Writing 101 Redux: Naming Characters

Today's Throwback Thursday covers a fundamental storytelling tool that all writers need to know: how to name a character.

Get all the tricks for naming characters, and find out where to go to make it easier, in this TBT Writing 101.

Writing 101: By the Way, No One Gets It

As a writer, part of your job is to describe new settings, scenarios and ways of life to readers. I personally will never know what it's like to be an ER nurse who is helping the police investigate a series of hospital murders, but I can go find that book and read all about it. You can put your readers anywhere and make them feel anything...with one exception. When you try to tell ordinary civilians what you're personally going through as a writer, they won't ever really get it.

Ever.

Screaming at the Wind

Have you ever stood outside and screamed into the wind? It rips your voice away and swallows your syllables, until there's nothing left but you, standing there with a red face. This exercise is actually more effective than trying to explain what it's like to be a writer to all your friends and family.

Writing 101: Backups of My Backups

I took it upon myself to start counting the other day, and found no less than 7 different files across my devices that were named "manuscript." It's the title I use when I really have no title at all (which I change once I finally figure it out). And here's the twist to the story: those 7 files are not a mistake I made. They're all the same book. When I write, I make backups of my backups. This is a post about why you should, too.

Crazy

When it comes to your books, it pays to be just a little obsessive-compulsive. It's a good idea to be just a little bit -- I said a little bit! -- crazy. Like me. And seriously, I'm a lunatic about backing stuff up. I'll tell you how you can be, too.

Writing 101: Are You Too Emotionally Attached?

It takes a writer to create a horror story, because writers know horror. If your computer has ever imploded and erased your files, if you've ever lost that chapter and don't know where it went, if you've ever been held hostage by a crazy woman and was forced to burn a manuscript, then you know how to answer this question: are you too emotionally attached?


$&!/ Happens

I really don't care who you are or what your process is. If you write long enough, at some point something is going to happen. There will be a random bolt of lightning, a system wide crash, a cat that jumps on the keyboard and somehow manages to reset the hard drive in 10 seconds when you couldn't figure out how to do it in three hours while reading the user's manual. You will, no matter what, lose some of your writing. You may lose a few pages, an entire chapter, or even a whole manuscript. It's going to happen no matter how careful you are. And when it does, you'll find out pretty quickly whether or not you're too emotionally attached. Since you're a writer, you probably are. But you can't be, because the world is full of cats and lightning.

Writing 101 Redux: Should You Ever Give Up?

Should you ever give up on being a writer? At some point, are you just wasting your own time and everyone else's? To answer the question, I'm going to re-visit one of my favorite former Writing 101 posts. 

Today's Throwback Thursday tip will help you answer the question of whether or not you should ever give up on your writing, and I'm not pulling any punches. 

Writing 101: How to Make a Word

The English language has more words in it than I personally think is necessary. The vocabulary is so big, experts can only guess at how many words there actually are. That's because language is a changing thing, something that's always evolving. You can actually force some of those changes yourself. You just need to know how to make a word. 

The Right Words

I'm not a big fan of inventing words, because like I said the language is already too big, but if you're going to do it you may want to try using a formula. There's a really easy way to invent new words, and people have been using it for years. Just add -ish. 

Writing 101: Even If I Over-Use Even...

Every writer has flashes of insight every so often, and thankfully I am no exception. And just the other day, while I was proofreading something, I had to scold myself aloud. I had to tell myself something: you use the word "even" too much. And I do. Are you doing it, too?

Even If I Do...

It's not the first problem I've had with "empty" words that don't really lend anything to the story that I'm writing. I even wrote an entire post about my weird habit of preceding most of my sentences with "it seems" for a long period of time. Mark Twain had a problem with the word "very." Right now, I'm even over-using "even" -- so often that I keep finding little ways to slip it into my writing, even now. 

Writing 101: Writing Exercise

Stuck? Don't know what to write next? Can't create something that works? It's okay. I have a writing exercise that can help you with all of that. 

Just Keep Swimming

Sylvia Plath practically wrote an entire chapter about trying to start a book in The Bell Jar. I've stared at blank screens way more times than I'd like to admit. Sometimes, just getting started with something is the hardest possible writing you'll have to do. There's a way to fix it, and it's easier than you think.

What's the key to shaking yourself out of that funk and turning a blank screen into big chunks of text? Just keep swimming.