Finishing one book and starting a new one always brings the uncertainty of new characters. Who are they, what are their weaknesses and strengths? And most importantly what are their names?
My latest release, A Fistful of Fate, takes places in a historic colonial village - some of the book was in the present and some in 1806. The time period made picking the names for my hero, heroine and villian fairly easy for me. William, Rebecca and Reginald all fit my characters and the time.
My next project is a contemporary, so I can pick names that are a little uncommon, maybe a little more off the charts.
For me the process starts with thumbing through magazines looking for my character - maybe a hair style or a look that will start to pull my character to life. Then I pull out the baby name books (I've still got the ones I bought when I was pregnant with my first 19 years ago, complete with the highlighted names we were torn between at the time!) I have a few newer name books and The Secret Universe of Names book is a really cool way to not only name your character, but get a handle on some interesting character traits as well.
The problem for me starts when I sit down to start my book - I cannot write if I don't see my characters, hear my characters and know their names. For me, I can't change their name halfway through if it's not working. So the beginning process of choosing a character name is done with lots of thought, lots of hair-pulling and hours spent trying them out in my head as I run scenes.
Crazy? I probably am!
So, I'm wondering how do other authors name their characters? And for you readers, does the character name matter to you?
Debora Dennis writes all types of romance from paranormal to contempories, but always with a little spice and little timeless adventure. Please visit me at DeboraDennis.com for more about me and my latest release, A Fistful of Fate.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
3 comments:
I too have to have just the right name for my characters before I start writing. And I still use the baby name book I bought while pregnant with my son eleven years ago. :-)
I don't have a specific ability or help in picking names. They usually just pop into my head. :D
I keep a chart so I don't repeat initials. (Or actual names - when I got the rights back to What's in a Name? and went through it for updates to release as an e-book, I discovered THREE characters named Hank. Why the editor didn't catch it bugs me, but nobody seemed to notice. That's when I started my spreadsheet.).
I Google for most popular names of the appropriate decade, and appropriate ethnic group.
Terry
Terry's Place
Romance with a Twist--of Mystery
Post a Comment