What's In a Name?
by June Shaw
Okay, I did not originally come up with that question. Someone you know much better created it and numerous other quotes we enjoy. I believe Shakespeare's question is relevant today just like many of the situations he created.
But really, what is it about names? Shakespeare used Montague and Capulet to deepen his question and point out the fury between both families. Considering a few of the names he used throughout his plays makes me know the Bard spent quite a bit of time selecting those he selected.
Should we writers today do less?
Titles that were almost given to famous films tell us much thought was given to producing those that stuck in our thoughts. The same thing happens with well-known characters in novels. How could Rhett Butler be called anything else? Okay, without naming the famous protagonist, hasn't Tara also become a character?
Most of us who write books and stories know the names we give our main characters should not begin with the same letter or be the same length. We want to give much thought to whether we are creating a Daisy or a Scarlett. Obituaries often show us popular names of the elderly that we seldom use for young people today.
What type name do you like to read about or use for characters in stories? For those of you who are authors, how do you decide what's in the name of the people you create?
http://www.juneshaw.com
Showing posts with label character naming. Show all posts
Showing posts with label character naming. Show all posts
Saturday, July 11, 2015
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
The Name Game
By Mark W. Danielson
Everybody sing it!
Shirley!Shirley, Shirley bo Birley Bonana fanna fo FirleyFee fy mo Mirley, Shirley!
Everybody sing it!
Shirley!Shirley, Shirley bo Birley Bonana fanna fo FirleyFee fy mo Mirley, Shirley!
Lincoln!Lincoln, Lincoln bo Bincoln Bonana fanna fo FincolnFee fy mo Mincoln, Lincoln!
Come on everybody!I say now let's play a game . . .
Wow, even remembering that song dates me! But the name game in this blog is really about choosing good names. Bad names not only affect your story, but they can be a real pain to change.
No one can argue that the personal computer made writing easy. Not only is it simple to edit, it will also spell and grammar check your work, go to any page you want, find any word you want, and even remove and replace words. Of course, everything has its limitations. Computer experts refer to this as “garbage in/garbage out”. In other words, while your spell check does a good job of finding misspelled words, the grammar check has no way of knowing whether you actually used the correct word. Wright? Write? I mean, right?
I’m sure that most of you have discovered these annoyances on your own, but here’s how the name game can add to your frustration. For example, what happens when you name a character Ed and then decide to change it after you’ve completed the manuscript? Simple, right? Just remove and replace it. Well, that’s what you would hope, except computers don’t see words that way. Instead, it changes every “ed” to whatever you told it to. (Garbage in, garbage out.) So let’s say you want to replace Ed with Sib. Now every “hoped” becomes “hopSib”, every “worked” becomes “workSib”, every “completed” becomes “completSib”, every “fired” becomes “firSib”. Not exactly what you wanted, was it? Then after you painstakingly go through the manuscript and correct all of these errors, you decide that Sib isn’t right either, so you replace Sib with Bud. Now every “possible” reads “posBudle”. Get the idea? It’s hardly amusing.
Then how do you choose suitable names? Besides referencing character naming books, you can look through phone books, or pay attention to the names in the movie credits. Combining first and last names can create some fun character names, but you should remember that names can date people as quickly as a song. In other words, women named Midge or Evelyn suggest they are elderly while Kelly or Amanda could be any female from five to thirty-five. So, how do you avoid selecting the wrong names? Outlining is probably the best way, for there is usually sufficient detail to identify most of your characters. It also allows you to change the names without investing a significant amount of time.
I don’t mind admitting that I’ve learned these lessons the hard way. Then again, I’m sure I’m not alone. Regardless, have fun with the name game, and make your characters shine.
Wow, even remembering that song dates me! But the name game in this blog is really about choosing good names. Bad names not only affect your story, but they can be a real pain to change.
No one can argue that the personal computer made writing easy. Not only is it simple to edit, it will also spell and grammar check your work, go to any page you want, find any word you want, and even remove and replace words. Of course, everything has its limitations. Computer experts refer to this as “garbage in/garbage out”. In other words, while your spell check does a good job of finding misspelled words, the grammar check has no way of knowing whether you actually used the correct word. Wright? Write? I mean, right?
I’m sure that most of you have discovered these annoyances on your own, but here’s how the name game can add to your frustration. For example, what happens when you name a character Ed and then decide to change it after you’ve completed the manuscript? Simple, right? Just remove and replace it. Well, that’s what you would hope, except computers don’t see words that way. Instead, it changes every “ed” to whatever you told it to. (Garbage in, garbage out.) So let’s say you want to replace Ed with Sib. Now every “hoped” becomes “hopSib”, every “worked” becomes “workSib”, every “completed” becomes “completSib”, every “fired” becomes “firSib”. Not exactly what you wanted, was it? Then after you painstakingly go through the manuscript and correct all of these errors, you decide that Sib isn’t right either, so you replace Sib with Bud. Now every “possible” reads “posBudle”. Get the idea? It’s hardly amusing.
Then how do you choose suitable names? Besides referencing character naming books, you can look through phone books, or pay attention to the names in the movie credits. Combining first and last names can create some fun character names, but you should remember that names can date people as quickly as a song. In other words, women named Midge or Evelyn suggest they are elderly while Kelly or Amanda could be any female from five to thirty-five. So, how do you avoid selecting the wrong names? Outlining is probably the best way, for there is usually sufficient detail to identify most of your characters. It also allows you to change the names without investing a significant amount of time.
I don’t mind admitting that I’ve learned these lessons the hard way. Then again, I’m sure I’m not alone. Regardless, have fun with the name game, and make your characters shine.
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