Juliet Marillier

What’s in a Name? Naming Characters in Historical Fantasy

March 13, 2019 By Juliet Marillier 15 Comments

I had fun today making a voice recording of the character names for my forthcoming audiobook, Beautiful, which is based on the Nordic fairy tale East of the Sun and West of the Moon. This was to assist the narrator, who will be recording the book this month. As I got my tongue around Bjalta, Gudolf and Solvej, I decided the topic of character names deserved a revisit. As a writer of historical fantasy, I love to discover or create names that will not only suit individual characters, but will be appropriate to the world and culture of the story. Naming your characters well helps you to create the consistent, convincing world all fantasy writers strive for – the world that your reader can believe in from the first page.

Of course, clever naming enhances any genre of fiction. How could Gabriel Oak be anything but trustworthy, a man close to nature? Bathsheba Everdene suggests an unconventional, strong-minded woman – perhaps Katniss Everdeen shares some of her characteristics. Wackford Squeers is a sadistic man, Philip Pirrip (Pip for short) is an innocent. And what about Severus Snape, Albus Dumbledore, Luna Lovegood and countless other characters from the Harry Potter books? The naming style used by Dickens and Hardy suits J K Rowling’s fantasy well, providing consistency and humour.

When you’re writing historical fantasy, by which I mean either a story set in real world history but with supernatural elements, or a story set in an invented world that is based on a ‘real world’ period and culture, effective naming starts with a knowledge and love of your historical period (or the implied period.) Sure, you’re not writing a history book or even historical fiction, you’re playing with history. But that doesn’t mean anything goes. Newbie writers sometimes mix periods, cultures and languages freely when creating their world, and that can create jarring notes for the reader. A solid knowledge of your historical period and culture, including an understanding of language and naming, will help you to build a convincing world complete with whatever magical elements your imagination chooses to weave in. Hands up who’s been guilty of giving a character an anachronistic name? I’ve done that, but I won’t do it again. Remember the golden rule for fantasy writers: your world should be internally consistent. Names should match the implied period and culture. If you choose to depart from that, make sure you do so consistently and for a reason that makes sense within the rules of your world. The reader needs to know you’ve done it by choice, not sloppiness.

But wait, I hear you say. Isn’t this rather a rigid approach? Most readers won’t care about all this. They just want to be entertained.

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Fudging History: Is It Ever OK?

January 9, 2019 By Juliet Marillier 45 Comments

As a reader of fiction, I appreciate historical accuracy. A novel with a historical setting, whether that be Tsarist Russia or Feudal Japan or the South America of the Inca, can spring to life for the reader when the author has a genuine passion for the period and culture. To my mind, the same thing applies with a work of historical fantasy, the genre I write in.

Historical fantasy could be loosely grouped into two categories (with many interesting sub-divisions, as in most genres.) There are stories set in real world history and geography, but with some elements of the uncanny or supernatural that set them apart from straight historical novels. Those elements may be based on the folklore and mythology of the time and place, as is the case in most of my own work, or the work might be alternative history – that is, the world as we know it changed by past events taking a slightly different course. Then there are stories set in imagined or secondary worlds, but loosely based on historical periods and cultures in the real world. In the first kind of story, good research is necessary, not only to get the historical overview right, but also for the accuracy of the everyday: What would they be eating? What would they be wearing? What animals would they keep? How would they get around? Then there’s culture: hierarchies in church, state and family, gender roles, attitudes to difference, norms of communication and behaviour. Ideally, this kind of historical fantasy would be as well-researched as a good historical novel. The author might also need to delve into folk beliefs, myths and legends.

If a story is set in an imagined world, the author has more flexibility. Some might say, ‘It’s a fantasy world – you can write whatever you like!’ By all means try this, fledgling writers. You will soon discover two basic rules. Firstly, there’s one thing the world of your book absolutely must have: internal consistency. Everything about your story must make logical sense within your created world, and that includes supernatural events and characters. Secondly, a writer will almost always draw upon the real world to some extent when creating a fantasy world. The secondary world will generally have some elements in common with the world the readers know, contemporary or historical, but will possess intriguing differences because fantasy deals in the uncanny, the magical, the supernatural. A good writer puts all this together seamlessly, so the reader believes in the world from the first page.

Some writers think outside the box when undertaking this challenge. I’ve written before about some intriguing novels in which the authors use characters from classic fiction as their protagonists. This approach requires not only meticulous historical research and internal consistency, but also a very deep knowledge of the original literary material. Try Theodora Goss’s series, The Extraordinary Adventures of the Athena Club, of which two novels have been published and a third comes out this year. These are stylish, accurate and highly original, with the added bonus of wry humour. Another excellent example of this approach is John Kessel’s Pride and Prometheus, in which the unlikely combination of Victor Frankenstein and Mary Bennet (Pride and Prejudice) features.

Now, anyone who is familiar with my own work might point out that I’ve made my share of historical errors. Who am I to talk about getting it right? As creative artists, why shouldn’t we break the rules when we like?

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Writing for Audiobook

November 14, 2018 By Juliet Marillier 16 Comments

Do you love audio books? Maybe you like to devour the latest epic fantasy novel while you’re on an equally epic road trip, or let a new thriller by your favourite writer entertain you during a boring but necessary house clean. Maybe you have a child who adores the Harry Potter books but is not quite up to reading the last two on his or her own – how excellent to have Stephen Fry do that job instead. I’m of a generation that used to enjoy radio serials – in New Zealand we had one called Portia Faces Life (Portia was a lawyer whose personal and professional lives were both complex.) Another was Doctor Paul: A Story of Adult Love, which I suspect couldn’t have been so very adult, or my parents would not have allowed me to listen to it on days when I was home from school sick. I also remember the evening book readings on radio, in particular Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories, and a night plagued by fearful dreams after listening to The Speckled Band.

Fast forward to the present day. Technological advances have transformed our world, both for good and bad. The publishing business is no exception. I’ve been a published writer for twenty years, and I’ve been fortunate enough to see almost all my novels published not only in print and ebook formats, but also as audio books. Up until this year, the books have come out first in print and ebook, and have later been produced as audio books, often with a different publisher. The audio books have proved popular with readers, sometimes outliving the print editions. Maybe that shouldn’t surprise me in this time-poor society! Audio books allow multi-tasking in a way print books and ebooks don’t. This year I’ve been writing a novel specifically intended for audio book production. This was something new for me, and I’ve learned a few things along the way.

As a reader, I value the effective and original use of voice – my favourite writers of fiction all use voice cleverly to help convey the mood and meaning of their story, to give it a unique shape and character. I try to do the same in my own writing, and increasingly I develop structures around voice. This particular story is an expansion of a novella already written and published. The story, Beautiful, is based on the fairy tale East of the Sun and West of the Moon, and my version is written in first person from a single point of view. My narrator is not the heroic young woman who is the protagonist of the original tale. My character is not human. The story I created for her has its roots in the fairy tale, but moves far beyond it. Because I had worked hard to develop this character’s striking and unusual voice, I believed the story was particularly suited to audio book production. Here are some things I’ve learned along the way. [Read more…]

The Magic Formula: Setting Priorities

July 11, 2018 By Juliet Marillier 16 Comments

I have a confession to make. I’m writing this post the night before it’s due to go up. That’s not quite as bad as it sounds, bearing in mind the 12 hour time difference between Western Australia and New York, but it’s not good either. Ideally, I like to give myself a few days to iron out errors and glitches. But sometimes the rest of my writing work, or indeed the rest of my life, gets in the way, and that makes me uncomfortable. Like the White Rabbit, I hate being late. I prefer to be in control: of my work, of my situation, of myself. It’s no surprise that on the planner to pantser spectrum, I’m right at the planner end.

So what got in the way this time, leaving me on the verge of offering one of those ”I am Juliet’s dog and she asked me to write this post” pieces? Deadlines. Most of us have them, and it’s in their nature to sneak up on us. The deadline for my current novel, Harp of Kings, is four days after this post goes up.

It would be nice to have a manuscript finished and polished around six weeks before the deadline. I used to do that. Then it could be put away for a while and checked over with fresh eyes later, in time for final tweaking. I wasn’t so efficient this time around, but I do have a complete, revised, and carefully checked ms ready to go. Revisions included cutting around 16,000 words to get the ms closer to the required length of 125-130K. I don’t think those cuts did the novel any harm, though it’s always painful to delete hard-won words. Gone are the days when I could get away with a 200K-word doorstop.

So to priorities – I wonder how other writers determine which tasks come first and which can wait? While on the last frenetic gallop to get this book finished, my online presence dwindled. I visited my Facebook author page daily and responded as quickly as I could to posts; I answered questions on Goodreads, but not always promptly; I responded to emails from readers, again with quite a delay. But my blog, linked to my website, was completely neglected, and various snail mails from readers sat on my desk for far too long unanswered. That was bad. Readers are an author’s lifeblood, and those who make the effort to send handwritten letters deserve quick and considerate responses. Readers who don’t use Facebook, and there are plenty, missed out on months of news about the forthcoming series and other projects. But the novel had to be written. And finished on time, not only because of a contract, but because there’s another contract and another deadline coming up in (ulp!) just over two months, for a work not yet finished.

Don’t get me wrong; I love having work to do, and not only because it pays the bills. But I’d like a magic formula for managing writing, editing, revision, promotional activities, social media and the demands of the non-writing life, which in my case includes looking after my crew of needy little dogs, being a mother and grandmother, and the standard range of domestic tasks. Failing magic, maybe a useful list would help. Where do we start?

I have some suggestions. I’m hoping your comments will expand the list.

Start with self care. It’s too easy to set that aside when the pressure is on. Get enough rest. Find time to relax with friends and family. Read an old favourite book. Do some exercise you enjoy. Listen to music. It can be hard to make time for those things when it feels as if every moment you spend away from your desk is adding to the looming pile of tasks to be done. But looking after your mental and physical health is key to being able to cope.

Write down your tasks. [Read more…]

The Angsty Writer

May 9, 2018 By Juliet Marillier 23 Comments

Two months out from the deadline for a novel with more than usual riding on its success, I don’t feel super confident about crafting a post full of wise advice for writing more effectively, or engaging more meaningfully with readers, or bravely addressing big social issues, or achieving a better work/life balance. The last few weeks before the deadline tend to be a time of weariness and anxiety, characterised by too much black coffee, over-consumption of sugary foods, snappish words addressed to the other members of the household (the dogs, in my case), and restless nights visited by repetitive dreams of failure. You know those dreams – they feature scathing reviews, book launches attended only by the author’s family, interviews in which the author is made to look a complete fool, and being constantly late for things. Then there’s another kind of dream, in which your editor sends you a so-called ‘structural report’ which may just as well read: This novel stinks and needs a complete rewrite. You have one month to do it.

Oddly enough, these symptoms visit you even when you’re fairly happy with your manuscript. I know I still have a lot of revision to do, but I’ve budgeted the time so I’ll submit the thing by the required date, barring catastrophes. I’ve been through this twenty-odd times before. I should know what I’m doing. But I’m coming back to it after a couple of years off, and that seems to make a difference. Those unproductive years were a time of personal distress (the death of a beloved dog under violent circumstances) and career setbacks (a mismatch between what I truly wanted to write and what was deemed commercially viable.) So I was derailed from my usual pattern of producing one substantial novel per year – my readers have had two years with no new book. Unsatisfactory. Demoralising. What could be done about it? Was it the end of my writing career?

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