Category: Musings

Musings

Weekly Musing: And Your Name Is?

DH Hanni

People and places need a name of some sort; it’s the first identity marker for the reader. For the writer, it depends on the character. Some writers believe a character’s name should mean something. A trait or quality the character already possesses or, in the course of the story, becomes or attains. Others just view it as a name and nothing more. I guess I fall more into the camp of ‘it’s just a name’ although in an effort to make my own writing a bit deeper, I have started to pick names with some kind of meaning.

But naming these people is just so hard. Every once in a while, I get lucky and a character will pop into my head pre-named. Like a Cabbage Patch kid. For the most part, I struggle massively with names. Not just people but places, too.

So how do I pick names? The most obvious and easiest place to start is with people I know. I also have a list of names that pop into my head. I keep the list on my computer but I do have a small notebook I keep in my purse just in case I see, hear, or think of a name.

Athletes are a great source of names, especially last names. Hockey in particular is a multi-national field of names. I actually got an inspiration for a character and a story through taking the last name of one player and combining it with the first name of a player on the opposing team. I also got the last name for the character’s best friend from the last name of a different player on the same team. Oddly enough, those character names will actually mean something once I get around to writing the story they inspired.

I also like to pluck names from TV shows or movies I enjoy. Sometimes it’s a particular character or an actor’s or actress’s name. This helps because it is a wide, multi-national pool to draw from.

Various websites are also helpful. If I’m looking for a name for a particular time period and the story is set in America, the Social Security website has databases of most popular baby names stretching back to the 1880s. When looking outside the States, I have turned to BabyName World because I can search names by ethnic groups in Europe, Asia, Africa, and all of the Americas. What’s also is nice about this website is it also gives you the meanings so if you want to add some more depth to your story, you can. Other than those two websites, I can also just enter into a search engine what I’m looking for if it is really specific. For example, if I’m looking for common last names during the late medieval period in England. And if I’m absolutely stuck, I use the name generator on Critique Circle‘s website.

Coming up with names of places is even more of a challenge for me. So far, I’ve picked place names based on looking around whatever coffee shop I happen to be in. I have a city names Tazos after the teas they carry in Starbucks. I used Macchiato as an inspiration for a crime family’s last name. I used another product sold in a coffee shop as the basis for the name of a made-up virus. I think this is why I sometimes shy away from referencing any place at all.

Even with all these resources, I still find names difficult. I have spent countless hours searching for just the perfect name, a part of my perfectionist nature to have things just right. And as I transition more into striving for that extra depth in my writing, the search for just the perfect name gets longer. But this can open up so many doors to get to know the character more for both the writer and the reader.

Musings

Weekly Musing: Dreams and Modest Exptectations

DH Hanni

About two months ago, I waxed un-poetically about goals and commandments I had given myself. After I was finished writing that post, I added to my list of blog topics to do a follow up post about my dreams and expectations. I decided this week would be a good week to explore those as I received an e-mail earlier this week informing me I had sold my first, and hopefully not last, story. To say I was floored, and still am, would be a gross misstatement. I’m cautiously optimistic but I think it won’t truly click what I accomplished until I see the story bound in a book. It’s just too surreal.

It is important to have dreams and expectations not only as a writer but as a human being. Expectations are those realistic assessments of what our talents, strengths, and weaknesses are. What can I expect out of myself at this moment? What do I think I do well and what areas do I want to work on? Before this starts sounding too much like a performance review, I’ll stop it right there.

For me, it has always been difficult to determine what I think I’m good at. I’m a humble person. My poo does stink. It is far, far easier for me to list deficiencies. Such lists are subjective but the older I get the more I have realized it is okay to say what I think I’m good at.

My expectations for my writing career are: 1) always push myself to improve with each piece, each draft, 2) to push my comfort zone and take chances with subject matter, point of view, or genre, 3) to be published more than once in my life, 4) build up my confidence, 5) to make a decent, not millionaire status, living doing what I love, and 6) develop a thicker skin but to also be okay with being disappointed or hurt if what I write isn’t liked or well-received. It happens to everyone but I shouldn’t bottle that initial emotional reaction. It’s okay to cry and rage but to do it in the privacy of my home and then move on. No need to run to the nearest craft store to make a voodoo doll of said critic.

I hesitate to list my dreams. They seem laughable and truly out there. But like expectations, dreams can motivate and push me along but not to the point of nuttiness I am very much prone to. I’m the harshest boss I could ever have and sometimes my performance reviews don’t go so well.

My fantastical dreams are: 1) get a book published, preferably more than one book (this is different than expectation #3, I’m more referring to short stories), and have it sell well, 2) to be considered a good writer (although great would be thrilling), 3) have one of my books turned into a mini-series produced either by HBO or BBC or together, 4) seeing ‘Best-selling author DH Hanni’, and 5) to hear someone say they love my work and it inspires them.

So there you have it. My dreams and expectations. One I can work towards and the other just something to do while staring off into space. Now to ride a unicorn whilst surfing a rainbow to the other side to beat up a leprechaun and jack his pot of gold.

Musings

Weekly Musing: Beauty Is In the Eye of the Book Buyer

DH Hanni

Ah, the old saying ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover.’ Sounds so lovely, so mature but let’s face it, readers do judge books by their covers. And that is unfortunate. Publishers know this. Authors know this. Readers know this at least subconsciously.

What drew me to this topic was an article posted on the Historical Novel Society’s site. The author discusses current trends in cover art for historical fiction and points out sexism within the industry. Covers for books written by female authors tend to have the floating, headless woman body. Alas, covers for books written by male authors tend to have to the same image. The spouse to the floating, headless woman is the floating, headless armor-wearing, weapon-wielding male. Apparently only men are interested in swords and battles and women are to be fascinated by relationships.

The author uses the very funny, but accurate term of textile porn, I’ve also seen it referred to as costume porn as well, with regards to the clothing on the cover. A lot of historical fiction readers, me included, get giddy at the sight of period clothing and publishers know this.

But it’s not just historical fiction that suffers from this affliction. These types of trends can be found in virtually every genre. Science fiction/fantasy usually have some kind of creature looking menacing, a hero/heroine looking menacing, a villain looking menacing, bright colors, or something more stark if the subject is the apocalypse. Chick-lit books usually have baby pastel colors, a torso in front of a solid color background, or a woman with some kind of cheeky look on her face. Westerners have a cowboy and his horse. Horror has well, dead bodies, or parts of bodies on the cover. You get the idea.

What I have found a bit disturbing is the author is almost always excluded from any say in the cover art. Some publishers will bounce ideas by the author or the author will have a say but for the most part, the decisions are left up to the marketing department. And the marketing department will go with what everyone else is using.

When book covers became more than just a solid color with gold lettering noting the book’s name and author, the covers would frequently showcase original artwork. This would usually be done by a book cover artist. The artwork may or may not accurately reflect the book’s contents. Later covers transitioned into photographs. But as technology has improved, it has become more economical to use stock photographs and manipulate them. Models get used over and over again and similar fonts get used over and over again. In many cases the models used on the cover don’t even reflect any of the main characters in the book.

And so we have homogenous book covers. Yet there are many, many book covers that do strive for individuality and gender neutrality. The Twilight series has beautiful covers. Abstract and follow a particular color scheme. You don’t tell what the story is about so you read the back cover.

Another distressing trend in book covers is sexism. In an article appearing on The Guardian website, it discusses book cover trends in Young Adult books. The author argues, and I agree, that books aimed at Young Adult readers shouldn’t be segregated to just girl books or boy books. Pink covers are for girls, blue covers are for boys and never shall the two crossover. It reinforces the notion only girls experience certain emotions and feelings that boys don’t have and vice versa. Yet many of themes written about in Young Adult books are universal.

Unfortunately by the time a reader has reached adulthood, the sexism in book covers does not stop. Oddly enough, many female readers don’t have many hesitations about purchasing a book with a more ‘masculine’ cover but male readers do about ‘feminine’ covers. In an interview with Author Magazine, Emily Giffin mentioned her covers and how she believes it turns male readers away from her books. Her books have pale pastel colors with cutesy motifs like a wedding ring or baby carriage or heart, you get the idea. Yet her books are locked into this because it is what helps sell her books.

In a wonderful article, by Maureen Johnson , she does what she calls a cover flip. She shows how the stark contrast in covers depending upon the gender of the author. She asked readers to create their own and the results are startling. And they are not exaggerations. Search your local bookstore or online and take a look at covers by male authors vs. female authors. These isn’t to say that all book covers are gender biased, they’re not but if a book publisher truly wants to help sales, stop insulting the reader by pandering to gender. Pander to their intellect instead.

Finally, one other thing I’ve learned is there can be different covers based on what country a book is being marketed in. For example, US vs. UK covers. Take a look at some of the covers in this article posted on The Millions. As you can see, some of the differences are quite drastic. Again, it comes down to marketing departments at the publishing houses. What works in one country doesn’t sell as well in another country. Or so they think. I must admit I prefer some of the UK covers over the American version. In particular the books by Hilary Mantel, Madeline Miller, Lauren Groff, and Kevin Powers. With the exception of a couple of the books shown, these covers are also a good example of gender neutral covers.

In looking at my own book collection, the covers I love the most are: Free Food for Millionaires, The Coffee Trader, Love Returns Through the Portal of Time, Brave New World, 1984, and Wench. Any Ken Follett covers because they are always gender neutral. None of these really scream male or female nor do they give away what the book is about. It forces me to read the back or the inside book cover to get determine if I want to read the book or not. What a novel concept!