Tag Archives: character

Advice about Naming Characters

Think of your favorite story people. Their names are as familiar as those of your best friends. In real life most of us don’t bother to adjust our names to our personalities, so sometimes they don’t quite fit.

As writers, though, we can take advantage of subconscious biases to help readers love or hate story people.

Here’s an interesting article from the Pikes Peak Writers newsletter about character names. I love this organization and have attended many of their excellent conventions. The one this year is virtual and signup will begin soon.

Click on the link below for the article What’s in a Name?

What’s in a Name?

or visit one of my other recent posts for writers.

I’ve been finding great articles for quite a while. Looking for something special? Try the tag cloud.

2012 2013 advice agent agents author authors blogs books challenge character children's books contest creativity fiction help hints ideas information inspiration literary literary agents NaNoWriMo NaPoWriMo novel novels november picture book picture books plot poem poem a day poetry professional promotion publication publicity publishing resources revision social media structure submissions writers writing

I’m a painter and photographer too. Visit my art blog “Thinking in Pictures.”

https://wordpress.com/posts/lindajarmstrong.wordpress.com

Here’s what’s going on over at my Instagram account.

I just created a new collection of digital landscape paintings on Fine Art America, These colorful works are based on photographs I took out of the window of Amtrak's Zephyr. #digital #landscapes #prints #artwork #FineArtAmerica #colorful #Colorado #west Spring is coming. This morning I added some new photos to my Dreamstime portfolio, https://www.dreamstime.com/bluerabbit_info The Bridge Series photographs inspired my 1990s acrylic paintings on canvas. https://lindaarmstrongsportfolio.wordpress.com/166-2/linda-j-armstrong-studio/about/the-bridge-series-photographs/ #photographs #BridgeSeries #Pasadena #California #Bridges #lightandshadow #abstract #abstactphotography Why I love living in beautiful Western Colorado. New photos in my Adobe Stock portfolio, https://stock.adobe.com/contributor/9940/Linda%20Armstrong I've created a page for my Bridge Series, a group of paintings I did in the nineties when we were still living in Los Angeles. https://lindaarmstrongsportfolio.wordpress.com/166-2/linda-j-armstrong-studio/about/the-bridge-series/. It was the second series of abstracts I did with the same working process I use now--photographic studies, then loosely representational paintings, then abstract paintings. #art #abstract #EarlyWork #acrylics #paintings #California #Pasadena #bridges #LightandShadow I just added a page to the Journey section of my website. It features some of the photographs I used as reference for my Bridge Series acrylics on canvas. See the page here: https://lindaarmstrongsportfolio.wordpress.com/166-2/linda-j-armstrong-studio/about/the-bridge-series-photographs/ I just added a new page to the creative journey section of my website. It shares some of the pastel drawings I did in shared model groups at Barnsdall art park. These are all costumed models. I'm going to devote a separate page to the nudes. https://lindaarmstrongsportfolio.wordpress.com/166-2/linda-j-armstrong-studio/about/barnsdall-figurative-pastels/ My early paintings in the eighties featured people of Southern California doing 80s SoCal things, This one was some women considering handmade quilts at the Rose Bowl flea market, Some were from sketches and others from photo notes. #painting #acrylic #figurative #myjourney #creativejourney #California #quilts #contemporary #earlywork #1980s I'm uploading pictures from my artistic journey to the bio section of my blog. This one is from the nineties when we lived in Los Angeles. To see more visit https://lindaarmstrongsportfolio.wordpress.com/166-2/linda-j-armstrong-studio/about/

and here’s my account at Flickr. There are abstract photos and also some cool pics my Dad took when he was in Alaska in World War II.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/redrockpoet/

See ya around the Web.

Keep up with my latest hot finds.

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    NaNoWriMo Tip #3: Create a Character Outline – GalleyCat

    Galley Cat will be offering great tips for writing your novel every day this month. Check out the day’s post and the archive.

    NaNoWriMo Tip #3: Create a Character Outline – GalleyCat.

    Create Conflict with Action

    Make your character commit to action. Read why this is important and how to do it in Kristen Lamb’s blog.

    Would You Rather? An Exercise in Creating Max Conflict in Fiction | Kristen Lamb’s Blog.

    There Can Be Only One…Main Character, That Is

    About main characters. Screenwriters know about story structure. It is a good idea to listen to them about this. Of course, there are always exceptions, but if you think your book has more than one main character, this post is worth reading.

    Let’s Schmooze – Doug Eboch on Screenwriting: There Can Be Only One…Main Character, That Is.

    How to Use Ideas from Real Life in Stories

    Use real life to inspire your stories. Here’s a great post about how to do that.

    Turning Your Anecdote into a Short Story: Part 1 | WritingCompanion.

    What’s in a Name? Everything!

    The heart of a great story is a great character. A rose may be a rose may be a rose, but a character’s name is very important. Consider how much Harry’s name tells us about young Potter. Here’s a handy guide for naming characters.

    How to Name Your Characters.

    From Editor and Author Cheryl Klein: A Plot Checklist for Revision

    I’m putting together materials for our local SCBWI group’s April Revision Workshop. One of my favorite revision gurus is Cheryl Klein. If you don’t already have it, pick up a copy of Second Sight: An Editor’s Talks on Writing, Revising, & Publishing Books for Children and Young Adults. Until it arrives, or even if you already have it, download this helpful plot checklist. The site even has a Word template!

    CherylKlein.com » Plot Checklist.

    Oops! There’s Nothing Wrong with Your Character

    I am sharing this here because I want to be able to find it again myself. It is a great chart of facinating flaws for story people.

    123 Ideas for Character Flaws – Writers Write.

    The Importance of Voice in Picture Books

    Voice is crucial in novels, but many people don’t realize that it is just as important in picture books. Here is a great introduction to voice. The rest of the blog is great too.

    WRITING PICTURE BOOKS « George Shannon – Children’s Author.