Full Names

I recently finished a cozy that I really enjoyed. The puzzle was good, the characters were quirky, the small town was realistic and endearing.

You heard the "but" right?

BUT, the author kept using the characters full names. I can see, maybe, doing that once in a while. It was rare, though, for this author to ever just use the first name. I found it distracting to read "Joe Brown" or "Cathy Green" all the time.

What do you think? Is it helpful to keep reminding the reader of the characters' full names? Is it just me?

Writing For The Customer?

Deb's been talking on her blog lately about not underestimating the intelligence of your reader. I think it sounds like good advice.

Unfortunately, advertising agencies don't seem to think too highly of people viewing the ads they create. For years there have been the ads that seem to say, "Our customers are stupid." The best example is the Snuggie. The commercial shows people unable to deal with a blanket while sitting in a chair. They aren't even bright enough to put on a sweatshirt or button up a sweater. No, they must have a blanket with sleeves.

Target, however, has stepped it up a notch this holiday season with the new, "Our customers are psycho" advertising campaign. A woman in a red sweatsuit is training for the big Black Friday sales. Her eyes bug out as she lifts weights. She reads the sales notice like a bedtime story to inanimate Christmas decorations. At least she's smart enough not to need a Snuggie. Not smart enough, however, to take off the heels as she runs down the aisles.

My question is "Do these ads work?" I didn't buy a Snuggie, or do I plan to go anywhere near a store on Friday. How about you? Do you think they're funny? Annoying?

I'm going to go see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 tonight with Deb. While I'm not quite as wild about Harry as Deb and Jenny, I like the books and enjoy the movies.

Yesterday, I started looking up reviews. One, from Entertainment Weekly, gave the movie an A-. The rest were so-so at best. I found several more good reviews this morning. What didn't the not-so-great reviews have in common? They all complained that you'd have to be knowledgeable in the Potter-verse to understand what was going on.

Why, in the name of all that's magical, would anyone walk into the 7th movie in a series and expect to know what's going on? We're not talking Jackass XXXIV and a Half here. These movies, like the books, have been building throughout the series. Harry, Ron and Hermoine have grown up, and the problems they're dealing with have grown as well. Of course you need to be familiar with the earlier works in order to "get" this one.

I'm working on the first books in what I hope will be two series. Cozy mysteries tend, as a rule, to have very shallow character arcs for the protagonist. The prevailing wisdom is that if a reader likes the protagonist in the first book, don't shake things up too much or you'll risk losing that reader. There could be a bigger change between book one and book twenty, but it has to be gradual.

What do you think about that? Should a series keep the main character basically the same throughout? How much change is enough? Too much? And should the reader be able to start anywhere in a series and still "get it?"

NaNo Blues

I decided to skip National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) this year. I'm still working on revisions of HM, and didn't want to start a new project.

HM is largely the product of NaNo in 2008. I had already started writing it when the month started, so I was breaking the rule that you have to start a new novel. When I finished HM, I started D&D. I think working on two different projects is a no-no, too. But I loved writing that month. The flow of words onto the page--many of them handwritten so that there was a literal flow as well as a metaphorical one.

I have been struggling with the revisions of HM. Wondering if I'd ever get back into that kind of flow. And it hit me. Pretend it's NaNo. While I know that more care needs to be taken with revisions than with first drafts--otherwise, why bother--I can still have fun with it. Mix it up. Write some on the computer and some in a notebook. Or all in a notebook and retype. It's slower to hand write, but I haven't exactly been blazing along on the keypad.

So halfway through the month I'm jumping in. That would mean, if I were to stick to the rules, 25,000 words by the end of the month. Since we all know how well I do with rules, I'm just going to say that I'll write something every day. I won't guarantee that the writing will be in order. Could be a scene here and there. But I will write.

And that's what is needed at this time.

In Dreams

Way back when, the idea for HM came to me in a dream. Just pieces of it. The protagonist, his battered white pick-up, his daughter and his best friend. I also knew where it was happening. That was about it. But that was enough to get me started. And a first draft finished.

Jenny asked me, in jest, if I was going to write a series based on one of my hobbies. I really didn't think much about it. That was a couple months ago. Last night, I dreamt about the setting, who the protagonist will be, a few of the other people involved, and how it could spin from HM (I'd like any series I write to spin off from that). No murder victim, yet, but I didn't have one for HM right away either.

I've known a couple people who said they dreamed their novels, start to finish. Seems like a very long dream to me. Or a very short novel. Either way, it's not what has happened to me. An interesting character and setting is about it. I'll take it though.

How about you? Have you ever had a new character show up in a dream? Ever dream a whole story?

Flexibility

I received my first critique from CWC last month. The feedback was great. I got a lot of positives but also some good suggestions for improving what was there. But then I froze. Even with the positives, even though I agreed with some of the changes suggested, I couldn't write.

Many evenings of staring at the computer, unable to get even one word down, and I realized my problem. I was concentrating too much on the negatives. For example, one of the issues people had was the introduction of too many characters in a single chapter. Every time I needed to add a character, I stopped. I heard different members' voices "Does he really need to be in this scene? This chapter?" "Could someone else make the same action? Give the same information?" There were too many other people in my head, second-guessing my every move.

I talked to Deb about it. She had had problems with critiques on a partial manuscript. She wanted to go back to the beginning each time to make the changes. That was one reason she went on hiatus to complete revisions.

Our November meeting was Sunday evening. We all talked about what was and wasn't working for us. It ranged from not being able to perform to the deadline to feeling like some of the feedback might be counterproductive for that person. After much discussion, we decided to let each member decide the process that works best for him or her. Two will continue in the original format: 50-100 pages every other month. Four of us will only submit when we feel ready to do so. I know Deb will be submitting fulls. I will probably do the same so that I don't tie myself up trying to second guess what the others will say. We also agreed to speak up during the meeting about what kind of feedback we want.

I've heard of critique groups that have fallen apart when there were issues brought up, changes suggested. It's a testament to the members of CWC that they could calmly and rationally go about making the group something that will help rather than hinder each person's creativity.

I feel very lucky.