Category: Free Advice

One of the most disturbing things I’ve ever heard a publisher say, at a conference several years ago, was, “We don’t let our black authors write white main characters; we don’t think they can identify enough to write it credibly.”

Say what?

I sat there, breathing through my mouth in shock, as she went on to explain that writers who write about people who weren’t like them, as in a different race, culture, sex, etc., fall too often into stereotype and caricature. So they simply didn’t allow it. If you’re black, so were your main characters. If you were white, well, you get the picture.

Stereotypes from hell

I was stunned, and 20 years later, I’m still in shock. Sure, we’ve all seen writers and even film directors attempt to convey a character who’s out of their own personal paradigm and fall into the trap of exaggeration, to the point of being insulting. One of my all-time favourite writers is Ed McBain, the author of the wonderful 87^th Precinct detective series, which I consume voraciously. But I have to admit that his portrayal of black people, especially in his earlier, less politically correct novels, were cringe-worthy. Lots of “dis” and “dat” and pimp-walking going on. 

The Internet is also rife with examples of men writing female leads and spending inordinate amounts of time on full, ripe bosoms and long, silky legs. Lots of breasts jouncing hypnotically, and even a woman who kept her driver’s license, credit card and money in a tiny purse tucked inside her hoo-ha (really). If you don’t believe me, click here for a cackle-inducing roundup of startled breasts and flanks that look like the fuselage of a war plane.

Okay, fine. Sometimes the differences between us can be hard to bridge, especially if we don’t take the time and energy to learn about other people. So does that mean we’re forever sentenced to write only about people who look, talk and act like we do? That’s boring!

But how do you write about people who are different and make them compelling and believable?

Empathy

Empathy makes all the difference. It is the very human ability to identify with the emotions and situations of others. It’s the ability to recognise when someone is happy, scared, upset or anxious, even when we aren’t feeling those emotions ourselves. And it applies even if that person is a figment of your own or someone else’s imagination.

For me the key has been to draw parallels between my character’s situation and something in my life that could elicit similar emotions. I may never have been abused by a partner, but I can think of times in my life when I’ve felt scared and betrayed. I’m not currently in possession of a penis, but if I were writing a sex scene from a male POV I’d focus more on the sensation of touch, scent, taste, rather than the mechanics of erection and ejaculation (lest I make myself a laughingstock).

Recognise your humanity

Realise that the differences that separate us are smaller than the commonalities that bind us. We’re all humans; we’ve all been hurt, we’ve all been happy and scared and angry. The situation your character finds himself in doesn’t have to be something you’ve experienced for yourself; it simply has to elicit similar emotions. That’s a great place to move on from.

As always, show, don’t tell

There’s the temptation to narrate the experiences of a character who’s markedly different from us, mainly because we’re afraid we won’t be able to accurately portray them, but you need to get over that. Immerse yourself into the experience until you feel . . . something. Then write about that something.

Surrender to the feeling

Let the emotions sweep through you. Feel the prickle of anxiety, the thrill of desire, the cold, clammy weight of dread. What you feel is probably what your character feels. Make use of it. Write it down!

Fiction is a uniting medium. It brings us together across borders and across centuries. Even across galaxies. This is because despite race, gender, nationality, religion, skin tone or whatever the hell else, we are all human. Space aliens, monsters and the undead can experience emotions similar to ours, and that’s what makes them believable. Take advantage of that, and your writing is going to be golden.

(And if you want to have a little fun, click here for a challenge: Can you write a description of a female character the way a man would? Post below, let’s see!)

Comments and questions, guys. Let’s talk it through!

As I said in a recent post, getting a bad review sucks. It can be inaccurate (or not), hurtful, or useless. Although it’s a bit more private, getting a bad critique from a friend or critique partner can suck just as bad. And if you can’t handle it, don’t dish it out.

Here’s how to avoid giving another writer a bad critique:

Ask yourself what you’d want if you were in their position.

Respect, right? Honesty, clarity and depth. That’s a good place to start.

Ask them what they’re looking for

Is there anything they’re particularly concerned about? Do they think they’ve nailed the setting but are still unsure of their characters? Are they anxious about inaccurately portraying a character of a different ethnicity, sexual orientation, or political point of view? Try to home in on what they’re most unsure about, and focus your feedback on that.

Be honest but not brutal

If a writer trusts your opinion, you owe them to be honest. Handing it back with a pasted-on smile and the assurance that it was “perfect” is doing them a disservice. Use tact where necessary, directness where necessary.  But make sure your feedback is motivated by a desire to help, not hurt. You wouldn’t want anyone to trash your piece, and tear it to so many shreds that you don’t recognise it anymore. So try to rein in your inner bitch.

Be specific

Saying, “I dunno, but I just didn’t like Theodore,” helps nobody. Why didn’t you like him? How can you fix him? Try to focus on specifics. “Theodore’s character didn’t feel realistic to me because he’s so consistently good that he almost doesn’t seem human.” Or, “Theodore’s mode of speech just doesn’t sound right. It’s not feasible to me that a man who never finished primary school would have the kind of vocabulary you’re putting in his mouth.” There, now that you’ve explained your concerns, your friend can fix the problem.

Be timely

Yeah, we’re all busy, but if someone gives you their precious book and asks you to read it, don’t toss it onto a drawer and convince yourself you’ll get to it “some time”. We writers are an anxious bunch. If you make us wait too long for feedback, we’ll start by consuming our fingernails, then move on to our toenails. Then our digestive juices will begin to dissolve our stomach lining. And all the while a nasty voice in our head will be chanting: They hate it because its awful. I suck. My book is a disaster. I’m never going to write again.

Please, put us out of our misery. Get back to us as soon as you’re able. Gracias.

Offer suggestions

If you’re a reader or a writer yourself, you’ll understand how valuable another person’s perspective can be. Sometimes we know something’s wrong, but aren’t sure how to fix it. If Theodore is too good to be true, how do we take him down a peg or two . . . convincingly? Does he filch pennies from the tip jar at the deli? Does he mumble an excuse and shut the door in the face of a couple of kids asking for school donations? Sometimes our imagination well runs dry, and we’re glad for a jump-start.

Remember, though, that just because you shared an idea doesn’t mean you own it. Give of your own free will, but for Gollum’s sake, don’t decide you have the right to call your writer friend up every three days to ask if they’ve used your idea yet. Maybe they will, maybe they won’t, but once a suggestion has been made, you no longer have ownership.

So what does this all boil down to? When you’re critiquing a piece, do as you would be done by. Because next time, it might be you looking for an opinion, and you’ll want only positive karma flowing your way.

Wait! You aren’t going without leaving a comment, are you?

It’s a lovely day and I’m in a good mood. I’m giving away FREE professional edits to the first FIVE writers sending in their material. No obligations, no strings attached, just some clear, compassionate advice on that piece you worked so hard on.

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• SHARE any of my posts to your social media.
• Send me UP TO 2,000 WORDS of your novel, screenplay, non-fiction book or short story.

Cool? Cool.  

Offer ends midnight Sunday.

So we’ve gone through a couple of pitfalls to avoid when coming up with character names. Now you know what not to do. But how do you come up with the perfect handle for your hero—or the shopkeeper on the corner?

Here are a few ways I do it.

Dust off the phone book

Or at least, open the phone book app. I’ve spent yours flipping through lists of names with a notepad at my side, jotting down what appeals to me. I speak them out loud and decide if I like the way they sound.

I search like this for both first and last names, sometimes opening the book at random, sometimes making my way through a whole letter. One caveat: never take both a first name and a last name from one person. That’s a lawsuit waiting to happen.

Throw a baby shower

Or at least visit a baby naming site or invest in a baby naming book. The advantage of this tactic is that you can also check out the ethnic origin and meanings of the name. Does it suit your character? If it’s a foreign name, how would someone from that culture react to it? And just as with naming a real life baby, make sure the name can’t be twisted into something obscene or insulting. A mean or crappy nickname is a hard thing to shake, even if you’re fictional.

Make stuff up

Because why not? It’s your book. Come up with something that sounds good and appeals to the eye. Read it out loud and see if it sounds right. It’s an especially good trick if you write fantasy or sci-fi. I seriously doubt a three-armed sub-lieutenant from beyond the Crab Nebula would have an Earthy sounding name.

Have a laugh

Amuse yourself with a whacky and entertaining name, especially for a walk-on character who won’t be around long enough to be annoying. Let it be your little joke. Because writing should be fun.

Use an online name generator

A good name generator will ask questions about your character’s gender, religion, ethnicity/origins and personality and then attempt to come up with a list of names you can use. It’s not only useful; it’s addictive.

I just tried to find a name for my Jewish female Afgan zombie of Trinidadian parentage (born in my birth year), and it came back with some gems, including Yuk Lozano and Yulia Lawrie. How could you not love that?

Use anagrams

Some people love finding Easter eggs in their books; hidden treasures that bring them a gasp of pleasure when they’re uncovered. Wouldn’t you love your reader to discover that your character’s name contains a hidden meaning?

Give them just one name

Hey, Cher and Elvis didn’t invent it, and you have to admit that having just one name makes your character look cool as hell. Or sinister. Or commanding. Or godlike. Make them feel like a legend!

Forget names entirely

Hot skater dude. Pink Mini-Skirt. The Bread Lady. Anything that brings a vivid image to your reader’s eye and remains in their mind after they’ve read your story.

Slip a notable characteristic in there

Yeah, yeah, in my last post, How Not to Name Your Characters, I may have suggested this wasn’t a good idea. But it’s too irresistible not to try at least once. Pick one characteristic and play with it; you’d be surprised how appealing your reader will find it, especially if the nickname is bestowed upon them by another character.

Bug-eyes Malone. Legs Maraj. Twitch.

Oh, just have fun. If you do, we will too. I promise.

Naming your characters can be a pain in the butt. You want your readers to be able to tell them apart, of course, but you also try to convey some sense of identity, some element of their personality, through their name. The same image certainly doesn’t come to mind when you hear Beulah or Anastasia, does it? What about Count Dracul versus Muffy?

Just like a person’s name, a character’s name can influence how others see them, even shape their destiny. So when you’re brainstorming. here are a couple of pitfalls you might want to avoid:

Double-letter dullness

We were all raised on Sammy the Snake and Wanda the Witch (Sesame Street kids know what I’m talking about). It’s tempting to use alliteration, especially when naming animals or characters in children’s books. But Barry the Badger and Barnabas the Billy Goat becomes boring.

Lazy characterisation

Lewis Carrol and Charles Dickens were great at conveying the physical and personal characteristics of their people using their names, but in a modern setting it seems lazy. You can name a character Nicholas One-Eye to comic or ironic effect, but otherwise . . . really?

Janet and Jane

For the sake of my eyes and my tired, confused brain, please don’t give two characters such similar names that I wind up getting their plotlines and character arcs confused. Was Alice the bank robber or Alison?

Alphabet soup

Does your character’s name really have to have five consonants in a row? Unless she’s Welsh, I’d guess not. I know it’s all the rage to come up with fancy names, with unusual spellings and a half-dozen punctuation marks thrown in, but most of us hear a voice in our head as we read. So the next time you make me stumble over a character named Vercingetorix Llewellyn Berggren, I’m going to throw the book at you.

Twisted timelines

I’m sure there are kids running around these days named Beyoncé or Daenerys. But remember the time frame your story is set in. Please don’t inflict them on a kid born in behind enemy lines in WWII. Many names are peculiar to their timelines. Probably why there’s nobody out there under 75 named Mildred.

Tripping on their roots

Kunta Kinta resisted being called Toby until they beat it out of him. Why? Because his name was part of his self image. It was one of the last things he could hold on to from his motherland. It helped remind him of who he was.

Names are our identity, often entrenched in our ethnic roots, our gender, our homeland and our parents’ dreams for us. You character’s names should reflect who they are . . . without descending into insulting cliché, of course.

As always, it’s your book and you can name your characters anything you want. You can name your guy Phineas J. Finklebottom. You can call your heroine A. You can break any of these guidelines to achieve the effect you want. Many great authors have done it.

But I’m just sayin’ . . . .

What’s the best or worst character name you’ve ever seen? Tell us in the comments.