Gabrielle Williams: what’s in a name?
If William Shakespeare had named his star-crossed lovers Bert and Ethel, instead of Romeo and Juliet, would their tale of passion and impossible love still have become one of the world's best known tragedies?Bert and Ethel, by William Shakespeare ...mmm, it just doesn’t conjure up the same level of romance, love and drama does it.
What if Anakin Skywalker had been re-named Neville Nads instead of Darth Vader after becoming a flaming shish kebob in the lava pit? Would Star Wars fans and small children still idolise the master of the Dark Side enough to dress up in the black get-up for costume parties?
Forget the global financial crisis and Kindle 2 vs hardback, these are weighty questions worth pondering.
Gabrielle Williams is one writer who believes a character's personality is intricately linked to their name.“I think the name is absolutely vital. I think that if you don’t feel that the names are right, you have to get them right,” says Gabrielle, whose latest book, Beatle meets Destiny, was published by Penguin last month.
In the book, Beatle is a superstitious teenager in love with a girl named Destiny; Destiny is a teenage realist in love with a boy nicknamed Beatle. But in the earlier drafts, Beatle (whose real name is John Lennon) was actually christened as Roy, and Destiny was quaintly named Amelia.
“Even just saying it, you can tell it would have been such a different book, can’t you,” Gabrielle implores. “I was not that happy with Roy and Amelia, and I always knew I would come back to their names because they weren’t quite right.
“When I thought of Destiny, so many things clicked into place. I realised the Roy character was going to have to be superstitous in order to find Destiny's name significant. Then she had to have a surname that linked to him too (McCartney).”
Finding the right name
Whilst getting a character’s name right is vital, Gabrielle doesn't think it should keep writers up at night. (Personally, I think coffee, a publisher’s looming deadline and the TV premiere of Wolf Creek cover that.)
Gabrielle says that while triggering name possibilities by skimming baby name books, for example, may inspire some writers, she believes ideas will ‘come to you’ - if you let them.
“I think that people get ideas all the time, and they disregard them… they don’t think any more about it,” she says. “You have to take that idea and pin it down and work it into your stories.”
Once Gabrielle had firmly pinned down her characters’ names, she concedes they literally ‘ran away with the story’.
"It’s a bizarre thing to say, but it’s true," she emphasises.
The story of Beatle meets Destiny begins, quite simply, as a tale of a boy who starts cheating on his girlfriend.
Before long, however, this simple outer layer begins to peel away like a rotting onion left in the sun: soon everyone’s eyes are watering. There’s the debacle of the stolen tapestry; the creepiness of the unknown stalker who steals black cats and undies; the freakiness of cannibalism (let's not go there); the teacher-student affair… the layers just keep stripping away.
In fact, Gabrielle admits that at one point during the writing process, the layers had become so numerous and the characters so out of control, that she threw up her hands and decided not to piece it all back together.
“With the stolen tapestry, I really did not know how to resolve it. In earlier drafts I didn’t. I just left it and my editor said, ‘You know you are going to have to resolve this’,” she laughs.
“I felt like I really had a book that was going well when the characters did unbelievable things and I went, ‘Oh, no, what are you doing that for?’ knowing that I was the one who was going to have to fix it up.
“If I had set out to plot it, I would never have had got my head around it. It really happened quite organically. Draft after draft, different layers came in. As I said, my characters completely disregarded me.”
True Aussie style
The characters may have disregarded their master, but they didn’t disregard their origins. Beatle Meets Destiny is a very Australian book, peppered throughout with Aussie slang and dry humour.
And for this, Gabrielle is proud. “I always wanted it to be an Australian book,” she says. “It certainly has the Australian, laid-back, relaxed feel throughout. I think that’s an asset.
“My feeling is that when I read a book from overseas, I like to get the flavour of that country. I don’t think we need to try to write for an international market. I almost feel that we have become so international that we need to write with a cultural feel.”
Although Gabrielle confesses to being a ‘lazy’ writer - often researching her books by way of sipping coffee at the local café with friends - she is mid-way through her next book.
A tad coy, she will only reveal that it should be complete by the end of this year and that her publisher is ‘very keen’ to see what she has written.
I simply wonder what her characters’ names will be: Shazza, Kazza, Kev, Nev? Or maybe Sting, Bono or Britney? Suggestions anyone?
For more information about Pamela Wilson or WriteSmart, log on to http://www.writesmart.com.au/
Before long, however, this simple outer layer begins to peel away like a rotting onion left in the sun: soon everyone’s eyes are watering. There’s the debacle of the stolen tapestry; the creepiness of the unknown stalker who steals black cats and undies; the freakiness of cannibalism (let's not go there); the teacher-student affair… the layers just keep stripping away.
In fact, Gabrielle admits that at one point during the writing process, the layers had become so numerous and the characters so out of control, that she threw up her hands and decided not to piece it all back together.
“With the stolen tapestry, I really did not know how to resolve it. In earlier drafts I didn’t. I just left it and my editor said, ‘You know you are going to have to resolve this’,” she laughs.
“I felt like I really had a book that was going well when the characters did unbelievable things and I went, ‘Oh, no, what are you doing that for?’ knowing that I was the one who was going to have to fix it up.
“If I had set out to plot it, I would never have had got my head around it. It really happened quite organically. Draft after draft, different layers came in. As I said, my characters completely disregarded me.”
True Aussie style
The characters may have disregarded their master, but they didn’t disregard their origins. Beatle Meets Destiny is a very Australian book, peppered throughout with Aussie slang and dry humour.
And for this, Gabrielle is proud. “I always wanted it to be an Australian book,” she says. “It certainly has the Australian, laid-back, relaxed feel throughout. I think that’s an asset.
“My feeling is that when I read a book from overseas, I like to get the flavour of that country. I don’t think we need to try to write for an international market. I almost feel that we have become so international that we need to write with a cultural feel.”
Although Gabrielle confesses to being a ‘lazy’ writer - often researching her books by way of sipping coffee at the local café with friends - she is mid-way through her next book.
A tad coy, she will only reveal that it should be complete by the end of this year and that her publisher is ‘very keen’ to see what she has written.
I simply wonder what her characters’ names will be: Shazza, Kazza, Kev, Nev? Or maybe Sting, Bono or Britney? Suggestions anyone?
For more information about Pamela Wilson or WriteSmart, log on to http://www.writesmart.com.au/