A Winner and Character Naming

Thanks to all for your best wishes during my crazy move. (We should be finally getting settled at the end of this week. Phew!)

And thanks to all the commenters on the great guest post from editor Sherri Woosley. Sherri is giving away a copy of her Coffee House Fiction 2009 Anthology, and the lucky commenter (chosen by Random.org) is Cathy! Congratulations! I’ll email you for your address.

With my life turning into a roller coaster the last few months, and my brain pretty much turning to mush, I haven’t been writing, and the break from my story has not been good to my creativity. I’m still busy with lots of house stuff swirling in my head, but I wanted to get back to writing. The problem is, I’m having a hard time getting back into my story.

Over the weekend, I decided to try a new tack and write a few scenes as my protagonist, to try to get back into his head. When I started, I realized I wasn’t sold on his name. It’s not sticking the way I’d like. So this morning, I spent my writing time trying to figure out what name would be best for this boy. After many searches for meanings, I still haven’t come up with anything — but I’m still working on it — but I did find a good article on character naming on BabyNames.com.

It has eight tips, many of which you’ve probably already thought of, but some that you might not have. Either way, they’re always good reminders.

As I’m not having much luck finding a name through the meaning route, after reading these tips, I’m going to try the social security registry for inspiration.

How do you name your characters?

Write On!

2 Responses

  1. Cathy says:

    Yay! Thanks so much! And I know EXACTLY what you mean about naming characters. Once the name feels right, the story flows better for me. Sometimes, with minor characters, I’ll just throw something in till I can play around with a better name later. But the MC? Gotta have that right before I start.

    (I’m not sure I have a method for finding the right name. I’m just grateful to the Name Gods when a good one pops into my head and onto the paper.:-)

  2. Natalie Aguirre says:

    If I’m writing a fantasy in another world, I try to have the names have a meaning. I’m looking forward to writing a book in this world and just picking names that appeal to me.

What do you think?