The Official Writer's Corner Chit-Chat Thread

Arcane

You can change this now in User CP.
Reaction score
87
Personally I don't believe in names having "hidden meanings". If it's something like a tribal or cultural thing then it's okay, but otherwise I'm hesitant.
 

Kainami

New Member
Reaction score
2
Personally, I find name generators and what not somewhat backtracking. Unless you can derive it yourself in Latin and create some sort of deep meaning, its really not necessary. Its better just to create a name out of sound and roll along with it. Of course, when I'm really stuck, I just use Arcane up there as my name dictionary :thup:
 

Ninva

Анна Ахматова
Reaction score
377
Names can have meanings. The names of the characters in the Chronicles of Narnia represented some Biblical characters, so you expected certain people to act a certain way because of their name. The name may also tell people about a character's past.

Just a thought.
 

Kainami

New Member
Reaction score
2
It is not necessary. Look at "A Song of Ice and Fire". Without these biblical, and truthfully, overused connotations, the book went fine as it was.
 

DogOfHavoc

Future Tragedy
Reaction score
55
Well that's a poor rebuttal. Okay, so one specific book doesn't use the method Ninva mentioned. He wasn't saying that all books should use such connotations, only that some do to great effect.

He said names can have connotations not should. You are just trying to look intelligent by disproving something that was never so much as implied as fact.

Read more carefully before you post a purely argumentative post. This thread is simply for offering methods, not refuting methods already suggested.
 

Arcane

You can change this now in User CP.
Reaction score
87
Added another tip. Kind of personal, but who knows if someone else might have a similar problem.

More importantly perhaps, added another link for research/reference, check it out, it's pretty cool.

:)


Edit: Added another "tip". This may also be a little personal, but I have a feeling it applies to a lot of other people as well...
 

Genkora

Frog blast the vent core!
Reaction score
92
I recycle names a lot. But honestly, certain names probably sound better to me simply because I use them a lot. Like Jeremy, I use Jeremy a lot. I should get out of that habit probably, not that it does too much harm.

Unrelated to names, I find that I get much more response to my work when they are actual stories. What I mean is when there is dialogue and discernible characters. I enjoy writing conglomerations of metaphor and word play, but people don't really respond to it; if I really want a response then I'll write a story and make it mean something metaphorically.

Also, 2 spaces after periods, a common mistake is using only 1. Except when posting in forums and stuff, it seems to always push everything together, so 2 spaces is useless here.
 

Arcane

You can change this now in User CP.
Reaction score
87
Two spaces? I didn't know that. Oo

Edit: Aha!

Everyone who took typing class in high school learned that you always put two spaces after a period. The same goes for colons, questions marks, and exclamation points. Well, times have changed, and the two-space rule is dead.

Today, using just one space is correct. In BC times (Before Computers), printing presses and typewriters used letters that were all the same width. To help readers see that a new sentence was starting, we inserted two spaces. Today, computers compensate for the varying widths of letters. An "m" no longer takes up the same amount of space as an "i" does. Thanks to these proportional fonts, we no longer need that extra space.

Source: http://www.writing911.com/writing/g...fter-a-period-or-two-weve-got-the-answer.html
 

Genkora

Frog blast the vent core!
Reaction score
92
Ugh, my college English teacher took points off of people's papers for not putting 2 spaces. I'll just try to keep in mind that if my teacher is old, 2 spaces, young, 1 space.
 

Seb!

You can change this now in User CP.
Reaction score
144
Ugh, my college English teacher took points off of people's papers for not putting 2 spaces. I'll just try to keep in mind that if my teacher is old, 2 spaces, young, 1 space.

It depends completely on the teacher. A lot of formatting type stuff does.
 

DogOfHavoc

Future Tragedy
Reaction score
55
It is not necessary. Look at "A Song of Ice and Fire". Without these biblical, and truthfully, overused connotations, the book went fine as it was.

Okay, so an old post, but I just started reading this series recently. I'm on the third book and they are great.

The thing is, there are definitely biblical allusions as well as allusions to other works.

Jaime the Kingslayer- Cain the Kinslayer (Cain and Abel)

Cersei- Circe (greek witch who turned Odysseus's men into pigs)


All I have for now.
 

DogOfHavoc

Future Tragedy
Reaction score
55
Here are some tips by Kurt.

Read here.

I think you've posted those before. They're great tips and I love Vonnegut, but I think those tips apply to his writing style alone. Or at least the 8th tip does. Vonnegut is a master at getting the plot out of the way early on, letting you know what happens as fast as possible. But that doesn't work for all books. Vonnegut spurns suspense, but that doesn't mean we all should.
 

Ninva

Анна Ахматова
Reaction score
377
I think you've posted those before. They're great tips and I love Vonnegut, but I think those tips apply to his writing style alone. Or at least the 8th tip does. Vonnegut is a master at getting the plot out of the way early on, letting you know what happens as fast as possible. But that doesn't work for all books. Vonnegut spurns suspense, but that doesn't mean we all should.

No, there is more advice below.
 

C-Death

I love you
Reaction score
45
Even though this thread is a little...dated...I thought I'd add something I've come to find.

ALWAYS be thinking of new ways to torture your characters. Their trials and hardships are pretty much what shape them in the end, make it count, and make it brutal.
Also: A tortured antagonist is always a nice addition to the story.
 

Miz

Administrator
Reaction score
428
Even though this thread is a little...dated...I thought I'd add something I've come to find.

ALWAYS be thinking of new ways to torture your characters. Their trials and hardships are pretty much what shape them in the end, make it count, and make it brutal.
Also: A tortured antagonist is always a nice addition to the story.

That is true, writers are often afraid to hurt their characters.
I guess my advice is that this tip should be used in Moderation. Everyone needs challenges and a writer can favor and like their character too much, for they can't develop into an individual.

But no one likes a tortured soul... Remember that even the worst of life still has some lighter moments.
 

C-Death

I love you
Reaction score
45
That is true, writers are often afraid to hurt their characters.
But no one likes a tortured sou
I only half agree with you there; if there is no reason for the torture other than to simply fill pages, you are right, nobody would like it.
However, take my case for example, my character's tortured soul is half of what makes him him, and motivates his actions. I'm afraid to say that
without his tortured past, he'd be a generic, flat, uninteresting character.
 
General chit-chat
Help Users
  • No one is chatting at the moment.

      The Helper Discord

      Members online

      No members online now.

      Affiliates

      Hive Workshop NUON Dome World Editor Tutorials

      Network Sponsors

      Apex Steel Pipe - Buys and sells Steel Pipe.
      Top