Hi all,
As you might know from reading my Dracula-Phantom series, I am interested in the intersection of immortal beings and theology. I just wanted to discuss two thoughts with respect to this.
First: Til death do us part? Or is a marriage dissolved once a human becomes a vampire?
Several months ago, there were a couple of good discussions that I read on several “Moonlight” blogs about this idea, in other words, is Mick still considered married in the eyes of God even though he became a vampire? I’ve heard both for and against and just wanted to add my opinion on the matter. I write vampires as being sentient beings and not changing their personality as they enter immortality. Though having lived a long life, the vampire’s personality may change and shift, though these changes I show as ones that are affected by what happens after they become a vampire (their responses to conflicts in their long life). Therefore, since I ‘see’ immortals as still possessing their own ‘souls’ so to speak, that is, intrinsically being the same person before and directly after the change (though their long life, not their vampirism may ultimately affect their personality), I also would think that they would consider themselves spiritually ‘bound’ to their respective partners (definition of marriage in Christianity) even after their ‘death’. So yeah, I feel that the human now vampire doesn’t get ‘out of’ his/her marital obligations by just becoming immortal. In my opinion the ‘til death do you part’ refers more to the true death, not to immortality, which is just way to be alive
The other topic about vampires and religion that I‘ve always thought about is the idea of “Do all vampires go to heaven?” in other words, could an immortal being be “OK” in the eyes of their creator even though they’re a vampire? I’ve always been a person who thought that doing good works and helping out one’s fellow human being would count the most about where one would be ‘good enough’ for heaven. Therefore, I’d say “yeah, I think a vampire could go to heaven?” Would it be ‘tougher’ for him/her to ‘get in’? Probably. But then, if you read the Bible, Jesus says that it’s tough for rich people as well. So then, a vampire just has to work a bit harder.
If you’ve watched the great vampire television series that aired in the mid-90s (and is now on DVDs) called “Forever Knight” they aired an episode where Nick Knight (vampire cop) ‘died’ for a few minutes and met an angel. The angel told him that he could not get into heaven unless he became human again. It was a wonderful, thought provoking episode (as were most of the episodes of the show) but ultimately, I find that I have to disagree with their philosophy.
So, those are just some of my views on vampires, religion and immortality. As I’ve said, I’m always interested in these types of issues so expect to see more in my future blog posts.
Take care all,
Chris
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Thursday, March 27, 2008
“The Coffin vs. Bed debate: Do more 'moral' vampires sleep in beds?
Hi all,
Just one question for all the writers reading this blog. Where does your vampire sleep? Notice, I didn’t ask about with whom. That’s material for another post:)
But yeah, so does your immortal character sleep in a bed or in a coffin. Because the more and more I’ve thought about it recently, the more it reflects and affects the character. Let me provide some examples. In my Dracula-Phantom universe, my Dracula character first starts out using a coffin (as in the Stoker book). However, once Mina comes to live by his side, he switches to a bed. While making love in a coffin can be thrilling and fun once in awhile, I decided to have my vampire characters sleep in a bed (though the pillow and mattress are filled with dirt from his country) because I thought it would not be comfortable for two beings to sleep in a confined space night after night. Intuitively, I also felt that by sleeping in a bed, Dracula could begin to ‘reconnect’ with his humanity. And the more I think about this idea, the more I feel I made the correct decision.
There were two very well written vampire series on television recently. One was Blood Ties and the other, Moonlight. It was interesting to see that while both vampires are ‘moral’, they have different sleeping arrangements. Henry (BT), sleeps in a regular bed, though he does have cool shades that block out the sunlight. Mick St. John (Moonlight) must sleep in a freezer-like coffin, it seems, to maintain his immortality. What made me really think deeply about how where one’s vampire character sleeps and how it affects/reflects their character was the wonderful recent episode of “Moonlight” where Mick becomes human for awhile and one of his favorite things to do, besides eating all different types of food, is sleeping on his couch with a blanket. This action makes the character feel more human and we, as viewers, also get the sense that being able to do something that the character has done back when they were human (sleep in a bed) is comforting and important for them to feel more mortal. Finally, the fact that Mick must sleep every night in a freezer will eventually affect his intimate relationship (if they move toward one) with Beth. This detail provides a 'road block' of sorts for Mick to become totally intimate with Beth. Certaintly, the vampire character has the ability to make love, but both he and Beth cannot spend the entire night together in bed. To stay immortal, Mick must return to his coffin. Again, a small detail (Mick must sleep in a coffin) can affect the chacter's life (intimacy with Beth).
How do famous vampire authors deal with this bed vs. coffin idea? Much like other issues, it varies. Anne Rice (The Vampire Chronicles) has her vampire characters sleep in coffins while interestingly, Laurell K. Hamilton (Anita Blake series) has her vampires able to sleep and make love in beds with mortals during the evening hours but prefer to move to the coffin to sleep in during the daylight (presumably, when their souls ‘depart’ for the day).
So, is there a connection between being a ‘good’ vampire and sleeping in a bed? Do all ‘evil’ vampires sleep in coffins? I’d have to think more about this (what books and movies I’ve seen and such) but I don’t think it divides neatly among these lines. However, I do think that a bed allows one’s vampire character to be able to feel more ‘mortal’. Will this cut down on his/her body count, I. e., will the feeling of being closer to their mortality allow them to possess a conscience and therefore, have them not kill as much as they do? Perhaps and then again, maybe not. As a writer of vampire fiction, I just find that it is interesting when writing your immortal characters to think about where they sleep and then, how that will affect their overall emotions.
So, I guess, I’ll end this blog by reasking the same question “Where does your vampire character sleep?”. And then, I’ll add another question. “How does this sleeping arrangement match and affect his personality?” Again, this is just a small issue in writing vampire fiction but one I find interesting to think about.
Take care all,
Chris
Just one question for all the writers reading this blog. Where does your vampire sleep? Notice, I didn’t ask about with whom. That’s material for another post:)
But yeah, so does your immortal character sleep in a bed or in a coffin. Because the more and more I’ve thought about it recently, the more it reflects and affects the character. Let me provide some examples. In my Dracula-Phantom universe, my Dracula character first starts out using a coffin (as in the Stoker book). However, once Mina comes to live by his side, he switches to a bed. While making love in a coffin can be thrilling and fun once in awhile, I decided to have my vampire characters sleep in a bed (though the pillow and mattress are filled with dirt from his country) because I thought it would not be comfortable for two beings to sleep in a confined space night after night. Intuitively, I also felt that by sleeping in a bed, Dracula could begin to ‘reconnect’ with his humanity. And the more I think about this idea, the more I feel I made the correct decision.
There were two very well written vampire series on television recently. One was Blood Ties and the other, Moonlight. It was interesting to see that while both vampires are ‘moral’, they have different sleeping arrangements. Henry (BT), sleeps in a regular bed, though he does have cool shades that block out the sunlight. Mick St. John (Moonlight) must sleep in a freezer-like coffin, it seems, to maintain his immortality. What made me really think deeply about how where one’s vampire character sleeps and how it affects/reflects their character was the wonderful recent episode of “Moonlight” where Mick becomes human for awhile and one of his favorite things to do, besides eating all different types of food, is sleeping on his couch with a blanket. This action makes the character feel more human and we, as viewers, also get the sense that being able to do something that the character has done back when they were human (sleep in a bed) is comforting and important for them to feel more mortal. Finally, the fact that Mick must sleep every night in a freezer will eventually affect his intimate relationship (if they move toward one) with Beth. This detail provides a 'road block' of sorts for Mick to become totally intimate with Beth. Certaintly, the vampire character has the ability to make love, but both he and Beth cannot spend the entire night together in bed. To stay immortal, Mick must return to his coffin. Again, a small detail (Mick must sleep in a coffin) can affect the chacter's life (intimacy with Beth).
How do famous vampire authors deal with this bed vs. coffin idea? Much like other issues, it varies. Anne Rice (The Vampire Chronicles) has her vampire characters sleep in coffins while interestingly, Laurell K. Hamilton (Anita Blake series) has her vampires able to sleep and make love in beds with mortals during the evening hours but prefer to move to the coffin to sleep in during the daylight (presumably, when their souls ‘depart’ for the day).
So, is there a connection between being a ‘good’ vampire and sleeping in a bed? Do all ‘evil’ vampires sleep in coffins? I’d have to think more about this (what books and movies I’ve seen and such) but I don’t think it divides neatly among these lines. However, I do think that a bed allows one’s vampire character to be able to feel more ‘mortal’. Will this cut down on his/her body count, I. e., will the feeling of being closer to their mortality allow them to possess a conscience and therefore, have them not kill as much as they do? Perhaps and then again, maybe not. As a writer of vampire fiction, I just find that it is interesting when writing your immortal characters to think about where they sleep and then, how that will affect their overall emotions.
So, I guess, I’ll end this blog by reasking the same question “Where does your vampire character sleep?”. And then, I’ll add another question. “How does this sleeping arrangement match and affect his personality?” Again, this is just a small issue in writing vampire fiction but one I find interesting to think about.
Take care all,
Chris
Sunday, February 24, 2008
“When a vampire‘s home is not their castle”
Hi all,
Though my first novel takes place in the late 1800s (and my second will be a continuation of the first), I have drawn up a timeline whereby I bring the characters of my Phantom-Dracula universe in the present day. As a writer, I think about where my vampire characters would be living in this, the 21st Century. Though the immortals in my universe are fairly rich (start out with some money and interest can really grow in a couple of hundred years), many live in one of the most famous cities in the world, New York City.
If you’ve ever visited New York, you know that the city is not homogenized, in that each neighborhood is different. For example, one can be wealthy but live on the monied, trendy Upper East Side or for the quieter, more suburban well off, the Upper West Side is always a good choice. Further down the island of Manhattan, one has Chelsea, SOHO and even, the Bowery. Each neighborhood may have similar living options (coops, town homes, brownstones, etc), yet, the surroundings make each one unique. The West Village is thought to be hip and trendy, yet the buildings are low and there are many families living there as well.
As I think about my characters, I try to decide where I see each of them living. For example, I think Dracula and Mina would definitely live on the Upper East Side. Not only is there glamour and exclusivity but the houses, mansions, are very much like castles. And though there is that glitz, there is the feel of being very private with high cast iron gates and such. So, a vampire as infamous as Dracula can live the high life and have his security too.
Extending this idea beyond vampire characters and even beyond New York, I do think it is important for writers to think about where their characters might reside. A house or a condo? A studio or a large house with many bedrooms? Urban or Suburban? Do they drive a car? What kind? How many? Does the character live with a lover, wife, husband, children, extended family, pets? If you decide that your character has a house or an apartment in a particular area, such as Manhattan, what does it look like? What color are the walls, the kitchen, even? Hey, even though Dracula and Mina are vampires, they do entertain humans every now and then and it is nice to have a grand dining room.
If these questions get you thinking, which they should, you might want to consider some others. Is the characters’ home neat? Messy? Do they collect many books? What kinds? Does your character have hobbies? And if so, which rooms reflect them? In other words, if one has a character that enjoys gardening for example, he/she may own a home that has a nice garden. Again, these are just some of the questions one as a writer must consider when deciding to create a home (or if they’re rich and undead, maybe two or three or four or more homes) for them.
I have some real estate friends in my life and they say that a home is reflective of a person’s personality. Walk through a home and you can get a sense of who the people are, what they like to do. For example, I enjoy reading and writing so my home is filled with shelves and shelves of books. Mostly fiction but there are nonfiction sections as well.
If you’re an author then and writing about your characters, one day, take a virtual mental tour of your characters’ house, even if only in your mind, not necessarily writing about it on paper. Make some notes in your writing notebook as you go. What do you see? What are the things that are most noticeable about the house? What catches your ’eye’? Are they in agreement with the character’s outer personality or are there things perhaps, that they have that not everyone knows about. For example, I am a longtime Springsteen fan and have several shelves as well as some posters of the rock superstar. Because I spend my time reading, writing and talking about vampires and romance, people are not always aware of that I also like rock music too.
You’ll have to excuse me now while I leave to take my mental tour of what I think Dracula and Mina’s New York City mansion would be like. I will be taking my time and looking where I step. Because there’ll always be a few wolves. The New York city inspectors think they’re dogs. Ah, yes, it would be fun to be a vampire in the City:)
Take care all,
Chris
Though my first novel takes place in the late 1800s (and my second will be a continuation of the first), I have drawn up a timeline whereby I bring the characters of my Phantom-Dracula universe in the present day. As a writer, I think about where my vampire characters would be living in this, the 21st Century. Though the immortals in my universe are fairly rich (start out with some money and interest can really grow in a couple of hundred years), many live in one of the most famous cities in the world, New York City.
If you’ve ever visited New York, you know that the city is not homogenized, in that each neighborhood is different. For example, one can be wealthy but live on the monied, trendy Upper East Side or for the quieter, more suburban well off, the Upper West Side is always a good choice. Further down the island of Manhattan, one has Chelsea, SOHO and even, the Bowery. Each neighborhood may have similar living options (coops, town homes, brownstones, etc), yet, the surroundings make each one unique. The West Village is thought to be hip and trendy, yet the buildings are low and there are many families living there as well.
As I think about my characters, I try to decide where I see each of them living. For example, I think Dracula and Mina would definitely live on the Upper East Side. Not only is there glamour and exclusivity but the houses, mansions, are very much like castles. And though there is that glitz, there is the feel of being very private with high cast iron gates and such. So, a vampire as infamous as Dracula can live the high life and have his security too.
Extending this idea beyond vampire characters and even beyond New York, I do think it is important for writers to think about where their characters might reside. A house or a condo? A studio or a large house with many bedrooms? Urban or Suburban? Do they drive a car? What kind? How many? Does the character live with a lover, wife, husband, children, extended family, pets? If you decide that your character has a house or an apartment in a particular area, such as Manhattan, what does it look like? What color are the walls, the kitchen, even? Hey, even though Dracula and Mina are vampires, they do entertain humans every now and then and it is nice to have a grand dining room.
If these questions get you thinking, which they should, you might want to consider some others. Is the characters’ home neat? Messy? Do they collect many books? What kinds? Does your character have hobbies? And if so, which rooms reflect them? In other words, if one has a character that enjoys gardening for example, he/she may own a home that has a nice garden. Again, these are just some of the questions one as a writer must consider when deciding to create a home (or if they’re rich and undead, maybe two or three or four or more homes) for them.
I have some real estate friends in my life and they say that a home is reflective of a person’s personality. Walk through a home and you can get a sense of who the people are, what they like to do. For example, I enjoy reading and writing so my home is filled with shelves and shelves of books. Mostly fiction but there are nonfiction sections as well.
If you’re an author then and writing about your characters, one day, take a virtual mental tour of your characters’ house, even if only in your mind, not necessarily writing about it on paper. Make some notes in your writing notebook as you go. What do you see? What are the things that are most noticeable about the house? What catches your ’eye’? Are they in agreement with the character’s outer personality or are there things perhaps, that they have that not everyone knows about. For example, I am a longtime Springsteen fan and have several shelves as well as some posters of the rock superstar. Because I spend my time reading, writing and talking about vampires and romance, people are not always aware of that I also like rock music too.
You’ll have to excuse me now while I leave to take my mental tour of what I think Dracula and Mina’s New York City mansion would be like. I will be taking my time and looking where I step. Because there’ll always be a few wolves. The New York city inspectors think they’re dogs. Ah, yes, it would be fun to be a vampire in the City:)
Take care all,
Chris
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Writing tip: Don’t write in a ‘static’ universe
Hi all,
Well, the holidays are almost over and people are getting back into the regular daily routine. And sometimes, things just seem so ‘blah’. That emotion can be transmitted into one’s writing and make it feel flat/lifeless.
Even if you’re working on a novel about plot A, you can still take some time out and think about your characters. Now, it’s easier to think about them and how they’d react over the holidays (Christmas, New Year’s, etc.). However, one should take some time and just think what a normal day with one consists of. Do they go to school, work? What classes do they take? What do they talk to their friends about? Do they stop at the local food store after work? What do they buy? I was talking once with a friend and we both agreed that no matter what characters/universe you’re writing about (yeah, even including vampires though they’d probably buy food for their guests, not themselves), you should be able to write at least one story about them going food shopping. Or if not writing it, be able to picture it in your mind.
I guess then, what I’m trying to say is that as an author, in order to write more vibrant characters, you should know them fully inside and out. Not only their likes and dislikes in a general sort of way but also, more intimate details. What sort of tea do they like? Do they use milk, lemon or both? And just how do they avoid those pesky vampire hunters in aisle 10? Yep, I guess vampires do have their own unique problems:)
Anyway, writing about a character’s daily routine will let you, as an author, feel closer to your character and be able to write them more fully (with more feeling) in subsequent stories, novels etc. if you allow yourself time to think about the sometimes mundane things that a character experiences in their life. And sometimes, that even includes writing your characters going food shopping:)
Take care all,
Chris
Well, the holidays are almost over and people are getting back into the regular daily routine. And sometimes, things just seem so ‘blah’. That emotion can be transmitted into one’s writing and make it feel flat/lifeless.
Even if you’re working on a novel about plot A, you can still take some time out and think about your characters. Now, it’s easier to think about them and how they’d react over the holidays (Christmas, New Year’s, etc.). However, one should take some time and just think what a normal day with one consists of. Do they go to school, work? What classes do they take? What do they talk to their friends about? Do they stop at the local food store after work? What do they buy? I was talking once with a friend and we both agreed that no matter what characters/universe you’re writing about (yeah, even including vampires though they’d probably buy food for their guests, not themselves), you should be able to write at least one story about them going food shopping. Or if not writing it, be able to picture it in your mind.
I guess then, what I’m trying to say is that as an author, in order to write more vibrant characters, you should know them fully inside and out. Not only their likes and dislikes in a general sort of way but also, more intimate details. What sort of tea do they like? Do they use milk, lemon or both? And just how do they avoid those pesky vampire hunters in aisle 10? Yep, I guess vampires do have their own unique problems:)
Anyway, writing about a character’s daily routine will let you, as an author, feel closer to your character and be able to write them more fully (with more feeling) in subsequent stories, novels etc. if you allow yourself time to think about the sometimes mundane things that a character experiences in their life. And sometimes, that even includes writing your characters going food shopping:)
Take care all,
Chris
Friday, December 28, 2007
Character traits and how they can help enrich your writing
Hi all,
Very recently, several of my writing buddies have been mentioning characters that have specific traits (from liking a particular color to enjoying a vacation to a certain city) in novels and how these traits/quirks has helped them either relate to the character, help to feel sympathy for the character but most importantly, make the fictional character seem ’real’ to the reader.
So, after reading all that, I sat down and thought about my universe. Do my characters have interesting habits/traits/quirks? Yep, they do and I wanted to mention a few. Mina Harker as a human sleeps with one of the most powerful vampires in all the world, Dracula, her soul mate below the Paris Opera House. Yet, she hates to sleep in the dark and always burns a gas lamp low to keep her room in only semi-darkness. Yeah, when you think about it, it doesn’t really make sense (vampires are more dangerous) but when I thought about giving Mina that trait/quirk, it seemed like a very human thing that someone would do and possibly would allow the readers to be able to feel a ‘connection’ to the Mina character when they read her.
My Dracula character can perform physically during lovemaking. It was never clear in Stoker’s book whether Dracula or any other vampire had the physical ability to make love. After much thinking, I decided that my vampire characters could consummate the act though Dracula is pretty miffed that Stoker didn’t include that little aspect in the book. I thought it would be a fun trait for Dracula to have and something interesting to include in my universe (the idea of Dracula not being able to perform is the issue that bothers him most with the Stoker book). And though that is illogical (Stoker documented many more atrocities in various journals in the book), I dunno but I think that might be the one issue that would bother a proud male vampire the most.
Finally, I’ve given my character, Quincey Harker, born in the first book but growing up in the second book, two traits. A love of reading and an interest in horses. As a kid, he’s going to walk around carrying horse dolls. Which I think is a cute trait to give a kid.
Quincey also has some scary marionette dolls. But then, they were made for him by his Uncle:)
So, in closing, I guess I’d say that it’s not the general details that you give your characters (hair color, handedness (Dracula and Erik are left handed, Mina and Christine are right handed)) but the intimate details (Mina will always love to bake and sew, even after she becomes a vampire and cannot eat the food) that make the reader more able to ‘connect’ with your characters and not only enjoy them, but also, enjoy the entire novel.
Happy New Year all!
Chris
Very recently, several of my writing buddies have been mentioning characters that have specific traits (from liking a particular color to enjoying a vacation to a certain city) in novels and how these traits/quirks has helped them either relate to the character, help to feel sympathy for the character but most importantly, make the fictional character seem ’real’ to the reader.
So, after reading all that, I sat down and thought about my universe. Do my characters have interesting habits/traits/quirks? Yep, they do and I wanted to mention a few. Mina Harker as a human sleeps with one of the most powerful vampires in all the world, Dracula, her soul mate below the Paris Opera House. Yet, she hates to sleep in the dark and always burns a gas lamp low to keep her room in only semi-darkness. Yeah, when you think about it, it doesn’t really make sense (vampires are more dangerous) but when I thought about giving Mina that trait/quirk, it seemed like a very human thing that someone would do and possibly would allow the readers to be able to feel a ‘connection’ to the Mina character when they read her.
My Dracula character can perform physically during lovemaking. It was never clear in Stoker’s book whether Dracula or any other vampire had the physical ability to make love. After much thinking, I decided that my vampire characters could consummate the act though Dracula is pretty miffed that Stoker didn’t include that little aspect in the book. I thought it would be a fun trait for Dracula to have and something interesting to include in my universe (the idea of Dracula not being able to perform is the issue that bothers him most with the Stoker book). And though that is illogical (Stoker documented many more atrocities in various journals in the book), I dunno but I think that might be the one issue that would bother a proud male vampire the most.
Finally, I’ve given my character, Quincey Harker, born in the first book but growing up in the second book, two traits. A love of reading and an interest in horses. As a kid, he’s going to walk around carrying horse dolls. Which I think is a cute trait to give a kid.
Quincey also has some scary marionette dolls. But then, they were made for him by his Uncle:)
So, in closing, I guess I’d say that it’s not the general details that you give your characters (hair color, handedness (Dracula and Erik are left handed, Mina and Christine are right handed)) but the intimate details (Mina will always love to bake and sew, even after she becomes a vampire and cannot eat the food) that make the reader more able to ‘connect’ with your characters and not only enjoy them, but also, enjoy the entire novel.
Happy New Year all!
Chris
Friday, December 21, 2007
Congratulations, you’ve just developed your own universe. Now what?
Hi all,
In this writer’s opinion, your second book may be even more important than your first one. Though the first novel ‘sets the stage’ so to speak, introducing your reader to a new universe and new ideas (in my universe, Dracula and Erik are buddies), the second novel provides the momentum to take the reader further into the universe that you’ve created. Hopefully, by the time the reader is done with your second novel, they will have become even more interested/invested in your characters and their situations and will want to read a third or even a fourth book.
Besides ensuring that your second book doesn’t follow the ‘formula’ of your first book (new plot, more new characters introduced, etc), you need to be able to be flexible as a writer to grow with your universe. What does that mean exactly? Well, as I’ve said, I’m a reader as well as a writer and with regard to the former, I’ve followed several authors over their writing life, some for double digit years (one writer for more than twenty years). In that time period, it is interesting to see the universe that you love as a reader begin to unfold and expand, sometimes in ways that you never thought it would after reading the very first novel in the series.
And that’s the important thing. Because though you may write in a genre (I’m a romance writer), you have to be ready to adjust to fit your character/universe’s needs. As I’ve just said, each book should be unique in plot, so therefore, one book may be more about romance whereas another book in the series may have more action or death or humor.
Not that every book shouldn’t have romance but one aspect or even several, may become more prominent as your universe and books move along. Therefore, as a writer you need to be sensitive to your character and their growing pains and need to be able to easily move and shift gears as the need to do this arises. And the need may come up just when you least expect it so be aware of this. If you cannot do this and remain static in your writing, your universe will also become lifeless and boring as well. As a reader I always liked reading book series since I enjoyed following the character (s) along his/her journey in life. Though the character may only exist between the printed pages, if one is a good writer, a character can feel almost ‘real’ to a reader. They will become very interested to your characters and therefore, will want to continue to read to see what happens next.
So, I guess my advice to the readers of this blog would be to be able to be flexible as a writer, that is, to be able to change and adapt to your universe’s needs. If suddenly a book needs to be an overall action book or even more violent than you are used to writing, it is important that you are able to adjust your writing style accordingly. It can be a difficult thing (I am still working on writing humor, it is the toughest for me to do, I think) to adapt your writing style with each successive book. But the readers of your universe will enjoy the characters more. And you probably will too.
Take care all,
Chris
PS--Happy Holidays! Enjoy and have fun:)
In this writer’s opinion, your second book may be even more important than your first one. Though the first novel ‘sets the stage’ so to speak, introducing your reader to a new universe and new ideas (in my universe, Dracula and Erik are buddies), the second novel provides the momentum to take the reader further into the universe that you’ve created. Hopefully, by the time the reader is done with your second novel, they will have become even more interested/invested in your characters and their situations and will want to read a third or even a fourth book.
Besides ensuring that your second book doesn’t follow the ‘formula’ of your first book (new plot, more new characters introduced, etc), you need to be able to be flexible as a writer to grow with your universe. What does that mean exactly? Well, as I’ve said, I’m a reader as well as a writer and with regard to the former, I’ve followed several authors over their writing life, some for double digit years (one writer for more than twenty years). In that time period, it is interesting to see the universe that you love as a reader begin to unfold and expand, sometimes in ways that you never thought it would after reading the very first novel in the series.
And that’s the important thing. Because though you may write in a genre (I’m a romance writer), you have to be ready to adjust to fit your character/universe’s needs. As I’ve just said, each book should be unique in plot, so therefore, one book may be more about romance whereas another book in the series may have more action or death or humor.
Not that every book shouldn’t have romance but one aspect or even several, may become more prominent as your universe and books move along. Therefore, as a writer you need to be sensitive to your character and their growing pains and need to be able to easily move and shift gears as the need to do this arises. And the need may come up just when you least expect it so be aware of this. If you cannot do this and remain static in your writing, your universe will also become lifeless and boring as well. As a reader I always liked reading book series since I enjoyed following the character (s) along his/her journey in life. Though the character may only exist between the printed pages, if one is a good writer, a character can feel almost ‘real’ to a reader. They will become very interested to your characters and therefore, will want to continue to read to see what happens next.
So, I guess my advice to the readers of this blog would be to be able to be flexible as a writer, that is, to be able to change and adapt to your universe’s needs. If suddenly a book needs to be an overall action book or even more violent than you are used to writing, it is important that you are able to adjust your writing style accordingly. It can be a difficult thing (I am still working on writing humor, it is the toughest for me to do, I think) to adapt your writing style with each successive book. But the readers of your universe will enjoy the characters more. And you probably will too.
Take care all,
Chris
PS--Happy Holidays! Enjoy and have fun:)
Thursday, December 20, 2007
The importance of properly naming your characters
Hi all,
If you’re a writer reading this blog, you know how important character names are to the overall impression that the reader will take away after reading your novel. ‘Improperly’ named characters can cause the reader even to feel lukewarm about one’s entire book and perhaps, if the characters are continually named wrong, may not purchase subsequent novels in your series.
Now, what do I mean by improperly naming one’s character? It can be a complex concept to explain in words but I will try here in this entry. Books, unlike movies are not visual and so, to have an entertaining novel, the reader must be able to visualize the story in his/her head as they are reading your book. This includes settings, action and most important of all, the physical traits of characters.
Movies are sometimes made after successful books and how many times have you read fans of a certain book say or write that they really ‘pictured the actor as the character’. Or not. In other words, the readers believe that so and so actor was chosen wisely or vice versa, meaning that they didn’t visualize the character as looking like the particular actor/actress chosen to play the role in the movie.
Do all readers have to visualize the character the same way to have a successful series? Does the writer’s version of what the character looks like have to agree with the reader’s? These are other, interesting questions, but since I am only talking about the concept of naming characters, I’d just say that there are general parameters that the reader and the author should ‘see’ in their mind about the physical attributes of the characters in a novel. There is some room for discrepancy between what the reader and the author visualize in their mind about certain characters but I do believe that the spectrum (between what the author and the reader sees) is narrower than what can be hypothesized. In other words, yes, for the most extent, the author can be most successful if he/she can translate what they see the physical attributes of their characters as being directly to their readers. How about emotional attributes, in other words, does the readers and the writers see the characters in the same way as the writer? Maybe something for another blog entry. Right now, I’m going to concentrate on the proper names of characters.
So as I’ve previously said, I believe that a writer is most successful with their series if their readers ‘see’ the characters in a very similar way that they do and this includes the physical attributes of the characters. But how to explain exactly what a character looks like in words? Oh, certainly you can say that chacter X is tall, short, thin, fat, has blonde hair or brown. But, when one names a character, the name sometimes suggests a certain physicality to the reader. For example, if one named a character William Bladestone, it seems to suggest a very Anglo-Saxon looking man, perhaps even somewhat conservative. Again, much can be ‘read’ into the character by the reader just looking at the name. Shortening a name, calling an Elizabeth, Liz for example, takes the character from a more staid visual by the reader (Elizabeth) and transforms the character into a hip, modern version (Liz).
The next issue that a writer should be aware of when naming a character is to be certain that the name matches the century in which you are writing as well as the ethnicity of the character. Since I am writing a Phantom Dracula crossover universe and most of my action (at least in the first book in the series) took place in Paris, many of my character names were of French origin. Dracula is Romanian and so several characters had names belonging specifically to that country as well. Though Bob is a very good name (William actually being the more ’correct’ version for the 1800s), it is English in origin and therefore, would not ‘fit’ a French character well.
Some names have a specific origin but are more general in their use. For example, though Joseph is of Hebrew origin, depending on what surname you give to the character, you can use this name for more than just one ethnicity. Naming vampires can be interesting as well and one wants to give an ‘old’ vampire an ‘old’ sounding name. Many modern names of real life people that we know today came into fashion in the late 20th Century. Personally, I don’t think I’d name a 1,000 year old vampire Ashley, since the name sounds too modern and updated for one so old.
Now, what if you do name your character improperly, not paying attention to time period of story setting and ethnicity/country of origin of your character? Well, not much may happen on the initial draft, though your first readers may suggest a name change. But perhaps, for whatever reason, they don’t see the name as a problem. Then, one’s editor may ‘catch’ the incorrectly named character (you know, I don’t visualize character X as ‘looking’ like an X’) and so, then, you may need to rename that character. But sometimes everyone thinks that the names are good and then, the book goes to print and then your readers have some difficulty with the names. Either the names don’t match what you describe the characters to be or maybe they’ve never met a person named Charlotte so it is difficult for the reader to make the important connections in their mind. Therefore, your book 'fails' for them because that reader cannot ‘see’ that character well as they read your book.
Naming characters incorrectly then, will provide less enjoyment for the reader because they cannot feel emotionally close to the story (character is fuzzy or just bland (not 3D, colorful as they should be) in their imagination). Worst of all, naming a 19th Century French character Bob, will pull the reader physically and emotionally out of the story when their eyes come across that name. Do it too much and you’ve ‘lost’ the illusion so the speak, meaning that the reader, having been immersed in your story, is pulled/even ripped, depending on how ‘bad’ the name is, out of the storyline and so, the reader may even categorize the story overall as not effortless or enjoyable simply because of one or a few improperly named characters.
Continually improper naming of characters, naming characters without regard to time period, origin of birth, etc. will cause you to lose perhaps, not your initial first readers (though book reviews may remark about improperly named characters) but also readers that would buy a second book in the series. These 'second' readers may not since they did not like your first book. And though liking and disliking a book may be subjective, properly naming one’s characters will ensure that at least, you as a writer, have done all you can to keep your reader both interested and engaged in your storyline. And a ‘hungry’ reader, that is, one who has read and loved your book and wants to see ‘what happens next‘, is always your best customer.
Take care all,
Chris
If you’re a writer reading this blog, you know how important character names are to the overall impression that the reader will take away after reading your novel. ‘Improperly’ named characters can cause the reader even to feel lukewarm about one’s entire book and perhaps, if the characters are continually named wrong, may not purchase subsequent novels in your series.
Now, what do I mean by improperly naming one’s character? It can be a complex concept to explain in words but I will try here in this entry. Books, unlike movies are not visual and so, to have an entertaining novel, the reader must be able to visualize the story in his/her head as they are reading your book. This includes settings, action and most important of all, the physical traits of characters.
Movies are sometimes made after successful books and how many times have you read fans of a certain book say or write that they really ‘pictured the actor as the character’. Or not. In other words, the readers believe that so and so actor was chosen wisely or vice versa, meaning that they didn’t visualize the character as looking like the particular actor/actress chosen to play the role in the movie.
Do all readers have to visualize the character the same way to have a successful series? Does the writer’s version of what the character looks like have to agree with the reader’s? These are other, interesting questions, but since I am only talking about the concept of naming characters, I’d just say that there are general parameters that the reader and the author should ‘see’ in their mind about the physical attributes of the characters in a novel. There is some room for discrepancy between what the reader and the author visualize in their mind about certain characters but I do believe that the spectrum (between what the author and the reader sees) is narrower than what can be hypothesized. In other words, yes, for the most extent, the author can be most successful if he/she can translate what they see the physical attributes of their characters as being directly to their readers. How about emotional attributes, in other words, does the readers and the writers see the characters in the same way as the writer? Maybe something for another blog entry. Right now, I’m going to concentrate on the proper names of characters.
So as I’ve previously said, I believe that a writer is most successful with their series if their readers ‘see’ the characters in a very similar way that they do and this includes the physical attributes of the characters. But how to explain exactly what a character looks like in words? Oh, certainly you can say that chacter X is tall, short, thin, fat, has blonde hair or brown. But, when one names a character, the name sometimes suggests a certain physicality to the reader. For example, if one named a character William Bladestone, it seems to suggest a very Anglo-Saxon looking man, perhaps even somewhat conservative. Again, much can be ‘read’ into the character by the reader just looking at the name. Shortening a name, calling an Elizabeth, Liz for example, takes the character from a more staid visual by the reader (Elizabeth) and transforms the character into a hip, modern version (Liz).
The next issue that a writer should be aware of when naming a character is to be certain that the name matches the century in which you are writing as well as the ethnicity of the character. Since I am writing a Phantom Dracula crossover universe and most of my action (at least in the first book in the series) took place in Paris, many of my character names were of French origin. Dracula is Romanian and so several characters had names belonging specifically to that country as well. Though Bob is a very good name (William actually being the more ’correct’ version for the 1800s), it is English in origin and therefore, would not ‘fit’ a French character well.
Some names have a specific origin but are more general in their use. For example, though Joseph is of Hebrew origin, depending on what surname you give to the character, you can use this name for more than just one ethnicity. Naming vampires can be interesting as well and one wants to give an ‘old’ vampire an ‘old’ sounding name. Many modern names of real life people that we know today came into fashion in the late 20th Century. Personally, I don’t think I’d name a 1,000 year old vampire Ashley, since the name sounds too modern and updated for one so old.
Now, what if you do name your character improperly, not paying attention to time period of story setting and ethnicity/country of origin of your character? Well, not much may happen on the initial draft, though your first readers may suggest a name change. But perhaps, for whatever reason, they don’t see the name as a problem. Then, one’s editor may ‘catch’ the incorrectly named character (you know, I don’t visualize character X as ‘looking’ like an X’) and so, then, you may need to rename that character. But sometimes everyone thinks that the names are good and then, the book goes to print and then your readers have some difficulty with the names. Either the names don’t match what you describe the characters to be or maybe they’ve never met a person named Charlotte so it is difficult for the reader to make the important connections in their mind. Therefore, your book 'fails' for them because that reader cannot ‘see’ that character well as they read your book.
Naming characters incorrectly then, will provide less enjoyment for the reader because they cannot feel emotionally close to the story (character is fuzzy or just bland (not 3D, colorful as they should be) in their imagination). Worst of all, naming a 19th Century French character Bob, will pull the reader physically and emotionally out of the story when their eyes come across that name. Do it too much and you’ve ‘lost’ the illusion so the speak, meaning that the reader, having been immersed in your story, is pulled/even ripped, depending on how ‘bad’ the name is, out of the storyline and so, the reader may even categorize the story overall as not effortless or enjoyable simply because of one or a few improperly named characters.
Continually improper naming of characters, naming characters without regard to time period, origin of birth, etc. will cause you to lose perhaps, not your initial first readers (though book reviews may remark about improperly named characters) but also readers that would buy a second book in the series. These 'second' readers may not since they did not like your first book. And though liking and disliking a book may be subjective, properly naming one’s characters will ensure that at least, you as a writer, have done all you can to keep your reader both interested and engaged in your storyline. And a ‘hungry’ reader, that is, one who has read and loved your book and wants to see ‘what happens next‘, is always your best customer.
Take care all,
Chris
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