Naming Characters

My (limited) experience has shown me that if you write a lot and have a lot of characters, you're eventually gonna meet someone with the same name as one of your characters.

I have a lot of trouble with names. I find the ones that you think up on the spot without putting any thought into it work the best. They're probably quite common and boring but once you get used to them, they just work.

I find that over thinking and trying to come up with a name is just a waste of energy. Still, that doesn't stop me from doing it. I could spend hours thinking up names and never manage to get one!

Anyway, back to the point. The other day I was looking at an old plan for a screenplay i was thinking of writing and there were only four characters and one of them has the same name as a friend of mine. Of course, I didn't know the friend when I chose the names. This, luckily, doesn't really matter as I don't intend to write that script anymore.

But in Meowsie I have a character called Stacy. She's a minor character, but quite an important one. But since naming her I have become friends with a girl called Stacey. And now I'm so used to writing her name that I keep spelling my character's name Stacey rather than Stacy. Only a minor problem, but that's not the point.

Anyway this post is getting a little long and is a bit scattered and nonsensical, so I'll cut the final part short.

Meowsie has lots of characters. I've had to write a list of them all just so I don't forget their names, which has happened before. There are five main characters (three of which are main-main characters (is there a word for that?)), about four secondary characters, lots of tertiary characters and a good handful of villains. So it gets a bit confusing sometimes.

That's what you get, though, when you develop a whole world for your books. I'll touch on this in a later post, but for now, see ya.

Writer's Block

Today I sat down to tackle my 1,000 words and I found myself a little blocked. I tried, but I really just wasn't in the mood for writing. I managed to get down around 200 words. Of course, even if you're not a writer, I don't have to introduce this long-feared condition to you. But I will anyway.

Writer's block.

Luckily, in my case, I think it was just due to being in an unpleasant mood. I've recently fell into a very, very bad sleep cycle (last night i fell asleep around 6:30 am), so I intend to spend some of that time tonight writing and hopefully getting to a 12k total.

Of couse after that I have to tackle the sleep cycle, which won't be easy. I think I'm officially nocturnal now, since the sun was up the whole time I slept last night/morning/afternoon.

So wish me luck.

Forget 'Beginning, Middle, End...'

First point: The daily goal thing has been going pretty well and I've been regularly exceeding it. I've aimed for 1,000 words per day and by the fifth day I have just over 8,000 words written. Yay me.

Second point: As much as it pains me to say this, I was wrong. I take back what I say about the chapter-by-chapter plans, at least in my case. But hey, we all make mistakes. It seemed like a good idea at first and the point still stands that it is a big help for writer's block, but after five days of writing i've found that it stifles my creativity.

I'm still following a basic version of the plan that I have stored in my head, but I'm mainly making it up as I go along now, which is working well and I'm starting to get into the flow of things, which brings me to --

My main point: after getting past the difficult opening, which I always struggle with in everything I write, I'm starting to get the hang of it. Now everything's coming to me quite quickly and boy, I'm loving it!

This had led me to a little theory of mine. I think a manuscript - be it a novel, novella, novelette or whatever - can be split into three sections, from a writing point of view that is.

These sections are the opening - the awkward part where nothing much is happened because you can't just jump to the point, but you have to introduce everything and still be interesting. This is, in my opinion, the most difficult stage or writing.

Second, the body - the majority of the manuscript, where the story unfolds and it gets easier to write. The most enjoyable part from most writers, I reckon.

Third, the very end - the last chapter or even just the last page where the writer has to think of an ending that will wrap the story up nicely and make the reader pause for a moment and smile before moving onto their next book. It can be easy to worry about this and fret about what you're going to write, although, thankfully, it's not as difficult as writing the opening. Plus, once you've finished, it'll make you pause and smile, too. Nothing like the sense of accomplishment in finishing something you've written.

So, it may just be me, but that's my opinion. Thoughts?

Progress, Progress

So, I've been trying the daily goal plan for two days now and I'm doing pretty well. It took me about two and a half hours the first day but I got just over 1,000 words. The second day took less time, but I still managed it.

I'm now on the third day and I haven't started writing yet. I've decided to do it in the evening instead today. I should probably write in the mornings and stick to that but I'm really not a morning person. And I mean really, really.

One problem I've found, though, is that it's moving along really fast, which isn't a bad thing, but it means it will probably be very short. Which means I'll have to pad it up with some random bits which probably won't be all that interesting.

I don't know how much of a problem it is until the first draft is done, though, so I'll have to wait and see.

Daily Goal

Now that I've started writing the first draft of the first Meowsie novel, I've decided to give myself a daily goal to work towards. It will help me focus and make sure I get the book done in a reasonable amount of time.

I currently have a month's vacation and nothing to do in that time so I played with the possibility of writing the whole novel in that time - like my own personal NaNoWriMo. But I figured, If I set my goal at 1,000 words, I will only have around a 25k book at the end of the month, which isn't very long. So I'll either have to write more or write past a month.

So, for now I'm setting my goal at 1,000 words and I may make that higher if I fell I am ready for it.

I would certainly advise other authors out there to use a goal-system like this.

Chapter-by-Chapter

So this is a pretty good way to plan a novel, I reckon. If you're going to have difficulties with length, it'll show you that before you start writing. If you're prone to writers block, this should help, as you'll always know what to write next. And it gives you something to aim for with each chapter.

For anyone who can't guess by the title, it basically includes planning out what happens in each chapter of your novel from start to finish. Simple.

I would advise it, although for some writers and even for some particular projects, it might not be the right thing. Sometimes it's just easier to write as you go along.

Sub-plots and Word-counts

So I'm a little bit stuck on a subplot. I have zero ideas. But I need one. Mainly to pad out the novel and make it that bit longer, as not much happens in the A story, so I need a B story.

My previous two drafts of the first novel (which vary GREATLY from the next one I'm about to write), both clocked in at about 25k, which isn't many words. Although one was written when I was very young, and the other was rushed.

This then brings me to the next concern: how many words should I write?

Most people classify a novel as having 50k words or more, but most novels are much longer than that. Young Adult or Children's novels, however, will have less words than an adult's novel and I think Meowsie falls into the former. So I'm just gonna have to write and see how many words I get, then I can pad it out or cut it down when I rewrite.

Also, interestingly, Marienbad My Love is claimed by it's author, Mark Leach, to be the longest novel ever at 17,000,000 words. He also claims it contains the longest English sentence (with 3 million words). It was released online in 2008.

All I can say is whoa mama.

Openings

This is a problem I've recently run in to. And I'm sure it's a problem for many writers, too.

The opening of your novel.

So, you know what's going to happen. You know what the complication is, you know who the bad guy is, and you know how the whole thing is gonna be resolved. And then your mind turns to the opening. And the anvil drops right on your head.

Do you introduce your characters? Do you jump right into the whole thing starting?

I decided to start by introducing the three main characters, one in each chapter, as they go about the beginning of a normal day of their lives. I'll make this interesting by adding an amusing comedy scene, and once all this is out of the way I can jump to the part where the day takes a turn for the worst.

And the best part, even if the opening comes out terrible, I can forget about it and worry about the rest of the novel. I'll worry about the opening again when I start to rewrite.

And that's probably true for most authors. So don't fret. Hm. Fret. That's a funny word.

So, What is Meowsie?

Meowsie is the series of novels I plan to write. It's a rather cliched idea: three siblings find out they have powers over the elements and fight a bad guy. The twist? They're dogs. In fact, almost every character is a dog. The whole thing is set in a civilized world of anthropomorphic dogs.

Sound weird? You bet. It's a comedy/fantasy and it's quite quirky. It doesn't take itself too seriously, which helps when it has such a ridiculous storyline.

And that's about it for now. I'll tell you more as I write.

Why Self Publish?

There are different reasons to self publish a book as opposed to traditional publishing. As far as I figure, there are three main reasons:

1 - You have a manuscript that you probably can't get published traditionally, and you're afraid to even query.
2 - You want to keep complete control over the project. That is, you don't want to give up your power to decide the blurb, the cover and everything else.
3 - Your book is designed for a small audience, perhaps for just your family, your book club, your fellow AA members.

1 and 2 apply to me. As great as my books may be, the characters are anthropomorphic dogs. Which may not make the publishers salivate. Even if I can get it publsihed traditionally, there's number 2. I'm a control freak. And completely anal. I don't like the thought of having no input on what the cover should look like. What if they get it wrong? What if it looks ugly? What if they make a stupid mistake like squashing all the text onto the spine, when the second book has an even longer title and will make the spine look ridiculous if they follow with the same design? And what if they don't follow the same design?

You see what I mean?

On the other hand, traditional publishing means you don't have to worry about any of that. Once the book is complete, you can sit back, relax and wait for it to hit the shelves and money to start rolling in while you live the hedonistic, narcissistic lifestyle with someone stood above you all day fanning you and feeding you grapes. Although, even then, you need to hire a second person to run to the store when you run out of grapes...

My point is, everone who self-publishes has their own reason for it. Whats yours?

Welcome.

Boredom. That's largely the reason this blog came out. What's it's purpose? I hear you ask.

Well, I'm an aspiring author. And there's a series of books I intend to write and self-publish and I figure there may be some people out there interested in hearing how that all works. Maybe even someone in the same situation. Hence: blog.

So I intend to use this blog to chronicle my journey, start to finish, plan to book. If I ever get there, and believe me, it's doubtful sometimes.

So, please, keep reading, and enjoy! :-)