What’s in a Name?

 

Growing up in Tennessee, people usually called me “MAY-ree.” When we lived in Virginia, almost everyone said, “Murray.” Now, having lived in Florida most of my life, I typically hear “Merry,” which I like the sound of, or “Marry,” which fit well during my decades of marriage until my husband’s death a year ago today.

In the Bible, after her husband and sons had died, Naomi said to call her “Mara,” which means bitter. (See Ruth 1:20.)

Centuries later when the young Mary gave birth to her Son Jesus, she said,“from now on all generations will call me blessed for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and Holy is His Name,” Luke 1:48-49. With those words Mary acknowledged and named the Holy One as The Giver of Blessings and, herself, as blessed.

Now, two thousand years after that first Christmas, Christians continue to pray in the Name of Jesus, expressing our agreement with the will of God – the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

When God Himself named someone, the name typically defined a very specific purpose or direction the Lord wanted that person to take. For example, in Hebrew, Abraham means “the father of many,” while the name Sarah means “princess." Together those two names foreshadow the countless people who descended from that royal line ordained by God.

The priest Zechariah named his son John since the angel Gabriel told him to and because it means “God’s gracious gift,” which he surely was – not only because an elderly couple bore him but because he had work to do to prepare the way for his slightly younger cousin, Jesus, by calling people to repentance and baptizing them in the River Jordan.

Names give us the power to call others to come, and if they respond, so much the better! God Himself surely thinks so, too, for as He said in Isaiah 43:1, “I have called you by your name. You are Mine.” That single verse gives us plenty to praise God for and to write about in poetry, nonfiction, and fiction.

If you prefer to write fiction – short stories or novels – just remember to check out the meaning of each name you select. (I still refer to a book on naming babies I’ve had forever.) These choices will help you to develop a character in line with his or her name as the Lord did in naming Jesus, which means "YHWH is salvation." 

And remember, God named Himself “YHWH,” which, in Hebrew, means “I AM,” indicating His eternal self as alive and living in the past, present, and future. 

As you proceed to plan out your story, make sure every character, whether the protagonist (main story person), antagonist (the adversary or opponent), and incidental characters have initials unique to them. When I devoured Russian novels in my teen years, I had a terrible time following each character because it seemed like everyone, male or female, had a name beginning with “K."

Be assured, the Eternal I AM is with you now, guiding your work and calling you by the name to which He has called you – Christian writer and, always, blessed.

 

Mary Harwell Sayler

ABC Characteristics of Christians

 

This alphabetical list describes traits commonly held among Christians from all sorts of backgrounds and church affiliations. However, numerous other possibilities exist too. For instance, we might prefer “Disciplined” under “D” or “Peacemaking” instead of “Prayerful” or “Victorious” in lieu of “Versatile.”

Regardless of the variations we use as substitutes for the words selected here, the list can serve as a reminder of our shared goal of becoming more and more Christ-like.

Accountable

Biblical

Caring

Discerning

Encouraging

Forgiven

Grace-filled

Hopeful

Inspired

Joyful

Kind

Loving

Merciful

Necessary

Obedient

Prayerful

Quickened

Reborn

Spirit-Filled

Thankful

Understanding

Versatile

Worshipful

X-ed out of sin

Young-at-heart

Zealous

 

©2024, MaryHarwell Sayler

#Christians

Perspectives: A Novel View

A big decision in novel-writing concerns which perspective you'll present to unfold the story and/or develop the characters you have in mind.

To find what will work best for your book, consider these questions:

• Whose story is this?

• Can your main character tell the story well or will someone else’s view be needed?

• Would a single viewpoint or multi-perspective be better?

• As a reader, which do you prefer?

My favorite novels almost always center around the viewpoint of a single person I identify with or admire such as Anne of Green Gables, Mary in The Secret Garden, and Christy. In addition, I like to observe people and discover what shapes, guides, and motivates them. So, it’s pretty much a done-deal for me to write from a single viewpoint, staying in the eyes, ears, knowledge, and feelings of one main character who intrigues me and has her or his own story to tell. Therefore, I mainly have to decide whether to use first person (I, me, we us); second person (you) which isn’t likely in my case; or third person (she/he, them, they.)

Regardless of persons, the advantage of this single view is intimacy and immediacy. i.e., You feel as though you’re there as the story unfolds and primary character matures. This makes the book your story too as you read. Or, equally important, this gives you an idea of what goes on in the heads of people like and unlike yourself.

In describing my book, Hand Me Down the Dawn, which I recently revised for its second printing, I’d have to call the novel “character driven.” i.e., The motivations, choices, introspection, and action come from one main character, who’s dealing with a theme of trust as she overcomes hard times and enjoys life-changing experiences in this inspirational romance novel set in Florida in 1895.

That’s the story behind my story, but let’s look at a different perspective on perspectives. In his newest novel, Dancing King, Glynn Young needed multi-viewpoint characters to keep his action-driven story in motion. Besides expanding the view for readers to get a fuller picture of the story movement, this treatment effectively produced a potential television mini-series, especially since the book is the third in a trilogy.

But I wanted to know what Glynn’s thoughts were and why a multi-viewpoint story came to him. When I emailed to ask, he wrote, “It's a big story, ‘big’ in the sense of complex. It's the story of a young man unexpectedly finding himself and his family in an exalted position.”

The size of your story and its theme, purpose, and reach can help you determine the perspective that will work best for your novel.

In my novel, for instance, a young woman grows up and learns what love is. And so, telling her story from her point of view makes sense.

In Glynn’s trilogy, the story of the main character – a priest-turned-king “is the heart of all three novels. In the first, it's part of a larger group of characters' stories, but he remains at the center. In the second, there is a period in which someone else must tell the story because he's incapacitated. In the third, the story is so large that it can't be told by just one narrator. To tell it properly requires the key players.”

The overall effect reminds me of an action movie that cuts from one character and scene to another as each episode interlocks to create a larger story with a huge theme: the need for political and religious reform. If, however, a single character had presented such a global story, it would most likely come across as either too cerebral or too slanted to maintain balance, and so Glynn's novel is well-suited to a multiple view.

Character-driven or story-driven (action)…? Knowing which category your novel best fits will help you to find perspective and get your writing off to a good start. Then, you can let your main character or main story idea lead you to The End.

Mary Harwell Sayler, ©2018

Dancing King, paperback



Hand Me Down the Dawn, paperback



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