iUniverse Tips on Naming your Characters Part 2

Welcome to the second part of iUniverse Tips on Naming your Characters. Previously we covered getting to know your character and giving them their first name. In Part 2 we look at surnames and how to work it into your characters personality and position in your storyline. We follow this by naming your secondary characters and how important they are to giving your story body and richness. Our final section covers the genre you are writing. Do the characters fit into your wild west novel or not? Supplying your cast with the wrong name will make them unbelievable to your readers.

iUniverse stresses the importance of getting the right surnames

iUniverse says giving your characters obscure surnames is not a good idea!

Up until the 12^th century surnames are said not to have existed. Later a person got their name from such things as their occupation, nickname and place of birth. Some even took their name, such as a country estate worker, by combining such things as their fathers name and the place they worked.

It was only around the 17^th century that we have names that we now recognize in its present form. A popular way of naming one’s family was by using either the father or mother’s name, as the root and adding the suffix –son, such as Donaldson or Williamson.

If you are using historical figures in your adventure, then yes you can use it without much trouble. But be careful how you show this character within your story. A good idea is to take a real name and change it slightly, allowing you to portray a character trait you like, without upsetting historians.

iUniverse naming your secondary characters

These characters are just as important as your main hero or heroine. Using what we have outlined above is imperative, but you can add a little flourish to their names to bring out their characteristics and personalities.

Going back to our character Scarlett O’Hara, this story is a perfect example of secondary character flourishes. Scarlett’s high strung Aunt Pittypat Hamilton and her squeaky voiced maid Prissy. Two very well named characters that are memorable. Just don’t go and name characters that are similar, unless they are twins of the same sex. Doing this will surely confuse your reader.

iUniverse says it’s vital to get the right name for the right genre

Just remember what the reader will expect from reading your book. Think about the image you are trying to give them. If you are writing a western, using a name like “The Nevada Kid”, or “Two gun kid” will give you the feel for the period. Of course these can still be put into a different era such as the Nevada kid could be a card player set in the 1960s or Two gun kid in 1920s Chicago. Just imagine what a name conjures up in your mind before naming them.

In the End…

After months of painstaking writing and characterizations we are sure you will be happy with the result, but will your readers and critics. You can never please everyone, and expect to hear someone giving one of characters name a blowing over. Put this down to experience and see if you agree with them, it might be that they are right, who knows?

iUniverse hopes you enjoyed the second and final article in our series, iUniverse Tips on Naming your Characters – Part 2. iUniverse publishing, our team and services are here to help.

To learn more about the role of iUniverse in the successful book publishing revolution. Click Here

via iUniverse Writer’s Tips

Read More

iUniverse Tips on Naming your Characters Part 1

iUniverse asks is Dickens villain, Bill Sykes, aptly named?

iUniverse knows as an author there are many scenarios to consider when still penning your latest fiction adventure. Your mind maybe jumping ahead to book-signings when published or your back cover blurb, but before all of that you have to create your story, not just the plot and location but also your characters.

iUniverse says it may seem a grand idea to name your characters after your parents or Uncle Bob, but is it advisable. There are a few things to keep in mind when you decide this crucial aspect of what could be a history making book. One is the character’s personality, secondly their ethnicity and of course their name?

Do you think that F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Jay Gatsby would be as famously known if he were named John Green, or what about Trevor swinging through the trees of Africa instead of the more manly Edgar Rice Burroughs’ character Tarzan? We all have our favorite characters in books, TV and movies, so getting it right will help sell your books long after you have finished your book marketing with iUniverse.

iUniverse insists get to know your characters

Firstly you must know your character intimately. Giving them the right name will impress on the reader long after they have finished your book. So before giving him/her their character name create an outline on each of them. A couple of things to consider are “what makes them who they are” and “what motivates them”.

iUniverse asserts Trevor of the Apes doesn’t have that manly ring to it.

Outlining your hero is imperative to a long lasting character that can move to further books and adventures. Is he muscular, strong and powerful like Tarzan? Would the name Trevor still impress you even though he has these physical attributes? Probably not!

How about Elizabeth Bennett, a perfectly good English name. Does her name inspire you to read about this heroine? How does her name come across, is she a lady or some wretch living in squalor. Of course we know that Miss Elizabeth is one of the most famous of characters from Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice. But from her name and part in the story you can distinguish an idea of the character as being probably refined and of above average education.

Make sure you give names to your characters that relate them to their ethnic origins. Such names as Francis or John can be transposed to other nationalities such as Francois or Juan. But putting a Bert in period piece set in France may not be believable.

Giving them a First name

iUniverse discovered the wonderful Scarlett O’Hara could of be wrongly named “Pansy”.

Once you have compiled a list of characteristics of your hero or heroine it is time to select a name. Using the two categories outlined above, “who they are” and “where they are from” will help. So naming your hero Tarzan (white-skin in the Mangani (ape) language, Tarzan of the Apes) is very appropriate to the story.

So let’s look at your heroine, what of her name and origins. A very famous character is Scarlett O’Hara from Gone With the Wind. Her first name was originally going to be “Pansy” and thankfully the author changed it just before going to press. Her surname gives you knowledge of her heritage being from “the old country” – Ireland. But be careful when naming men in your story’s setting or era. Scarlett’s love interest was Ashley Wilkes and was appropriate for that time period. In the UK this is still used as a boy’s name, but is also now common for females.

iUniverse publishing hopes you enjoyed this first article in our two part series, iUniverse Tips on Naming your Characters. In the second we outline how to give your characters surnames; we also look at your secondary characters and of course getting it right when it comes to the genre you are writing for.

To learn more about the role of iUniverse in the successful book publishing revolution. Click Here

via iUniverse Writer’s Tips

Read More

iUniverse shows you How to Proof your First Draft – Part 2

Our first article, iUniverse shows you How to Proof your First Draft – Part 1, looked at screen revision or print out, revision completion date, and starting your revision. In this second editorial we take you further into the processes needed to complete your first draft in a timely and hassle free manner.

iUniverse advises using consistent marks and ink colors helps in the editing process.

Where to place your corrections

Using double-lined and good margins around the proof will give you plenty of space for amendments and reminders. Use the margins for dialogue which is vague or a prompt of how a character looks. Larger ideas can go in your notebook.

Red ink is best for deletions, blue for insertions and the other two colors as a day by day swap, making it easier to see each day’s changes. Use the same colors in your notebook for improved changes to the storyline.

Combining scenes or characters

Sometimes to make your story flow in the first draft you might have added a scene or character which later you wonder why you did it. If this occurs try and take out the scene or combine it with another. If a character is not relevant to a situation, why is he/she/it there? A solution is to expand the character, use him/her/it as a bystander or delete completely.

Completing your revision

After going through the manuscript and having incorporated your changes you may feel it’s now finished. Not yet!

You took time to revise your book, reducing the word count by 25% and adding substance and worth to each scene and character. You even found spelling mistakes a word-processing software did not pick up. So let’s do it all again.

This time print it out in a smaller typeface, less line space and tighter margins. Proofing takes a lot of paper, toner and time, but it’s worth it.

With the previous revision beside you run through the changes made. Look for mistakes which probably have crept in to the new inserted sections. You may even find a different way of relating a piece of dialogue or looking at the interaction between characters. Whatever it may be, check, and check again.

The final manuscript in your hands – clean and tidy.

The Ending

As a writer you have nursed your book through its birth, its youth and into its mature years. You gave your heart, soul and every waking and sleeping moment to it, and probably neglected your immediate family for this chance of bringing your baby to fruition. So the final suggestion to end this tale is to take hold and throw it as long and as far as you can into the iUniverse self-publishing world. The End!

And the beginning…

iUniverse hopes you enjoyed the second and final article in our series, iUniverse shows you How to Proof your First Draft. iUniverse publishing, our team and services are here to help.

To learn more about the role of iUniverse in the successful book publishing revolution. Click Here

via iUniverse Writer’s Tips

Read More

TALES FROM TRINITY

TALES FROM TRINITY

By Jim Bornzin



Published: 2/6/2013

Format: Perfect Bound Softcover(B/W)

Pages: 250

Size: 6x9

ISBN: 978-1-47596-597-1

Print Type: B/W



Overview:



TALES FROM TRINITY is a Lutheran patchwork quilt. Pastor Paul Walker’s family and church members are stitched together by a God who is always at work behind the scenes. Liz Sterling, church treasurer, is also at work behind the scenes, seeking a way to discredit Paul and have him removed as pastor. Accused of embezzling church funds, Paul searches for help to prove his innocence.



Mike Greenwood shares his personal journal of two significant losses during his high school years. His best friend, Brian, is found dead in the church. Mike’s girlfriend dumps him in favor of the high-school quarterback, and then wonders how her life became such a mess. Meanwhile the pastor searches for Reiner Holtz, whose conspiracy theories have put him on the brink of insanity. In the midst of laughter and tears God’s grace is pulling together a faith community of healing, hope, and joy.



If the tragedy and terror in Jim’s first novel TERROR AT TRINITY made you uncomfortable, then TALES FROM TRINITY will be a fun, easy read, reminding some of Garrison Keillor’s Lake Wobegon, or Jan Karon’s Mitford series.



Sources: http://bookstore.iuniverse.com/Products/SKU-000615181/tales-from-trinity.aspx



via iUniverse Bookstore http://iuniversebookstore.blogspot.com/2013/05/tales-from-trinity.html

Read More

Leaders Open Doors

Leaders Open Doors

A Radically Simple Leadership Approach to Lift People, Profits, and Performance

By Bill Treasurer



Published: 3/11/2013

Format: Dust Jacket Hardcover(B/W)

Pages: 114

Size: 5.5x8.5

ISBN: 978-1-47597-638-0

Print Type: B/W



Overview:



Leadership is the most overanalyzed, thoroughly dissected, and utterly confused topic in business. In Leaders Open Doors, author Bill Treasurer helps lighten the leadership load by distilling that leaders are simply creators of opportunity for others. Using personal stories and anecdotes, Treasurer presents the idea of open-door leadership–that is, the responsibility that leaders have for noticing, identifying, and creating opportunities for the benefit of people, organizations, and society. Each chapter includes useful and specific tips that can immediately be put into practice.

Drawing on two decades of consulting experience, Treasurer introduces six unique opportunity doors:

the proving-ground door

the thought-shifting door

the door to a second chance

the doors you open for others

the door to personal transformation

the door to your open heart

Treasurer shows that leadership isn’t a complex and abstract concept. It’s a set of practices and ideals passed from one person to another, across organizations and generations. It is a tradition that makes people’s lives better by opening doors of opportunities for them to thrive, achieve, and lead.



Sources: http://bookstore.iuniverse.com/Products/SKU-000612251/leaders-open-doors.aspx



via iUniverse Bookstore http://iuniversebookstore.blogspot.com/2013/05/leaders-open-doors.html

Read More

The Second Sight

The Second Sight

By William Black IV



Published: 3/29/2013

Format: Perfect Bound Softcover(B/W)

Pages: 262

Size: 5.5x8.5

ISBN: 978-1-47598-332-6

Print Type: B/W



Overview:



Henry Lamont does not believe in ghosts. Or faeries.



Imagine his surprise when they kidnap him.



Set in the Scottish Highlands, THE SECOND SIGHT is a period mystery that features Henry, a young Victorian man so enamored of modern science, that he's blind to its limitations.



When his father is lost at sea, Henry must venture into the Otherworld to find him. The spirit of Henry's drowned cousin and the beguiling queen of the glen faeries guide his quest. Old friends join as well: a farmer prone to fistfights, and a woman determined to attend university.



Along the way, they encounter creatures of Gaelic lore, only to triumph with a magic of their own—a belief in each other.



Sources: http://bookstore.iuniverse.com/Products/SKU-000647758/the-second-sight.aspx



via iUniverse Bookstore http://iuniversebookstore.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-second-sight.html

Read More