Lester Dents Wave Those Tags, Part 1 Find A Name

LESTER DENT’S WAVE THOSE TAGS, PART 1: FIND A NAME I’ve been working a web-based Pulp Fiction Workshop, which makes use of as its start line creator Lester Dent’s famous “Pulp Paper Master Fiction Plot,” and also you’ve seen it quoted here a number of instances in varied contexts. But Dent (co-creator and precept writer of the traditional Doc Savage tales, amongst many, many other tales throughout multiple genres) had more recommendation to supply his fellow authors. With some earlier posts touching on character names, and my apparent reluctance to get into that every one-necessary side of fantasy and science fiction worldbuilding: naming individuals, places, and things, it’s a good time to find a widespread place to begin. If Dent can start us talking about plot and story construction, possibly he can start the dialog in terms of characters as properly. To that finish, let’s spend the following few weeks taking a look at Lester Dent’s essay “Wave Those Tags” (a ka “Tag ’Em”), which was first published in the 1940 Writers Digest Yearbook: This, again, is a personal opinion… Here is a method. It is a formula for creating characters to put in fiction yarns. A blueprint, to say it one other way, for making characters. Now… before launching out on this character blueprint, it could be a good suggestion to borrow some gross sales psychology and build up the factor a little. To present, in other words, that it’ll workâ€"that it's getting used successfully. While there appears to be some wariness about admitting it, most writers apparently work to formula to an excellent extent. Most pulp writers have seemingly devised a certain-fireplace masterplot, and have been writing and selling the identical yarn again and again for years. A shocking number of the slick* authors appear to do the identical thing. And there seems to be an inclination amongst editors to have their very own thought of a method for a yarn, and never purchase anything that doesn’t fit. They call this the groove, or the slant. [I’ve edited out a couple of notes from the unique Writer’s Digest editors here, preferring to stay with Dent’s central point. â€"PA] In order to write a narrative, it seems finest to start out with a plot and characters. Yarns may be written with out both one, however it might be slightly tough to make a dwelling selling them. Whether the plot comes first, or the characters, seems to be a topic for argument. One methodology is to build the characters, then dope out a plot in which they strut their stuff in their respective manners. The other system is to construct the plot, then manufacture characters to suit it. Possibly an argument may be prevented by saying: begin out the best way that appears most convenient. Professional writers make each techniques work. Most of them apparently combine the two systems. Since this isn’t about plotting, it might be greatest to say nothing more about plots. Possibly the initial step in creating a character should be. FIRSTâ€"FIND A NAME. It could be very uncertain if the name is an important step in creating a characterâ€"but it does seem to be the pure first thing to do. Names are handy as handles. But it helps if the characterizing doesn’t cease with merely finding a reputation. One of the loudest squawks from editors is that so many characters are just names being dragged by way of yarns. Making the name of the character different from that of any other actor in the story is usually a good idea. Should there be Morgans, Mermans and Murtons in the yarn, someone could also be inclined to turn out to be confused. It may also be nice to have the name kind of express the nature of the characterâ€"convey some suggestion as to his manner, look, nationality, occupation, or one thing. This gag seems to be fairly broadly used. Examples: Dashiell Hammett used a detective character named Spade, which was a tough digging instrument fairly consistent with the name… Another author of whodunnits, Rex Stout, appears inclined t o utilize predatory animals as a name sourceâ€"Nero Wolfe and Tecumseh Fox being two situations. A additional analytical dissection of those last two names may lead to the surmise that, in the case of Nero Wolfe, the name Nero was used as a result of it conveys the idea of a guy who's inclined to fiddle whereas Rome burns, which the fiction character at times apparently, though by no means really, does. The name Nero might also have sure inherent leonine qualities. The Tecumseh Fox name could be analyzed as implying a man who was as sturdy and inscrutable because the old Indian chief, externally, whereas actually being as sly as a fox… Erle Stanley Gardner has had nice success with a character named Perry Mason, although here an analysis may approach conjecture. A mason is a builder, and the word parry means to fend off: which is the best way the character worksâ€"keeping off quite a few enemies while constructing his instances. (No assure went with this paragraph of mindreading.) If heroes have manly names, it could help. Taking a thesaurus and looking out up words with strong, manly meanings, then improvising upon them, might be a trick worth making an attempt. In the pulps, this method to call-making usually is obvious. Pulp hacks are guilty of characters with such names as Click Rush and Mace and Lash. Apparently the names of flowers and fairly issues are incessantly used for the gorgeous young heroine in the yarn. The thesaurus could be consulted for these, too. A reliable old gag for getting names for international characters is to open an atlas, look at the map of his native country and pick a city, river, mountain or anything that has the flavor, and use that. Foreign language words for bushes, flowers, meals or such things can be used, providing one has a book on how to communicate the international language. Villains may possibly be made to sound like rascals by using harsh, disagreeable names. Example: Didn’t Hammett use a villain named Gutman? A good hissy, snaky sounding name has helped make many a villain. Telephone books can be a source of names, or of confusion. The gag of utilizing expressive names, while a a lot-used one, would possibly presumably be overdone. The comedian strips make use of it to an extreme diploma, but editors of fiction magazines may favor that it's tamed down a little, made extra refined. Now… right here is the following move in creating a personality: Next week… SECONDâ€"FIND AN EXTERNAL TAG. â€"Lester Dent * In the parlance of the day, slick = the intellectual magazines printed on larger quality paper vs. pulp = lowbrow magazines printed on low-cost wood pulp/newsprint paper. About Philip Athans I don’t like names like Spade, which are too on-the-nostril. Terry Pratchett does this as properly similar to with Trevor Likely (as within the doubtless, and likable, hero). The worst is probably Neil Stephenson’s character from Snow Crash, Hiro Protagonist. It was simply so ridiculously forced, not only that the surname that isn’t even an actual surname, however giving the character a Japanese given name but a Korean mother showed simply how little he actually understood about Asian cultural pondering. Koreans of the period in question vehemently hated the Japanese, and were hyper-nationalist, so there was no means a Korean mother would give her child a Japanese name. The wants of the plot overrode even widespread sense. While I do tend to decide on character names primarily based on that means, it's usually in a extra obscure method. For example, who is aware of off-hand that the name Jovi relates to the sky? But an involved reader may looked it up and be shocked on the conn ection to the story. I do that as well. While lots of my names are arbitrary, several are hidden clues. Look up the meaning of the name Maya and every little thing one needs to learn about her character in my world is revealed, uncovering a major plot twist in the process. No one will ever try this, though, so it is going to be my little secret. Maybe, at some point, if I turn into in style enough, that will become a small, enjoyable nugget for the super fans. I do certainly agree that names ought to differ. In the Wheel of Time there are lots of similar names for things, although they luckily get introduced at completely different occasions, however it could nonetheless get complicated if you take a break from the books (not that I do as a result of I’m presently a little addicted). But indeed; names are where it begins at. I take pleasure in making up high-fantasy-esque names since they are so unique. I go by the sound of them and what that would symbolize. Does it sound pleasan t or no? That’s where it usually comes from, for me.