Character Name Dilemma...

I have one secondary character bio left to complete, but I've hit a snag; the name and occupation I'd chosen.

It's a contemporary romance so it's not essential that I pick a name to fit a specific time period as I'd need to with my historical romances, but there's still a problem.

My hero's ex-girlfriend is a model. Now it's not that she's horrible, but from what others have told my heroine in passing, you wouldn't want to be called her best friend...

I'm at the stage in the manuscript where my heroine and the ex are going to unexpectedly meet, so getting the bio complete for her is important.

Now to the problem. I called her Suzi/Suzy. I decided on her not using her real surname, but a shortened version of it.

So just in case there were any models of that name I Googled it- and variations.

Result, not a good idea. I never knew there were that many models called Suzi/Suzy something or other; including some quite risqué.

This character is not one of a herd...

I need to find an alternative name for her so one that is unusual but would still sound okay for a glamorous model.

This is going to be where the numerous online lists prove useful.

Starting with her age, about 28, I'm going to begin by looking at girls names for 1985/6, and starting at the bottom names on the lists, as they'll hopefully be one or two less usual names.

I'd like to have a few possibilities to choose from, so that one will fit with my visual image of her.

Who said writing was easy? :D










Image courtesy of Ventrilock and www.freedigitalphotos.net

Busy Working - Building Characters...

I've just about finished my character biographies, and they have been a revelation.

Now I'm anxious to get back and start building the story to completion.

It is only the first draft, but already I can see where I need to add scenes or incidents earlier on in the draft, as the character bios have provided information I was unaware of when I started writing the story.

There's a couple of areas of research that I still need to do, but they can be done as I go along, so by the time I'm ready to tackle the second draft I'll have what I need.

Also I feel I have finally found a system that works for me, and I'll continue to use it for all my longer stories.

I'm flexible enough to make changes in the plot if they're needed, but just being able to write down chapter outlines helps me know where I'm going - even if some bits do get changed around.

Clearing my head of the ideas and scenes, and then concentrating on my characters' secrets has been like taking the icing off a piece of fruit cake, leaving the delicious part to be exposed and savoured.

Like cake...

(This could just be that I feel hungry after this latest writing session of course, and I like eating cake- occasionally.)

So I'm off to follow up on one of those vital research areas...










Image courtesy of Apolonia/ www.freedigitalphotos.net