Last year, when I began writing my post-Apocalyptic spec, I went about it without an outline. I knew the setting and general arc of the script. I had a clear vision of the opening scene. And I knew, more or less, who my protagonist was. This script – let’s call it my “Roman Army Spec” – not so much.
Actually, I’ll admit right now that this was the hardest time I have ever had in cracking the first act. Usually, Act One pours out of me like whiskey into my (bottomless) glass. I almost always have an idea for the very first scene, the inciting incident, and everything between those two beats and the end of Act One. This time, though, I was stuck. I know the general arc of the plot and had some notion as to how, maybe, I might possibly get there. But what I really knew was that I was stuck.
The blank page was taunting me something awful. I felt like that kid in Algebra who swears the clock actually began ticking backwards. I was going nowhere fast, and it was painful. Finally, something clicked. I knew how to begin developing my protagonist – give him another antagonist, one we follow more closely at first, and build off of that. The overall story involves an enemy that the protagonist confronts, but not for a while. So, I decided to give him another adversary that we would see more immediately.
I still felt stuck, though. That was until I went to the tried and true Behind the Name, a site I think most writers go to frequently. It was becoming increasingly difficult to outline my script without being able to actually name my characters in the beats (other than Protagonist, or Antagonist, or Protagonists’ Friend). Soon, the names were flowing. I had more than I needed, so I went back and bolded the ones I wanted to use, then ascribed personalities/roles to those. I had my protagonist, antagonist, big “boss” protagonist, and everyone in between. What’s more, by finding all those names, I also found I was able to fill in character roles that I didn’t know I needed or didn’t plan on using, but which made the story so much stronger. Soon enough, Act One was outline, and Act Two was halfway there – note: outlining Act Two always SUCKS; the fact that I just about nailed half of it in one sitting and know what the second half will be like (I’ll do that part tonight) blows me away. I’ve either hit it just about right or am so far off the mark I don’t even see it. Either way, my characters have names, and in a week and a half, when we next meet, the League will tell me if my outline’s worth a damn.
When do you name your characters?
Actually, I’ll admit right now that this was the hardest time I have ever had in cracking the first act. Usually, Act One pours out of me like whiskey into my (bottomless) glass. I almost always have an idea for the very first scene, the inciting incident, and everything between those two beats and the end of Act One. This time, though, I was stuck. I know the general arc of the plot and had some notion as to how, maybe, I might possibly get there. But what I really knew was that I was stuck.
The blank page was taunting me something awful. I felt like that kid in Algebra who swears the clock actually began ticking backwards. I was going nowhere fast, and it was painful. Finally, something clicked. I knew how to begin developing my protagonist – give him another antagonist, one we follow more closely at first, and build off of that. The overall story involves an enemy that the protagonist confronts, but not for a while. So, I decided to give him another adversary that we would see more immediately.
I still felt stuck, though. That was until I went to the tried and true Behind the Name, a site I think most writers go to frequently. It was becoming increasingly difficult to outline my script without being able to actually name my characters in the beats (other than Protagonist, or Antagonist, or Protagonists’ Friend). Soon, the names were flowing. I had more than I needed, so I went back and bolded the ones I wanted to use, then ascribed personalities/roles to those. I had my protagonist, antagonist, big “boss” protagonist, and everyone in between. What’s more, by finding all those names, I also found I was able to fill in character roles that I didn’t know I needed or didn’t plan on using, but which made the story so much stronger. Soon enough, Act One was outline, and Act Two was halfway there – note: outlining Act Two always SUCKS; the fact that I just about nailed half of it in one sitting and know what the second half will be like (I’ll do that part tonight) blows me away. I’ve either hit it just about right or am so far off the mark I don’t even see it. Either way, my characters have names, and in a week and a half, when we next meet, the League will tell me if my outline’s worth a damn.
When do you name your characters?
4 comments:
Can't write at all without the names, but naming is never a problem. Sometimes I'll think of a word describing the character, translate it to a different language and then re-Americanize it. Sometimes I'll just name the character after his or her model from my real life--and change it later.
I heard Harold Pinter used to use letters for names until he got well into the story, which seems like a natural way to be Pinteresque.
Thanks for yoru content, OoC. Like you, I often thnk of words to describe my characters and then search for names with that term with that as their definition. Using a single letter to represent a character often doesn't help me unless I've already had a name in mind for them.
A name like Bob can tell you a lot about a character depending on the context. So can Maximus. But a B and and M, if they do not really mean anything and are just place holders, don't really do it for me. That's not to say I haven't done somethign similar.
Bottom line: you're absolutely right. Can't write at all without the names.
I'm on the "Can't write without a name" side, too. It seems to carefully to define them. Perhaps that's odd, but as a screenwriter especially, I'm trying to keep a limited but specific group of things that define my character. I know that everything else is subject to change... Heck, even if I make it, director Neil may have reasons to override things that writer Neil may have thought were important.
And, yes, the name could end up being one of those things, for some reason, but it's still something to hold onto. I can't write without a working title either. I may change either, but there has to be something on the page for me.
All this talk about character names got me thinking about my protagonist names. I ended up writing down all of the names for my protagonists, something that I've never done. It's interesting, you might find patterns that you weren't aware of. I have a lot of protagonists with a name beginning with A. As far as the feel of the names, they very much match the mood of the kind of protagonist I write. I consider myself a versatile writer, but my versatility probably isn't in my protagonists seeing that they all tend to be more internal and withdrawn figures, definitely not larger than life on the surface.
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