Descriptives

Going off Dreams

Book 1 Nightdreams

The first installment in the Going off Dreams Series

February 17, 2013

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Behind the Scenes:

When I started writing about Eryn, I had originally scripted her with my name (or what my mom wanted it to be originally: Kristyna).  However, I decided against it.  I didn’t want the readers to associate the main character descriptively with the author (me).  A couple days into writing, I knew that I wanted to add my nieces names in it.  I have always thought that my sister did a fabulous job with their names.

Originally I had scripted in a parallel with my own life.  The draft helped me to understand more about story development.  Ultimately, I didn’t want to add my real life within this series and have been considering writing other works as well (that are a testimony of my life) non-fiction.

Recently in a Google+ discussion, the question came about of naming your character.  I have answered how I came up with the names in a previous post.  I truly enjoyed the process of building the character, then considering their attributes, researching names to match.  Avlov is a witte weiven (“white women”, “white witch”, “woman of knowledge”) hence she is all white.  Xylo is a word associated with wood; her character is described as have bark like skin. 

What if you don’t like he name?  Do I have to go through my entire composition to change the name when writing?  No.  Depending on what software you are using to compose your work.  I personally use Microsoft Word®, this is a program that I have always used, and had to use with my on-line courses as well.  It is easy to change a mass amount.  When I changed the name Kris (from my original draft) to Eryn, you can click ctrl+f.  In the prompt type in the name you want to change; it should pull up every reference in the composition.  There is a drop menu that gives you the option of changing.  In the navigation window, in the prompt where the word is you’ll see and x and an arrow pointing down.  Click on the arrow and then select ‘replace’.  Follow the prompts.

Research and Development:

A reader (OK, my mom) suggested that I should have been more descriptive of the main character.  When writing Eryn, of course I am writing as if I am her at times, and then other times trying to convey the story and what is going on for the reader as well.

I didn’t want my audience to be bound by a definitive descriptive.  I gave a few hints as to what she looks like, but I ultimately wanted the reader to have control of their perceptions of what she could look like.

Trivia: Did you know that I have a nieces named after two of the main characters?

From what you have read and what you picture in your mind what Eryn/Nyx looks like?

What celebrities would you recommend for the character roles?

Until the next time, or the next… dream.

K.E.Nowinsky

P.S. Love you Mom <3