Why is it Necessary to Name all the Characters in our Books?

 When I started writing, I disliked naming all the characters in my books. Giving a name to the main character and the secondary characters was tough enough so I often took the easy way out by not naming the other characters. I didn’t want to tax my brain by coming up with unusual story ideas as well as unique names for the characters.

The other characters would be left without an identity: the watchman, the principal, the teacher, the neighbour and the watchman’s cat would be anonymous creatures just making a few appearances and then doing the disappearing act.

As I waded deeper into my writing career, I realized that it is extremely important to name the other characters as giving a name creates a mental picture in our mind about the character. With the picture comes the character’s looks and style of dressing in mind. It also helps us in creating more rounded characters. Nameless characters are akin to cardboard cut-outs which lack personality and appeal.

I find it easy to visualize a character after I have bestowed a name on it. For every story/book I write nowadays, I spend a little name giving names which I feel will suit my characters.  Once a name drops into my mind, it brings with it a tiny mental picture of the character with it. With the mental picture in place, I weave a bit of back-story and give it a personality, looks and mannerisms.

I do try to go for unusual names, but not very exotic or tongue-twisting ones which can give the readers a verbal paralysis. Indian names by and large are not easy on the tongue. One of my CP’s who is an Indian, went nuts trying to pronounce the difficult names of my characters. Her critique was, “ I loved the first ten pages, but, honey, please go easy on the names. I had an extremely difficult time pronouncing the names.”

How are you in naming the characters? Do you spend time thinking of the names, or do you just pick a name randomly. Is it important for you to go for exotic names or you prefer simple, easy to pronounce names? Is a name synonymous with the character’s personality for you? Please share your views on naming characters.

   

            

Are you in Favour of Pen Names?

A pen name  or a nom de plume is a pseudonym adopted by an author. Its sometimes used to make the author’s name more distinctive or to disguise their gender (as in the case of J.K Rowling, her publishers were worried that boys may not read books if they realized they are written by a female), to distance an author from all of his /her works, to protect the author from retribution for their writings and for several other reasons either related to marketing or for aesthetic reasons. Most of these author’s real names were known only to the publishers.

Many times authors used pen names when their real names were likely to be confused with that of another author or a notable individual. Some authors who regularly write in more than one genre use different pen names for each. Romance writer  Nora Roberts  writes  erotic thrillers under the pen name J.D. Robb, and Samuel Langhorne Clemens used the aliases "Mark Twain" and "Sieur Louis de Conte" for different works. Similarly, an author who writes both fiction and non-fiction (such as the mathematician and fantasy writer Charles Dodgson, who wrote as  Lewis Carroll) may use a pseudonym for fiction writing.

I have never been in favour of pen names. I would always wonder why some writers adopted pen names. For me its always my full name that is a part of my byline ( for the newspaper articles) and books, and stories that have appeared in anthologies.    

          

 There are several reasons for using pen names. Occasionally a pen name is employed to avoid overexposure. Prolific authors for pulp magazines often had two and sometimes three short stories appearing in one issue of a magazine; the editor would create several fictitious author names to hide this from the readers. Robert A. Heinlen wrote stories under pseudonyms so that more of his works could be published in a single magazine.  Stephen King published four novels under the name Richard Bachman because publishers didn't feel the public would buy more than one novel per year from a single author. Eventually, after critics found a large number of style similarities, publishers revealed Bachman's true identity.

Sometimes a pen name is used because an author believes that his name does not suit the genre he is writing in. I find this reason very strange. What do names have to do with genres. A reader would pick a book depending on the blurb or review and not because he/she liked the sound of the author’s name.

Western novelist Pearl Gray dropped his first name and changed the spelling of his last name to become Zane Grey because he believed that his real name did not suit the Western genre. Romance novelist Angela Knight writes under that name instead of her actual name (Julie Woodcock) because of the double entendre of her surname in the context of that genre. Edward Gorey had dozens of pseudonyms, apparently for his own amusement, each one an anagram of his real name.

I think I am too much in love with my name to use another one for writing. What do you all feel about pen names? Are you in favour of them?  Have you ever used them? What would you have wanted as your pen name? Please share your views with us.

The Benefits of a Break

Hope the holiday season has rejuvenated and refreshed everyone. And I also hope that 2012 will be a great year in each and every way, for all of us.

The two week break that I took from blogging as well as other things in life has refreshed me in several ways: I have come back with a renewed vigour to tackle the onerous task of querying a new bunch of agents, with a query that I think is quite decent. I utilized the break to research  more agents (aren't I funny).

During my break I caught up with family and close friends, went out for lunches ( as the college was closed for the Christmas holidays) and read and read. Reading is one pleasure that I would hate to give up in life. The relaxed pace of life has helped me quite a bit. It has literally lulled my writing stress to sleep. Thank God, for that.    

                 

I am also excited about the book I am writing. I have finished one-third of the story (though this is just the first draft). The remaining two-thirds has me excited beyond measure. I hope to finish the first draft by the end of this month. Another thing that I am enjoying is going with the flow for this current story.    

           

I think putting away the Middle Grade Paranormal Trilogy and moving away from it: both mentally and physically, has done me a world of good. I am fretting less and my stress level too has come down. Perhaps it was not the right time for that story. Maybe, God meant for me to write that story later.

I also connected with two awesome writers; one from Canada and the other from America. In one of my emails with Angela Ackerman, while we were discussing my submission process, Angela volunteered to help me polish my query.  Dear Angela has been simply awesome with her insight. Gosh, just by going through my query she has grasped my story. With Angela’s help I have managed to write a decent query. My fingers are crossed.

Another awesome writer from America, Mark Noce has volunteered to read my collection of stories (Mark sure is a brave guy). I am sure that he will come up with an amazing insight where my stories are concerned.

I also want to thank each and every one of you for all the support you all have extended to me and my blog and for being a part of my writing life. Just wanted to let you all know, that I missed you all a lot.

Now tell me, what did you all do during the holiday season and what are your plans for this year. I am eager to hear it all.