My writing is going fairly well. The rewrite is moving at a decent clip. Not as fast as it should be, but that's okay, I forgive me. However, I recently discovered two things about myself:
Finally I settled on a name, but then I had to change her surname because it no longer worked. That took a week of searching and pairing names together and requesting that my friends participate while I figured out the best one. Then I couldn't figure out what to name a restaurant in my novel, so I turned to my creative friend, Jeannie, who came up with one for me. Then this past week, I've struggled and failed to come up with a name for my character's bridal shop.
*See what I did there? I'm hilarious.
1st Wednesday of the month is Insecure Writers Support Group. Wherein I post about the difficulties and joys of writing.
My writing is going fairly well. The rewrite is moving at a decent clip. Not as fast as it should be, but that's okay, I forgive me. However, I recently discovered two things about myself:
1. I can't make decisions
2. I'm terrible at naming things.
This is a bad combo. Whether it comes to character names, novel titles, or the simple name of a restaurant, I suck. I come up with long lists of terrible ideas and then I can't narrow them down. So I find myself reaching for a lot of outside help which in turn makes me feel like a talentless hack. Aren't writers supposed to be creative? You may be thinking, "Oh Mencara, you can't be that bad, can you?"
I named one of my characters Tiramisu. I'll let that sink in....
Obviously I woke from my fugue state and changed it. But it took weeks of deliberation, discussion on Facebook because wanted her name to be Anika but I was worried people wouldn't pronounce it right. They wouldn't pronounce her name right in their head while they read the book and this was unacceptable to me. Basically, I'm a wackjob.
Finally I settled on a name, but then I had to change her surname because it no longer worked. That took a week of searching and pairing names together and requesting that my friends participate while I figured out the best one. Then I couldn't figure out what to name a restaurant in my novel, so I turned to my creative friend, Jeannie, who came up with one for me. Then this past week, I've struggled and failed to come up with a name for my character's bridal shop.
Then yesterday, it occurred to me that I wrote the rough draft of my W.I.P. back in 2009 and never titled it. Imagine having a four year old child that you never bothered naming. I'm becoming Holly Golightly now. So I tried to come up with a book title and each one has been worse than the last. I'm back to taking suggestions for the name of a novel that no one has read fully but me. See what I mean? I'm a hack. I wondering if I have to give my Facebook friends credit when the book gets published, since they're making all my decisions asI run to them for input.
Also it took me an hour to choose the image on the right ---->
Am I just a needy writer? Indecisive? Perhaps it's a bad case of Atelophobia? You decide in the comments below!*
I think you're quite typical. If you don't stress the small stuff the rest will never happen!
ReplyDeleteLoved this post, smiled all the way through!
Ahhh a kindred spirit! I have changed the title of my current WIP....wait for it.....NINE times. And every single one sucked. I also go nuts over character names. I want to find one with some sort of meaning that relates to the story. I should probably just use Jane. It would make my life easier!
ReplyDeleteMeredith
Names don't really matter. Whatever connotations or issues they have in your head as you write, to the reader, that name only takes on the character you give it as you go.
ReplyDeleteI start out with one name, and over time the name changes and then I have to edit the whole thing so that the character's name isn't misspelled somewhere along the line. Also, all my projects are saved under the MC's nickname. Not always their full name... just... the shortened version I call them in my head. So I can be pretty indecisive with names as well :) Being creative certainly does not preclude a certain level of perfectionism, and self derision about our own need to have things "just right." :P
ReplyDeleteWell, your indecisiveness is allowing your writing to become participatory and there's nothing wrong with that! With goofy real life names out there like North West, then I see nothing wrong with a character named Tiramisu (one of my fave desserts!)
ReplyDeleteDo I ever feel your pain! I hate trying to title my stories and name my characters because unless they come right to me, I am sunk.
ReplyDeleteSorry I have not been around in so long. I'm going remedy that as my life gets back on track. I've also tapped you for an award you pick up on my blog. Hope you had agreat holiday weekend.
It would help if I left my link. :)http://melissasimaginarium.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteI know exactly what you mean about fretting over whether a character's name will be correctly pronounced by readers! I absolutely cringed when one of my writing buddies pronounced a character's name wrong! I changed the spelling and then ran it by every person I knew to see how they pronounced it before finally deciding it was safe! Thanks for stopping by my Insecure Writer's post, too, nice to meet you!
ReplyDelete