Guest Post by Anna Staniszewski!

I'm super excited to welcome Anna Staniszewski back to the blog to celebrate her new book THE PRANK LIST (available from Sourcebooks July 1)!

Anna has once again put together a wonderful guest post. Take it away, Anna!

Keeping Your Protagonists Distinct

 The great thing about writing multiple series is that you get to explore different main characters’ stories. The bad thing about writing multiple series is that sometimes you wind up having to jump back and forth between projects, meaning that the protagonists’ voices can get a little muddled. Here are a few tricks I use to keep my characters distinct from one another:

1. Give characters unique voices and quirks. I try to give my protagonists specific ways of speaking, unusual habits, etc. that are integral to their characters. Jenny from my UnFairy Tale Life series, for example, is a total go-getter whereas Rachel from the Dirt Diary series is much more reserved and cautious. Both characters have wacky senses of humor, but they come across in different ways.

2. Dig into your characters’ motivations. If you know what’s driving your characters, then it will be easier to keep their stories distinct. If both of your characters want to be accepted, for example, then your stories might feel too similar.

3. Make your characters’ actions/reactions unique. If you locked two of your main characters in the same room, they should be drawn to different elements of the room and use different tactics to try to escape. If their actions/reaction are too similar, that’s a sign that you have more work to do.

4. Don’t make your characters too much like you. It’s inevitable that your characters will be like you in some ways, but make sure that different characters are reflecting different elements of your personality. Jenny, for example, is the kind of girl I wish I could have been in middle school whereas Rachel is an exaggeration of the insecure person I was back then.

5. Create an unexpected supporting cast. Your secondary characters should also be distinct in each book so that they can bring out interesting and unique elements in your protagonist. Filling your story with a variety of minor characters will also help ensure that your stories don’t feel repetitive.

Still not sure if your characters are distinct enough? Try putting them in a scene together! I did this with Jenny and Rachel in order to make sure that I hadn’t accidentally recycled a character. I purposely wrote a scene without any dialogue tags so that it forced the two characters’ voices to be identifiable on their own, and I made sure that the girls’ actions, motivations, and attitudes were completely different.

How do you keep your protagonists distinct from one another?

About Anna:

Born in Poland and raised in the United States, Anna Staniszewski grew up loving stories in both Polish and English. Currently, she lives outside Boston with her husband and their crazy dog. When she’s not writing, Anna spends her time reading, daydreaming, and challenging unicorns to games of hopscotch. She is the author of the My Very UnFairy Tale Life series and the Dirt Diary series. Her newest book, The Prank List, releases on July 1st from Sourcebooks. You can visit Anna at www.annastan.com.

Guest Post by Ana Blaze!

I'm very excited to be hosting Ana Blaze, author of A LATE THAW (also the author of my favorite story in the LOVE AND OTHER GAMES anthology)! Take it away, Ana!

On Naming Characters.

One of my favorite parts of developing a story is choosing names for my characters. I suspect I spend about as much time researching and considering the options as many prospective parents do. That makes sense because, in many ways, the characters are a piece of me. Not to get too sappy about it, but I am the one that gives them life. They’re my babies and I don’t want to saddle them with an unflattering or inappropriate moniker. So I consider several things before settling on name.

 First I try to match the name with the personality. A more formal character, someone who is maybe a bit introverted and uses an impressive vocabulary might need a classic, reliable name. I’m thinking about William, Catherine, Matthew, Nicholas, Emma or Sarah. A more, shall we say colorful, character--the type of person who people describe as walking to the beat of their own drum--would be better suited with an unusual name. I like names that come from myths and legends for these folks, like Maeve, Cassiopeia and Tristan.

Next I consider when and where a character was born. A two hundred year old Victorian vampire named Zoey wouldn’t make as much sense as one named Josephine or Winnifred would. Even when dealing modern characters place can have a great influence on name. A man born in the southern part of the United States could have a very different name from one born in Scotland or Australia.

As a strangely specific example, take the name Brayden. It was the 15th most popular boys’ name in Alabama last year. It was 13th in Kentucky. It wasn’t even in the top 100 in Washington DC.

So I do some research--The official Social Security website is great for checking popularity of specific names in various places in the US over the past fifty years. In 1965 it didn’t matter if you were born in Hawaii, Alaska, Connecticut or Indianna--there was very good chance your name was Lisa. There is also no shortage of baby name meaning sites.

Which brings me to the next thing  I consider. I do like to choose names that have meanings that suit the characters. For example, Abigail would be a lovely name for a character with a close relationship with her father as it means father’s joy. In A Late Thaw I chose an ironic name, Kiley, for my main female character. Kiley means graceful, but the character is known to be rather klutzy.

Finally, I like to say the names aloud and together. Yeah-I test them out like a twelve year old girl with a crush would.

Kiley and Cole 2gether 4ever!

Beth + Colin= True Love

Are there any names you love or hate to see used in romances? Which ones? Tell me in the comments.

Haha! I love it! Check out more from Ana in A LATE THAW!

Title: A LATE THAW

Author: Ana Blaze

Publisher: Entranced Publishing

Imprint: Kissed

Genre: contemporary romance

Length: 57 pages (novella)

Release Date: October 28^th, 2013

Blurb:

The town’s too small for Kiley St. Claire’s reappearance to be a surprise, still seeing her hits Cole Thomas like a punch to the gut. She ripped his heart apart when she turned to ice and ran away all those years ago. Now that she’s back, Cole’s going to say his piece and move on.