JPC Allen Writes

Welcome to my writing pages!  The main focus of this website is to offer writing tips, prompts, and inspiration to writers, no matter what their genre or skill level. You’ll also find information on my published works and the ones in progress. My schedule for posting is:

Monday Sparks: Writing prompts to fan your creative flame.

Thursdays – Writing tips based on a monthly theme

You can sign up for my newsletter in the sidebar. You will also find me on Amazon, Facebook, Instagram, Goodreads, Bookbub, and at my publisher’s site, Mt. Zion Ridge Press.

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Book Recs for Finding Names for Characters

How to name characters in novels

One of my favorite things about writing, and the least stressful, is naming characters. While you can google names all you want, I prefer consulting books, and recently, I discovered two books I’d recccomend for finding names for characters.

The Best Gender-Neutral Baby Name Book: The Ultimate Collection of Unique Unisex Names by Melanie Mannarino

I stumbled across this book at the library and loved how it got me to broaden my view of names. Many of the names don’t seem gender-neutral to me, but the books provides many lists of unusual names for authors who want their characters to stand out from the crowd.

First Name Reverse Dictionary by Yvonne Navarro

Another library find. This book was published in 1993, (the link is for an updated edition) but well worth tracking down if you want a different way of finding names. The title says it all. The meanings of names are listed in alphabetical order. For example, the definition “warrior” is listed under “W”. The definition “peaceful” is listed under “P”. Under the entry for “warrior”, the author lists many names from various languages that all mean “warrior”.

You could use this book for a fantasy novel in which everyone’s name reflects something about their personalities. Or you could create a family within in any genre that has an unusual naming tradition. Such as in a cozy mystery, the main suspects are a family in which the mother named her children based on the mood she was in when she delivered them. You could create some very memorable names from that kind of set up.

I’ve reviewed a newer reverse name dictionary here. And I highly recommend getting a copy of The Character Naming Sourcebook.

Writers, what books do you like to use for finding names for characters?

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Can’t Visualize Your Novel’s Settings? Use Floor Plans and Maps

How to write settings for novels

Writers often talk about characters that are problems. But what about settings? When I use a setting multiple times in a novel, or thoughout a series, remembering all the details can become a headache. The geography of a setting, the layout of a room, or a room’s furnishings may be critical to my plot or character development, and I can’t have doors or whole mountain ranges moving. If you can’t visualize your novel’s settings, use floor plans and maps.

Borrow floor plans or draw your own.

My Rae Riley Mysteries series started with a short story, “A Rose from the Ashes”. When I sat down to write the first novel, I knew the farmhouse where Rae’s newly-found father and his family lived would be a major setting I would use during the course of the series. I had to imagine it as clearly as I see my own home. So I dug out a pad of graph paper and got to work.

That floor plan has saved me a lot of time and embarrassment. When I write a scene around the fireplace, I have a map of where the couch, recliner, and easy chair are positioned and how close they are to the dinner table. Also, I never want a reader to write to me with, “I thought the kitchen looked into the dining room. Where’d the wall come from?”

If drawing a floor plan sounds too complicated, give it a try before you discard the idea. Remember your drawing doesn’t have to be structurally sound. It’s just a guide for your imagination. You can also use floor plan books or look online for plans. The photo above is my collection of floor plan books I have acquired over the years.

These sites are helpful for finding floor plans for residential homes in a myriad of styles: Architectural Designs and Houseplans.net

Draw maps for geographic locations.

Again, you don’t have to be a cartographer to draw a map of your novel’s farm, village, or city. Use graph paper to draw a map with the details you need make your setting seem real. Wellesville, the county seat where Rae Riley works, is based on my hometown, but I’ve changed details to suit my series. While writing my fourth Rae Riley novel, I realized I had to go back through my previous novels and reread how I described Main Street because I’d never drawn a map of it. From those descriptions, I finally put together a map, and now I have a valuable reference tool for the rest of my series.

Here are more tips on writing settings in novels.

Writers, how do you keep the details of your settings straight?

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Write a Haiku about August

Writing prompt for haiku

This month on JPC Allen Writes, I’m covering aspects of writing that didn’t fit neatly in the previous monthly themes. The posts will be a hodge-podge and so will my Monday Sparks. I’ll be posting whatever writing prompts come to mind. First up, write a haiku about August. I love haikus, falling for them when I was in sixth grade. Haikus usually involve nature, but write about any part of August you want.

Sun, dust, bugs, sweat, grime–

Summer’s losing its appeal,

But do I want school?

Here are more writing prompts for haikus.

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How to Write Unforgettable Last Lines for a Novel (And Why It Matters)

How to write the ending of a novel

After spending months or years crafting the novel of your dreams, you don’t want to undo all that hard work with a poor last scene or last lines that vanish from readers’ memories. These final components of your novel are just as important as your opening lines and chapter. So here’s how to write unforgettable last lines for a novel and why it matters.

Why do the last lines matter so much?

The last scene and lines of your novel are your last message to your readers. We writers want our stories to stick with our readers. We gift them these final parts of the novel as a reward for reaching the last page. The last lines should also encourage readers to look up our previous novels and look forward to our future ones.

3 tips for writing unforgettable last lines

Your final scene and lines are like the final arguments lawyers present to a jury. They can’t introduce new evidence. That part of the trial is over. They can only sum up what the jury has already heard, but they can put their own spin on that evidence. That’s what writers do in the last scene.

  1. Echo the major plot, relationship, or theme you set up earlier in the book. The final scene must deal with the point or purpose of the novel. All subplots should have been wrapped up by now. The final scene and lines should round off and amplify what your novel has been about. In my second novel, A Storm of Doubts, Rae wrestles with doubts that she may be calling the wrong man Dad as she tries to solve a mystery that involves questions of paternity concerning a family friend. The final scene and lines wrap up this theme of fathers and family.
  2. Set the mood you want to leave with your readers. When readers close your book, what mood do you want to linger with them? I want my readers to feel like they’ve had a satisfying meal, and the last lines are those last bites of an excellent desert. To give them this feeling, I end on an upbeat note that fits with solving a mystery that revolves around the strength of faith and family. This upbeat note must be earned and make sense with the story that’s preceded it. If my amateur sleuth’s best friend has betrayed her during the course of the mystery, then my upbeat note will be very different from the one I’d use if her friend has saved her life during the climax.
  3. Use final lines that let readers think over the novel. If your final lines do a great job of summing up your novel, it should give reader points that linger in their mind. In A Storm of Doubts, the final lines will make readers consider the nature of fatherhood, aspects like what makes a good father.

What’s your opinion on what makes unforgettable last lines for a novel?

Here are all the tips and prompts this month on writing endings for novels.

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