I suck at naming characters. Which is ironic, because I’m
working on at least 2 long-term stories which will require me to come up with
unique naming conventions for multiple societies, all from scratch. Yay me. But
because I apparently hate myself and want to do as much work as possible, I’ve
been forced to get friendly with a lot of tips and tidbits which have helped me
out over the arduous process of storycrafting, and I’m going to lay ‘em down
now.
Names are important. So it turns out
Shakespeare didn’t know jack shit. Although names might seem like simple labels
for telling people apart, they can be useful tools for establishing character
on a first impression. Think about it: if you read the names “Blinnie” and
“Warchester”, chances are you have two completely different mental images of
them based on the sound of their name alone. This isn’t coincidental, and
should be exploited to the full extent of your ability. Also I was joking about
the Shakespeare thing; please don’t let his angry ghost rise up and suck my
brains out through my eyeballs. I’m sure that would give good ‘ole Edgar
Allen’s ghost a boner. A Poener, if you will. (And thus, the comedy on this blog stoops to a whole new low. I regret nothing.)
Use placeholders. It’s easy enough to come up with excuses to write without letting “I-don’t-know-whose-name-to-fill-in-the-blank” to become one of them. So just whip up something random and go with that until you have time to give it some serious thought. The only pitfall of this is that if you aren’t careful you’ll get attached to your bookmark name, so that by page 435 of your epic fantasy novel you’ll be seriously considering just letting your character be “Bob”. I speak from painful experience when I tell you not to give into that temptation.
Convey meaning through your character’s
name. This convention can range from the subtle to the excruciatingly
obvious; an example of the latter being Twilight (I know we rag on it a lot,
it’s just so easy), in which most of her character’s names directly embody
aspects of their personality. For example: “Bella” means “beautiful”, “Edward”
means “protector”, and “Jacob” means “he who supplants”—which is a fancy way of
saying to take the place of someone else. Personally I am not a fan of this
method, because although yes, technically you are using the characters’ names
to highlight their personality, you’re also doing something that Stephanie
Meyer does—which should make any logical human being want to take a step back
and ask some serious questions about their life and choices.
Find the right “real” name. If your
story takes place in this “reality” I hear all the kids talking about (or any
setting which borrows names from our world), your job is both easier and
harder. One the one hand, you have most of your potential names already made for
you already. On the other, you don’t always have the freedom of inventing your
own name to suit your purposes. In this case, I’d recommend going to one of
those baby-name sites and perusing their lists for a while. Seriously, I’ve
bookmarked so many of those websites that I have Google thinking I’m pregnant
with quintuplets. But with a little luck and a lot of pregnancy pop-ups, you’ll
stumble across a name which, as soon as you see it, just seems right. And that’s why we do it.
Make up your own name. For those of you
writing fantasy, science fiction, or who just feel like doing so for the hell
of it, coming up with your own original name is always an option. You have a
lot of choices in regards to this, and everyone uses different methods;
however, there are some things to consider before you begin. Firstly, if you
have more than one society, you might want to take into account whether or not
each one has different-sounding names than the other. If they are highly
isolated or different culturally, chances are they will. In order to make sure
all the names seem to “fit in”, it can be to your benefit to come up with a
basic stencil for the names in each culture: sounds or letter combinations
which often repeat, for example. When it comes to inventing individual names, I
find it helpful to try and find a word or series of words to base it off of.
Pick ones that have a similar connotation that you want the name to have, and
if your created name sounds like them those same nuances should be conjured up
as well.
Pay attention to the way things sound.
When choosing your names the aesthetic aspect is important as well. “Fire” has
a different sound than “blaze”; technically they mean the same thing, yet they
conjure up different images because of the difference in their sound and usage.
For example, if you’re looking for a badass name, try working backwards from
words with strong, harsh texture like “Thrash” or “Jagged”. That kind of thing
can come in handy for determining the connotation your names will bring to
mind, and thus the assumptions people will make about the character. Of course
you can always play against this by picking a name which connotates the
opposite of what their personality really is. Or you can just say fuck it and
do whatever you want. My feelings will only be hurt a little.
Make it memorable. This is optional,
because in the end you’ll have your own reasons for picking whichever name you
decide on. However, having a name that really sticks in your readers’ minds can
do no harm, as it will make it easier for them to remember who the character is
and make it easier for them to recall as they’re recommending the book to their
friends later.
No comments:
Post a Comment