I'm writing a Young Adult novel. It stars Lolita Leigh Smith, her family, and her friends. I have been wanting to novelize these stories for ages, since I first started writing them over 2 years ago in Osceola. These characters are the most fun to write for that I've ever experienced! The genre is dramatic comedy, basically. Lo and her friends are part of a club Lo and her friend Beverly Holden (Behold or B) founded, called the Scary Things Club. It is a club for people who have no other friends in school which also doubles (for official members) as a Discordian cabal bent on improving the world by pulling harmless pranks called mindfucks.
The novel is going to cover the issues of bullying, being an outcast, sexuality, gender issues, and related issues.
I've been writing it for a few days now, and have finally gotten to the first bit of bullying. I thought it would be really difficult for me, seeing as bullies ruined my life, but the first bully so far, named Valerie, is surprisingly fun to write for. She's a loathesome, detestable person, but fun to write, for some reason. Also, she's surprisingly witty herself. Not as witty as some of the STC members when they're at their best, but still witty. Oh, and she's the school gossip.
I also made another awesome character, a teacher, who is a basketball coach and science teacher. He disagrees with treating athletes with kid gloves, letting them get away with shit; he punishes athletes who misbehave the same as any other students who misbehave. Which, if things go as planned, will be important in the story.
EDIT: Oh my Gods! Valerie is even worse than I originally imagined her to be! We may have the arch-nemesis here. I don't think it would be much of a stretch to call her "truly evil."
~ ~ ~
In related news, I was having some trouble the other day with first names and last names. I'm used to writing science fiction and fantasy, which is why I have the problem. In scifi, you can make up any kind of weird thing for a name. But this is conventional fiction, and the more names I came up with, the harder it was getting. So I looked up some stuff online, and now I share with you these resources:
Most common surnames (last names) in the USA.
Most common American male first names.
Most common American female first names.
The novel is going to cover the issues of bullying, being an outcast, sexuality, gender issues, and related issues.
I've been writing it for a few days now, and have finally gotten to the first bit of bullying. I thought it would be really difficult for me, seeing as bullies ruined my life, but the first bully so far, named Valerie, is surprisingly fun to write for. She's a loathesome, detestable person, but fun to write, for some reason. Also, she's surprisingly witty herself. Not as witty as some of the STC members when they're at their best, but still witty. Oh, and she's the school gossip.
I also made another awesome character, a teacher, who is a basketball coach and science teacher. He disagrees with treating athletes with kid gloves, letting them get away with shit; he punishes athletes who misbehave the same as any other students who misbehave. Which, if things go as planned, will be important in the story.
EDIT: Oh my Gods! Valerie is even worse than I originally imagined her to be! We may have the arch-nemesis here. I don't think it would be much of a stretch to call her "truly evil."
~ ~ ~
In related news, I was having some trouble the other day with first names and last names. I'm used to writing science fiction and fantasy, which is why I have the problem. In scifi, you can make up any kind of weird thing for a name. But this is conventional fiction, and the more names I came up with, the harder it was getting. So I looked up some stuff online, and now I share with you these resources:
Most common surnames (last names) in the USA.
Most common American male first names.
Most common American female first names.
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Comments
That avoid you doing something like giving a character a name that's common now, but was rare when they'd gave been born (Brooke is *not* a common name back when I was born. This may be a problem if I ever transition)
Well, as this novel takes place in the unidentified near future, I shouldn't have a problem with that except for the adult characters.
Truthfully, though, if a name feels right despite not being birth-year appropriate, I'll use it anyway.
I also like this site for last names.