Sunday Sharing #10 (or, What’s In a Name? Characters, Novels, and More!)

We’re writers. We all know that words are powerful–and we all know that names can be some of the most powerful words of all.

Names carry connotations of hidden meaning or even magic–and sometimes, they’re just the best way make someone or something stand out or blend in. Whatever you want to use them for, it is undeniable that names are important in writing, and this week’s Sunday Sharing aims to help you pick the best names for your work! Truth be told, I usually find that names just spontaneously appear with my characters, but sometimes they don’t, and that’s when I have to go looking for them…

1. So we’ll start with an obvious one. I know this is a repeat post, but The Name Generator is one of my favorite places to get character names (all of which are drawn from census data but are unique enough that they’re not all “Bob Smith”). It’s also awesome because the “Other Options” tab allows you to try out different name combinations. If you’ve already got a first name picked out, type it into the “first name” box and let the generator show you potential last names to go with the name you’ve chosen.

2. This one may go without saying, but I figure it’s worth mentioning: Google Translate can be an awesome name-generating resource for all kinds of things besides just people (i.e. place names, organization names, object names, etc.). Simply type in a word and then try translating it into different languages until you find a word you like.

3. Should you ever need to give your character’s pet a cool name, check out this extensive database of pet names (includes options for cats, dogs, birds, fish, ferrets, rabbits, horses, mice, snakes, pigs, rats, hamsters, turtles, and guinea pigs).

4. Literary agent Rachelle Gardner offers this fabulous blog post on how to title your book. It’s a resource I fully intend to utilize once I get around to reworking my WIP (I highly doubt the book will actually end up being called Unfamiliar Spellings).

5. A caveman melanges remarks is an anagram for anagrams make clever names. And you know it’s true! Take the Internet Anagram Server (a.k.a I, Rearrangement Servant) for a spin and see if you come up with something clever/interesting!

6. Need a fantastical-sounding name for your speculative fiction? Check out this jackpot of name generators for everything from Greek-sounding to Lovecraftian-sounding to just plain evil-sounding names.

7. Finally…yeah, you saw this coming, right? Some interesting/humorous commentary on names/naming from the Vlogbrothers. First, the story of the woman of many names–Gussie Audrey Horsey Gowen Manlove Brown:

Next, six people who thrived despite their unfortunate names:

And last but not least, some advice from Hank on how NOT to name your kid. However, I think this could be useful info on HOW to name your characters if you’re looking to get them teased about their names!

And with that, I’m signing off. I’ve got a crazy week ahead of me, but hopefully I’ll see you on Thursday!

It’s Not About the Networking (or, Why the Wall Street Journal Fails to Comprehend the Internet)

Friends, I would like to share something that amuses me.

In the past couple of weeks, the Wall Street Journal has published two articles (to my knowledge) concerning YA books. One of them was an extremely inflammatory piece about the dark topics addressed in modern YA fiction. The shockwaves from this article are still rippling through the YA writing/publishing community, and I plan to do a proper post about it sometime in the future. (Expect fire and brimstone when I do. There are very few things in this world that make me angry enough to want to punch something, and censorship of YA fiction is one of them.)

But tonight, our subject is much lighter in nature. As you may know, I’m a big fan of John and Hank Green, two videobloggers who have built up an amazing community surrounding their vlog channel on YouTube (more info here). John is a successful author of several YA novels, and he recently announced the title of his newest book, which will be released in May of 2012. The book has been in the consciousness of the Nerdfighter community for a long time, as John (like most writers) does occasionally vent about the inherent joys and frustrations of his craft. He even read an excerpt from the novel during a live video show on the day that he released the title (which, by the way, is The Fault in Our Stars). You can watch his official announcement video below:

However, there’s a twist that makes the release of this book unlike any other. John has promised to personally sign every single pre-ordered copy of The Fault in Our Stars. Every. Single. One. Given that John is notoriously bad at math, my theory is that he didn’t think this through, or else simply didn’t have any conception of how much time he’d actually spend writing “J-scribble” over and over and over. My mother and I did the math for him the other day and here’s what we came up with:

Let’s say the first run of TFIOS is 70,000 copies, and let’s say that John essentially has a six-month period in which to sign them all. If he signs about 380 copies per day for the entire six month period, he could finish them all. If he signs at a rate of one copy per minute (60 copies in an hour–it definitely won’t take a minute for each one, but this way we build in time for hand-cramp breaks), it will take him 6.3 hours to get through them all.

6.3 hours a day, at a rate of 60 copies an hour, for 184 days.

Dear God, John. I hope you actually have a hand after this.

But that’s not actually what I wanted to write about. The amusing thing is as follows:

1. On June 28th, John released the title of his new book through all the venues available to him: YouTube, Tumblr, Twitter, the Nerdfighter forums at YourPants.org, and his personal webpage. Releasing the book title meant that it was now available for pre-order (because now people would be able to…you know, find it). John also made his official announcement that he would be signing every single pre-ordered copy.

2. The anticipation and build-up to the announcement of the title precipitated a swarm once it was released, and Nerdfighters around the world descended on Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble’s website in order to pre-order a copy.

3. TFIOS shot to the top of the bestseller lists of both websites and remained there for several consecutive days (I don’t know exactly how many, but it was more than two). The book isn’t published. It’s not part of a series. It isn’t even finished, and it doesn’t have a cover, and yet it beat out other bestsellers like Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games and George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones. It was absolutely unprecedented in publishing history.

The current mock-up cover for TFIOS

4. The Wall Street Journal tried to write an article about it.

The reason I use the word “tried” is not because the WSJ somehow failed to write an article–the thing is definitely there, and you can go read it, and it makes sense in terms of grammar and spelling and whatnot. What’s hilarious to me about it is the total incomprehension on the part of the journalist about how this internet community actually works. As you’ll see if you read the article, the WSJ attributes much of John’s success to his 1.1 million Twitter followers and credits the social networking site (with a few mentions of YouTube) for the book’s rapid rise to the top of the charts.

In some senses, this is true. However, what the WSJ fails to realize is that the true reason this book has been so successful does not have to do with the number of followers John has, or with where exactly he announces things on the internet. The WSJ wants to look at this story as though all of John’s internet doings were a clever marketing ploy to promote himself and his work. Which I can understand, because that’s the lens the WSJ is used to examining things through.

An unofficial "Nerdfighter-made" cover for TFIOS

But that’s not why he does it. Anyone who has watched John and Hank’s videos for long enough knows it isn’t. The Vlogbrothers are still on YouTube (five years and still going strong) because they love the awesome community that has sprung up around their videos. Any marketing success is just a side-effect of having so many people think you are made of pure awesome in addition to being a good writer (I might also note that Hank’s new album recently charted on Billboard.com for the same reasons).

In short, I think the WSJ needs an “internet correspondent”–a Web 2.0-savvy 20-something with good writing skills who can help bridge the journalistic generational gap between Gen-X/Baby Boomers and Gen Y. Maybe I should write to them and suggest this. Or maybe I should offer myself as a candidate? :-p

Except not, because I’m busy going to school and writing books.

But I do wish you’d consider it, WSJ. It’s a brave new world out there, and you could make some freshly-graduated English or journalism major very happy indeed.

Meet the Cast! (or, Awesome People Who Like Books Too)

I realize I have been remiss in the way of introductions, launching readers into this blog without any sort of guide to the sort of people they might be expected to encounter here. Not that blog readers normally expect such a tool…but still. So here’s a quick rundown of our not-so-dramatis personae (I’ll try to keep it updated as time goes on):

Ari Susu-Mago

The author, hiding in a tree

Erm, so I think most of you know me, but on the off chance you don’t, my name is Ari and I’m a writer. I generally write young adult science fiction and fantasy (or just generally “speculative” fiction), although I do occasionally dabble in poetry and enjoy writing silly stuff too. I’m also feeling lazy, so if you want to know more about me, you can just click here.

 

 

Frederick Regency Raptor

Fred in silhouette (he's very camera-shy)

Like all velociraptors, Fred comes to us from the Cretaceous period. He’s had a long and distinguished career as an editor and occasionally as an author, though now he mostly prefers to occupy himself by reading blogs about the Regency period and the occasional steampunk novel. He’s loath to be seen without his top-hat and monocle, and carries a quill pen at all times. He also manages (read: has claimed) my Tumblr, which you can view here. Fred and I get along quite well, though we do sometimes disagree about things from time to time.

Oh, and Fred’s secret? In spite of being an adamant Grammar Nazi, he has a bit of a lolcat habit (ooh, he’s going to kill me for telling you that).

Azalea Micketti

Azalea Micketti

Azalea is one of my very best friends. She is also an avid reader/writer, and is currently studying to become an actor. You’ll probably hear references to her from time to time (because I kind of talk to her…a lot), and we might do a bit of guest-blogging for each other or maybe some interviews/co-blogging? We’ll see. (I haven’t told her about this idea yet. :-p ) At any rate, she’s totally awesome, and you can check out her blog on “Life, Love, and the Pursuit of Theatre” here!

Rachel Kambury

Rachel Kambury

Rachel is another good friend of mine who has already finished a book and is hard at work on her second! Like Azalea, Rachel is the sort of person I might ask to interview or blog with/about (and no, I haven’t told her this either). I also owe Rachel a huge debt of gratitude because she is the one who introduced me to National Novel Writing Month (affectionately known as NaNoWriMo) and is thus directly responsible for the fact that I have a finished novel. You can read some of her writing here.

The Vlogbrothers

Hank and John Green

Hooyes, you will hear references to the Vlogbrothers. John and Hank Green are far and away my favorite videobloggers. John is a successful YA author (i.e. he basically has my dream job), and Hank writes awesome nerdy music and runs the environmental technology blog EcoGeek. The brothers have been vlogging together since 2007, and their videos are funny, heartfelt, intelligent, thoughtful, and just generally awesome. If you haven’t already, you’ve got check them out. Seriously.

You may also hear references to Nerdfighters or to Nerdfighteria. This is the name for the community that has sprung up around the Vlogbrothers videos, and is also made of awesome. As for why it’s called that…well, I’ll let John and Hank explain. Sort of.

Assorted Family and Friends

This one is sort of obvious.

I’m sure there will be more, but for the moment, that’s all. TTFN!