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What’s in a name?\u00a0 Choosing names for your characters can be perfunctory or can provide your readers or audience with insight into your characters’ natures, add humor or surprise, or even at the very least break out of ordinary monikers into the realm of the unusual.<\/p>\n
To illustrate\u00a0 how to leverage character names in your story, we’ve excerpted this story development step from our StoryWeaver Story Development Software<\/a>:<\/p>\n What’s in a Name?<\/p>\n INTRODUCTION<\/p>\n So far, we’ve been dealing with characters primarily by their jobs, vocations or roles since we derived them from your plot. Now it’s time to start building some personality into your characters to see if they really have potential for your story, and we’ll begin by giving them names.<\/p>\n Few people (other than performers, artists, and writers) get to choose their own names. But as a writer, you have the power to choose the names of all your characters. And with this power comes the opportunity to say something to your readers or audience about a character’s inclinations, accomplishments, or outlook.<\/p>\n A name could convey military service, religious affiliation, or status. A nick-name might illuminate a major character trait, some event in a character’s past, or the way other characters feel about him or her. Names can add to comic value, hint at danger, or flirt with with mystery.<\/p>\n In this step, add a name to each of your characters that doesn’t already have one and reconsider the names of those characters who do.<\/p>\n TELL ME MORE<\/p>\n In this step, you\u2019ll start interviewing all the folks that showed up for your casting call so you can learn a bit more about them in order to decide who to hire to be in your story.<\/p>\n The first step in any interview is to get to get the character\u2019s name. You probably already have names for several of your potential cast members, but there are likely to be some whose names you don\u2019t yet know.<\/p>\n For the nameless ones, it\u2019s time to give them a moniker. Names give us our first impression of a character. In most stories you\u2019ll want to keep most of your characters\u2019 names normal and simple. But if they are too normal or if everyone has an ordinary name, you\u2019re just boring your readers.<\/p>\n However, if your story requires typical names, try to pick ones that don\u2019t sound like one another or your readers may become confused as to which one you are talking about. Personally, I\u2019ve always had trouble remembering which one is Sauron and which is Sarumon, but that\u2019s just me. Nonetheless, try to stay away from character combos like Jeanne and Jenny, Sonny and Sammy, Bart And Bret and \u2013 well, you get the idea.<\/p>\n If your story might benefit from giving some of your characters more unusual names, consider nicknames. Nicknames are wonderful dramatic devices because they can work with the character\u2019s apparent nature, against it for humiliating or comedic effect, play into the plot by telegraphing the activities in which the character will engage, create irony, or provide mystery by hinting at information or a backstory for the character that led to its nickname but has not yet been divulged to the readers.<\/p>\n Keep in mind these are just temporary names for identification. You\u2019ll have the chance to change them later. So for now, just add a name to every character in your potential cast list.<\/p>\n TIPS<\/p>\n What’s in a name? Not a name like \u201cJoe\u201d or \u201cSally\u201d but something that opens the door to further development like \u201cMuttering Murdock\u201d or \u201cSusan the Stilt.\u201d Often coming up with a nickname or even a derogatory name one child might call another is a great way to establish a character\u2019s heart.<\/p>\n What can we say about Muttering Murdock? The best way to develop a character (or for that matter, any aspect of your story) is to start with loose thread and then ask questions. So, for ol\u2019 Muttering Murdock, the name is the loose end just hanging out there for us to pull. We might ask, \u201cWhy does Murdock Mutter?\u201d (That\u2019s obvious, of course!) But what else might we ask? Is Murdock a human being? Is Murdock male or female? How old is Murdock? What attributes describe Murdock\u2019s physical traits? How smart is Murdock? Does Murdock have any talents? What about hobbies, education, religious affiliation? And so on, and so on\u2026.<\/p>\n We don\u2019t need to know the answers to these questions, we just have to ask them.<\/p>\n Why Does Murdock Mutter?<\/p>\n You get the idea. You just pull out all the stops and be creative. See, that\u2019s the key. If you try to come up with a character from scratch, well good luck. But if you pick an arbitrary name, it can\u2019t help but generate a number of questions. If you aren\u2019t trying to come up with the one perfect answer to each question, you can let your Muse roam far and wide. Without constraints, you\u2019ll be amazed at the odd variety of potential answers she brings back!<\/p>\n EXAMPLE<\/p>\n In our sample story, we’ve added names to all our characters with a good mix of the ordinary and the odd, including proper names and nick names. Some names just came to mind. Others are alterations of names of characters I’ve seen in television shows and movies. Some are based on sound-alike first and last names. In other words, names aren’t hard to come by, and mixing them up a bit just livens the party.<\/p>\n You’ll note that in several names, such as those of the posse, the gang, the businessmen, and the shopkeepers, I’ve given them organizational names such as The Gazpacho Enforcers. In so doing, I’ve given the town our example story the name of Gazpacho, so always be aware of opportunities to extend other parts of your story than the one you are currently working on. I’ll put the town name of Gazpacho in the Notes window to make sure I can refer to it later.<\/p>\n Also note that I’ve added an all new group character at the end of the list – a charitable organization: the Sons of the Gazpacho Ladies Auxiliary Support Society. The name just fell into my mind when I was naming all the Gazpacho groups and it struck me as to how ridiculous and pompous they sounded. Again, be on the lookout for random creative ideas: they can pop out of the shadows at any time!<\/p>\n Jedediah Farnsworth – The Old Sheriff<\/p>\n James Vestibule – The New Sheriff<\/p>\n The Hole in the Head Gang – Gang of Cutthroats<\/p>\n Armoire Vestibule Gang Leader (The sheriff’s wife)<\/p>\n The Gazpacho Enforcers – A posse<\/p>\n Stiff-Leg Sam – Deputy<\/p>\n Shandy Stilton – Mayor<\/p>\n J.W. Blinkers – Banker<\/p>\n The Gazpacho Consortium – Businessmen<\/p>\n The Gazpacho Retail Trade Association – Shopkeepers<\/p>\n Nell Goodtime – saloon girl<\/p>\n Slick Nick – bartender<\/p>\n Hugo Laughter – blacksmith<\/p>\n Bart Costello – rancher<\/p>\n Brother Bob – preacher<\/p>\n Nancy Lacy – schoolmarm<\/p>\n The Tumbling Troubadours – A troupe of traveling acrobats<\/p>\n Ulysses S. Grant – President of the United States<\/p>\n Percy Prancy – A bird watcher<\/p>\n Ghost of Julius Caesar – Annoying Spirit<\/p>\n The Sons of the Gazpacho Ladies Auxiliary Support Society – Charitable organization<\/p>\n *******<\/p>\n\n
This article was excerpted from StoryWeaver<\/a><\/em><\/h2>\n
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