Thoughts on character names
Writing a Book – Thoughts on Character Names
Character names...hmmm...
We’ve been talking a lot lately about characters’ names in a young adult novel. This may seem trivial, but we’ve discussed this subject so many times, I sometimes don’t care what their names are. Of course, that last statement isn’t totally true, but I tend to get antsy and want to move forward when I think we’ve beat the proverbial dead horse into something resembling 30-day-old road kill. At one point, the discussion grew so burdensome we set a few ground rules for ourselves with respect to character names:
1. Don’t get too cute. After much debate, we decided Zeus isn’t a good fit for this book. We thought about Zeus as a nickname for this person, but even that was a little bizarre considering where we’re headed. Okay, look, some of the characters will have special powers. We wanted the names to fit with their powers, but for us, Zeus is best left for another book.
2. Give characters logical, sensible names. The character’s name can be related to say, a strength or a distinguishing physical feature. Maybe it’s just a family name the character is stuck with. We didn’t want to get carried away, so we gave the Punks nicknames that are derived from something specific and logical. It will be obvious to the reader where they get their nicknames. Although interesting and cool, the names make sense.
3. Character names should not be boring. We came up with a few pretty average names at first. In the beginning, we had Maggie and Susie, but eventually those names worked their way out of the book. It wasn’t that they are common names. They just weren’t exciting, intriguing or contemporary enough to be the right fit. Maggie and Susie will no doubt work fine in many novels; they just didn’t work for us.
4. Be aware of how the character names will fit with each other. A scene came up featuring two of our male characters and four females. Of the four females in the scene, three of them had names beginning with the letter ‘M’. So there was a conversation between Martha, Maggie and Marley. Sometimes parents name their kids this way. Talk about lame. I love them both, but my parents did it. For our novel, we remedied the situation by letting Adam go with the group and Marley stayed back in town. Ultimately, we changed Maggie’s name anyway.
5. Use symbolism in naming characters if you feel like it, but don’t obsess. One of the main characters we first came up with has an unusual nickname. We devised an elaborate explanation for how Kutch received his nickname and soon decided it was a ton of unnecessary work. Kutch is a complex, interesting character. But we found the complicated reasoning behind the nickname, although good, is not required for every character.
Additionally, the most evil character in the novel doesn’t have to be named, Darkman or Slipknot. The ghost’s name isn’t always Misty. Nor does it work out that way in real life every time. Consider one of the most notorious serial killers of all time, John Wayne Gacy. Ironically, Gacy’s given name was the same as the stage name used by American icon, John Wayne. The irony serves this novel better.
After many blows to the horse’s head…and legs…and torso, we decided the character names are important, but not show stoppers at this point. With that out of the way, things are flowing nicely for the time being.