Real Life Is Stranger

You Named Your Character What?

Charles Dickens was one of the best at it. All of us fiction writers labor (at least a little) over it. Shakespeare’s Juliet shrugged it off: “What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

Yeah, maybe, Juliet, but we fiction writers think the wrong name can stink up a character’s image if we don’t get it right. If we want our heroine to be soft and frilly, we’re not likely to name her Gert, and if we want our hero to be super macho, chances are he won’t be answering to “Leslie” anytime soon.

So how come normal people don’t always figure that out? Names matter!

Dr. Jim

Greetings Dear Readers!

How it gives wings to my spirit when I am able to access the richly appointed therapist’s office known as my brain and bring forth wisdom for a hurting world. Or something. Many of you have chosen me as a kind of Internet mentor of mental and emotional health . . . and rightly so. Who better to serve those in need than a man of impeccable training, unimpeachable pedigree, and most important, unfathomable humility . . . me?

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Publishers Note:

Please join with us, and pray for Deb's recovery from health problems. Her column will return when she is well.