Category: writing

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contests writing

Made of Awesome Contest Entry – Opening Round

Per Shelley Watters guidelines for her Made of Awesome Contest (LINK), below are the first 250 words of my manuscript.  Good luck to everyone invovled!

Title: Undead Chaos
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Word Count: 82,771 words

Every so often a single event changes your life forever.  For some it’s the appearance of a lost love.  For others, it’s discovering your inner passion. 
For me, it was killing a woman’s husband. 
       
“I’m looking for Marcus Shifter,” the lady on the phone said.  There was a muffled banging noise in the background.
           
“That’s me,” I said, pausing the movie I was watching.
“My name is Carly Banks and I was told you were the magician to call for unusual problems.”
           
“We call ourselves Skilled, Ms. Banks,” I corrected, grabbing a notepad off my coffee table and jotting her name down.
“Whatever.  All that matters is whether or not you can help me.  I need an experienced fixer who doesn’t ask questions.  You aren’t a government magic-guy, are you?”
I pinched the bridge of my nose.  “Technically I am a licensed Combat Warlock for the Delwinn Council, but I do a lot of freelance work.  Odd jobs are my specialty.” 
“How odd?” 
I’d heard that many times.  “People have different definitions of the word, Ms. Banks.  What’s yours?”
“My husband died a month ago and now he’s on my lawn with a shotgun.” 
“That works,” I said.  “Give me the details.”
“Anthony, the cheating bastard, had a heart attack the day I kicked him out.  Three nights ago he showed up on my lawn. He was gone the next morning, so I figured it was a just a bad dream.  Then he returned last night and chased my boyfriend off the property.  Tonight he’s armed.”
Categories
names writing

What’s in a Name?

I’m always fascinated by the names authors come up with for their characters. On one side of the spectrum, there are the Tolkien-esque ones that are juicy morsels of literature and which pleasantly roll off the tongue. Who doesn’t enjoy saying names like Gimli, Frodo, Legalos, Gandalf, etc. They are names that have texture and feeling to them.  
On the other end of the spectrum are the common, everyday names.  You know what I’m talking about. These are the ones that are just “there.” Ones that feel as if the author went, “How about Bill? Bill’s good, right?” Not that there’s anything wrong with a Bill or an Anne, of course. Depending on the genre, these names may fit perfectly and there are thousands of books that you just can’t put down at 2 in the morning that has a MC with a “basic” name.
Which begs the question, how do authors come up with the name for their characters?
More likely than not, the answer is, “It depends on the writer.” I get that, but I’d love to know what motivates them to sit down and dub a character “Bill” or “Legalos.” Was there a “Bill” in the author’s life that they picture in their heads when they write or is it just a name they picked from thin air? Did Tolkien dream of a future Orlando Bloom when he penned “Legalos” for the first time?
The reason I ask is because, as readers and writers, there is a connection to our characters. A lot of people want their MCs to stand out (one way or another) and a catchy name is certainly helpful. But the side-characters are also our creations. “Amy,” may just be a waitress pouring the MC coffee at a diner, but is there a back-story in the writer’s head about her? Did he/she picture a red-haired beauty they ran into at the Cracker Barrel several years ago? Or is it just a filler name for a shapeless husk that ultimately means nothing to the story?
Names define people. They provide identity and uniqueness even if someone else shares the same one. Maybe our parents spent ages trying to think of the right name or, like my folks, maybe they just picked something on a whim. Either way, once it’s ours, we own it.  
And our characters are no different.

So, writers, how do you come up with the names in your stories?

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