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Saturday, March 31, 2012

Whats In a Name? More Than You'd Think...



           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.


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