My brother, who is also a writer (check him out at fickledragon.com), and I have been trying to figure out a way to create a glossary of characters for our books. He found a great plugin for the website that seems easy to use and I can open it up for submissions from those of you who love Bellingwood.
Your help is necessary. I’m in the middle of Book 8 and there have been a number of characters show up throughout the last two years of writing. I’ve been so overwhelmed with trying to figure out how to manage this, that instead of finding the perfect tool, I’ve just let it fall apart.
I have a good (not great) list of names in Evernote, but that doesn’t make them available to you, and honestly, there are plenty that I’ve written into a story and forgotten to get into my list.
If you would like to help assemble this glossary of characters, I would love it. Anyone can jump in. All you have to do is go to the “Bellingwood Characters List” page (last option under the Bellingwood tab at the top of the page) and click to “submit a name” and type in the information.
Every single character – from Polly and Henry, to the person who teaches piano lessons and plays the organ at the Lutheran church needs to make this list. No matter how innocuous their presence is, they deserve a citation. However, if you could be sure to tell us which book they first show up in, that would be extraordinarily helpful. Call out the book by the number, not the title (i.e. Bk 4) – it’s just easier.
I’ve set down a few ground rules – the first and foremost is that I will approve, and then edit … for grammar, spelling and serious spoilers.
Because there is an approval process, and it will take time to refresh the directory, it might take time for you to see your submission show up. I can’t be there every minute if I’m sleeping or writing, so give me time to get them posted. I’ll go as fast as possible.
Check the directory before making a submission, though, to ensure that someone else hasn’t already entered the character name. Click the ‘refresh’ button at the top of your browser once in a while, just to make sure you have the latest list in front of you.
Please enter the character name with the last name, followed by a comma and then the first name: Giller, Polly. That way the glossary will populate with all of the folks from the same family under the correct alphabetical heading.
Keep your character description brief. Less than 100 words, if possible. I’ve started the process and you can see that I’m not going into a lot of detail, just basic information to tell readers a little about how the character interacts with the story.
By the way, if you would like to help me create a much more detailed character study, I could certainly use that help, too. It won’t be published, but will be more of a resource for me as I write. We will cull all of the minutest character details from the books. Message me on Facebook, use the Contact Form on the website or just leave a comment on this page and I’ll be in touch.
Be sure to enter your name as the submitter (there’s a box). Not this week and probably not next week … it might take several weeks or so, but I will go through the submitter’s names and randomly pick winners for fun things. It won’t matter how many character names you’ve submitted – even if it is only one, your name will go in the bowl.
I hope you have fun with this. You all have fallen in love with the people in Bellingwood and in some ways, you know them as well as I do. Your input is really appreciated.
