Earlier this year I wrote about my rules for writing fiction. Little did I know that a few months down the line I would be breaking Rule #4: Characters without the right name have no life.
That’s right, I was convinced to change the names of major characters in The Secret of Fezar. Thus, “Kinnel” and “Tasil” took a tumble along with some key concepts and other names of people and places.
The siblings are now called Yavi and Fahe. It wasn’t as easy as doing a search and replace. These were well-know, well-fleshed characters, and changing the names was almost like saying goodbye to them and reincarnating them as new people.
Yes, Tasil and Kinnel will be missed, but I feel the change is for the better. I am liking the new names, but more significantly they fit better with my world. Also, “Tasil” was not an original name, since a Tasil exists in the Shadow in Eternity series, albeit in the background (Wahid’s wife, if anyone remembers Wahid).
All these changes were the direct result of some astute feedback from my editor. It also spurred me to work on a date and time system for the world the story is based in. More on that later.
Goodbye, Kinnel and Tasil. 
~PD
Yes, that’s the new name of my forthcoming book. We decided to change the name because… well, there was a possibility of it being mispronounced. (Figure it out yourself.)
The Secret of Fezar is the first book in the series called Satin. I’m undecided which one sounds better, though I’m inclined to go with the former.
This is a story about a family secret, and a very apt demonstration of the proverb, “Curiosity killed the cat.” Find out more here.
The book is finally going into production, and watch this space for updates about cover, Website, etc.
Disclaimer: No cats were harmed in the writing of this book, and none will be in the reading of it.
~PD
The Guardian asked a line-up of eminent authors for their personal dos and don’ts for efficient fiction writing. The results, to say the least, ranged from entertaining to outrageous to hilarious: “Get an accountant, abstain from sex and similes, cut, rewrite, then cut and rewrite again – if all else fails, pray.”
So anyhow, to cut a long story short, though eminence is a far-off nightmare dream, no harm in compiling a list of my own. Here’s hoping it doesn’t affect my relationship with my accountant, have a bearing on my sex life, or make me believe in religion…
- Uninstall all IM software: Really, truly. In fact, getting away from the Net is good, on the whole, except that it sometimes comes in handy to look things up. I have to admit, I don’t follow this rule. I’m bad.
- Don’t try to plot your novel if that doesn’t work for you: I find it impossible to plot out a scene-by-scene story. I just need to let stuff happen. I never expected Nira to catch the speld — she just did.
- Don’t worry about chapters: Working chapters is usually something I bluff my way through. A chapter break happens when I think to myself, “Oops, I haven’t had a new chapter for ages.” It seems to work. After all, Terry Pratchett doesn’t do chapters, does he? He’s inspirational!
- Characters without the right name have no life: I beg to differ with Shakespeare — the name is everything. A two-metre-tall nerdy Scandinavian called Bill would have turned out very different from Noah.
- Give yourself a deadline and treat it seriously: I promise myself a treat when (and if) I meet the deadline.
- Get some honest reviews: I’d rather know from friends that my precious work-in-progress is crap than from strangers.
- If you get stuck at some point in the story, move on to something else: No point being frustrated with a part that just isn’t coming together. I move on to writing something completely different or to another part of the story. When I come back to the problem later, I’m always surprised how much the break helped.
- Also, don’t write in chronological order if you don’t want to: I just write the bits I have figured out first and worry about what comes after what later on.
- Writer’s block happens: So no point fretting over it! I try and enjoy the break and not feel guilty about it.
- Free-writing really helps: In fact, they have proved to be an effective antidote to writer’s block for me.
If anyone has any other rules for themselves, I’m curious to hear.
~PD
