It's All About the Characters II

Last week I mentioned the importance of character names. Superficial as we are, we draw a lot of meaning out of names. And consider who your character is named after?  Who named him, mom or dad?  Does she have a name that indicates parental personality expectations?  Chastity?  Felicity?  And has your character grown into her name, or taken a stance in opposition to it, like fictional adventurer Modesty Blaise? 

Last names, of course, often indicate nationality with all the assumptions they bring.  If you have a fellow named Patrick O’Connor and he isn’t Irish, you’d better tell us quickly, because we’ve already slotted him.  And in fact if he isn’t, there’s a story there that will tell us a good deal about him. 

Similarly, nicknames tell us a lot about your character, but we need to know if he took the nick himself or if someone stuck him with it.  If you introduce me to Tiny I expect a giant. If her pals call her brain, she might be the one who always has a plan, or she might be an idiot.  Either way, the fact that she accepted that nickname tells us about her confidence level and self-image.

 

It’s best to show character thru actions, and not just in thrillers. Explore the character’s hobbies, unusual talents and pet peeves.  Readers love to read about people who like the movies they like, read the books they read, or love the same foods they love.  We all have little quirks, bad habits and odd compulsions.  If your character always salts his food, twists a lock of her hair when she’s nervous or checks his e-mail six times a day, people will both relate to that and remember that. 

Consider post war detective Nero Wolfe spoke little and kept his feelings to himself. He wasn’t even the point of view character. Yet he seemed like an old friend to some readers for two reasons.  His author, Rex Stout, meticulously detailed his loving care of the orchids he cultivated, and he showed you, in great detail, Wolfe’s gourmet eating habits AND love of a good beer.

 

Wolfe exemplifies the concept that good characters must have both common traits and some unusual ones. Remember this: ordinary things (like wanting a beer with lunch) make a character believable. Unique traits (like cultivating orchids in Manhattan) make a character memorable.

Next week I’ll share how good acting advice can help writers.

What's in a Name?

When we create fictional characters they have to become real to us.  We see them in our minds, hear their voices, and notice their personal habits.  To know them well we decide where they’re from, what they do for a living and every aspect of their lives.  Of all those details, how important is the character’s name? And if names matter, how do you choose them?

For most writers names aren’t random choices.  That’s good because as superficial as we are, we draw a lot of meaning out of a person’s name.  That means you can pack a lot of meaning INTO a character’s name.  For example, my detective Hannibal Jones has a very common last name, indicating an everyman.  His father named him after the only African military conqueror he could name, the man who led elephants in his army and almost defeated the Roman legions. 

So when you have a significant character to name, who is your character named after?  Who named him, mom or dad?  Does she have a name that indicates parental personality expectations, like Chastity or Felicity?  And that is the case, has your character grown into her name, or taken a stance in opposition to it, like fictional adventurer Modesty Blaise? 

Last names are revealing too, because they often indicate nationality with all the assumptions they bring.  If you have a fellow named Patrick O’Connor in your book, and he ISN’T Irish, you’d better tell us right away because your readers will have already slotted him.  And in fact if he isn’t, there’s probably a great story there that will tell us a good deal about him. 

Similarly, nicknames tell us a lot about your character.  If you give your character a nickname, you’ll need to know if he took the nick himself or if someone stuck him with it.  Some choices are obvious.  If you introduce me to Tiny I expect a giant.  But if her pals call her Brain, she might be the one who always has a plan, OR she might be an idiot.  Either way, the fact that she accepted that nickname tells us about her confidence level and self-image.

So how do you find the right name for that imaginary person?  The phone book?  Names of people you know?  Or some gut instinct?  Let me know YOUR method, and how important names are to your fiction.