baby will eventually be so exhausted that he’ll fall asleep and nap for at least one hour so that she can shower.

Mom #3 is a working mom. She works hard at her job all day and often has to bring that work home with her. Her kids spend their days in daycare or school, and mom often defers to take-out to feed the kids because the after-work hours are spent running to and from dance, soccer, baseball, tutoring, and every other activity under the sun. She wishes for some down time and looks forward to vacation.

Which mom are you? Most of us are a combination of these, but no matter what kind of mom you are, we all share one thing in common– the vast majority of our waking hours are spent doing things for other people.

And that is as it should be. “Me time” is a phrase that really shouldn’t exist in a mom’s verbal repertoire, because the moment one becomes a mother, “me time” ceases to exist. We all know that motherhood, when enjoyed properly, is a 24/7/365 job.

However, many mothers seem to lose their personal identity when their children come along. For example, if someone asked you to describe yourself, your answer would most likely begin with, “I’m a wife and mother…” and go on from there. But what if someone asked your children to describe you and what you like to do? Besides the tasks you complete out of responsibility, would they know how to describe who you are based on what you do and what you love outside of your family? Think about it for a minute– remove your children from the equation and really think about it– Who are you? What are you passionate about? What drives you, besides the love you no doubt have for your children? What are your hobbies? What sets you apart and adds to your identity?

Why is having a passion important?
Answering the above questions is a task that every woman should undertake. It is vitally important to the relationships you have in your life that you have a passion or hobby other than your kids. It’s also important to your own mental health. Having an identity outside of your children is part of being the amazing, individual woman that God created you to be. Show your children just how special you are and how special they can become by following their own passions. When you are passionate about something, not only can it be a wonderful example to your kids, but when your children are grown and gone, you’ll have something about yourself that remains “you,” maybe even something you can share with your spouse when you are empty nesters.

But while the nest is full, find your passion. Do you write? Read? Teach? Sew? Cook? Decorate cakes? Sing? Play a sport? Are you passionate about politics? Travel? Horseback riding? Do you enjoy volunteer work? Are you a movie buff? And the list goes on and on…

Let’s say you have discovered your passion. How do you effectively pursue that “me time” in order to maintain a healthy balance between yourself and your family and not go overboard in either direction? Here are some tips to pursuing your passion purposefully.

Get involved. Don’t be “sort of” passionate. Find something you love and go for it! If you can’t figure out what you are passionate about, start with your talents or hobbies. The world of the blogosphere is incredible- begin reading blogs that discuss your talents or hobbies and you might just discover a passion there. Consider starting a blog yourself. You might find that blogging becomes your passion.

If you have been wanting to lose weight, consider that your passion may be in getting healthy or working out. This is a great passion to extend to your family. Perhaps you are passionate about politics. Consider volunteering on a local campaign. Passionate about music? Consider joining your local church choir. Love teaching? How about volunteering to teach Sunday school? Perhaps consider starting a tutoring service. Love photography? Take some classes at a local university and start snapping those shots! Love to read? Consider starting a book review blog for your friends and family or simply joining a book club. Love to cook? Take a cooking class or a cake decorating class. A hobby like this could actually become a lucrative business. Passionate about helping others but don’t know how? Contact your church for a list of suggestions of areas where you could volunteer, or consider contacting a nursing home to see if you could volunteer to be a “buddy” and spend time sitting and talking with some of their residents each week. Not only will you be pursuing your passions, you’ll be blessing someone else! There are literally thousands of ideas, but you have to decide where your passions lie.

Be realistic. We sometimes cannot help what we are passionate about, but if you find that your passions lie with sword fighting, for example, stick to proper fencing lessons and stay away from dangerous sword play. We encourage our kids to think about safety first, and so should we. Also, wait until your kids are grown to pursue a passion such as archaeology. If you leave for a dig site in Egypt and miss the actual childhood of your kids, you’ve kind of missed the point. Stick to books about archaeology until you really do have the time to pursue such a passion, or one like it.

Get on a schedule. Putting your family on a schedule, one that includes your family activities as well as meal times, bed times, wake-up times (important for summer), TV times, nap times, school time, etc., will help you figure out when you can carve out a tiny bit of time for yourself in order to pursue your passion. Let’s be realistic, though. The majority of moms will be unable to make time for themselves daily. Try for once a week, and then see if you are able to add on. A regular nap time & bed time are not only healthy for your kids, they will provide an excellent source of time that you might be able to take advantage of!

Find support. If you need help, ask for it. Ask your hubby to pitch in around the house occasionally so that you might have a bit of time for your passion or hobby. If need be, get a babysitter. If you have friends who love to do the same thing that you do, organize a childcare swap so that you can each take turns doing what it is that you love.

Make mealtime a priority. In this fast-paced world where even the two year old has a day planner scheduled with play dates and time at the kids’ gym, meal time is the best time for your family to reconnect. Multiple studies have shown that families who eat dinner together regularly are less likely to have rebellious teens, dissolving relationships, and promote healthy communication between kids and their parents. Plus, it’s just fun! Turn the TV off, gather around the table, and when possible, let fast-food be a rarity. (The kids will look forward to the treat!)

Include your kids. Whatever it is that you love, introduce it to your kids! They may not love it as much as you do, but exposing your children to your passions will encourage self-confidence (Look at how Mom really goes for it when she plays tennis!), indulge their creativity (Mom makes great pottery. I wonder if I can do that? Maybe I can even paint!), encourage their imagination (I love talking to Mom about her writing. I wonder if I can tell stories, too.), and enhance their compassion (Mom really likes helping people. I think I want to volunteer at the shelter, too.), among other things. Of course, the point is to carve out time for yourself so that this is a solo activity, but exposing your kids is a necessity if you are going to take time away from them to pursue it. They’ll be able to see the passion in you, and it will rub off on them as they begin to discover their own passions in life.

Girl time is not “me time.” Many of us enjoy the privilege of getting together occasionally with our girlfriends. An evening out with them does not count as pursuing your passions. Sure, we love our friends, but we’re talking about making time for something; some talent, some hobby or passion, that we can pursue on our own. If your passion happens to overlap with girl time (like playing on a softball team) then, great!

Make memories. Life is about living, and many moms feel “stuck” in the rut of the day-in day-out monotony. Use your passions to help you and your family make memories.

Most importantly: Don’t let a hobby become an obsession. There’s a huge difference between pursuing a passion and neglecting family time. Be careful that you stick to your schedule and remember that no matter how passionate you are about what you are doing, you should be even more passionate about spending time with your family. Remember that passion does not equal obsession. With all of the other things moms have to balance, you don’t want the precious time you’re spending on your hobby or passion to outweigh the time you’re spending with your husband and kids.

Being a mom is one of the best gifts and privileges that God has given us. But it’s not all that we are. Make your relationship with Christ your first priority, your family your second, and somewhere on your list, make some time for pursuing your passions, too.

I love being a writer. I’m passionate about my stories, and I use the daily afternoon naptime/quiet time to write. I also often sacrifice sleep to write. I don’t recommend that. Sometimes I go back and read it and realize that all I typed in the dark of night was exhaustion-induced gibberish!

What are your passions and how do you pursue them?

I am a writer.

Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. -Psalm 37:4

Once again, God has taken my calm, “planned,” mapped-out life that is driven by my Type-A personality and given it a good shake, which never ceases to surprise and amaze me with results that are always way outside of what I could have imagined for myself.

As many of you know, my professional career began in the classroom. I was a high school History and Social Studies teacher; a career that I loved and would like to return to at some point. However, once my oldest son came along, I felt the Lord leading me to step away from my job and become a stay-at-home mom.

I’ve always been an avid reader. I can devour an 800 page novel in no time, which really sort of freaks my husband out. I particularly like the genre of inspirational (Christian) fiction, and for years I’d read a book and then think to myself, “I can do this.” So, awhile back, I tried it. Yep, I wrote a novel. A couple of them, actually.

After much prayer and consideration, I sent my novels out and with much excitement, signed with an amazing literary agent who is currently shopping one of my novels while I work on getting the other ready and busily create new stories to be published.

So, once again my life has taken an unexpected, wonderful, exciting turn. I am a writer. I am a write-from-home mom. Hopefully you will soon be able to purchase one of my novels at your local bookstore (or download it, for you e-reader people). In the meantime, here is what I need you to do for me: I would love and appreciate your support and your prayers as my family and I embark on this journey. The world of publishing is a wonderful, frustrating one that comes with many highs and lows, but can be an amazing place to be in ministry and glorify the Lord.

I hope to be the kind of writer that creates not only inspirational historical and contemporary fiction, but brings a little reality to the world of cookie-cutter, predictable fiction. There are some amazing authors out there, and I hope to one day be blessed enough to be among them. Until then, please continue to support my blog, follow me on Twitter, follow me on Facebook, and let your friends know about the things I’m writing here.

Thanks!!
xoxo
~Jennifer K. Hale

*PS- I hope this news now explains to many of my friends and family why I seem to be at my computer so much. It’s not because I have hours to goof around on facebook (ha!). It is, of course, because I’m writing whenever possible. Thanks for your support!

*PPS (or is it PSS?) Help me out with your prayers and support and I promise to give you little tastes of whatever I’m working on. 🙂