Writers And Readers Websites Wednesday - Creative Writing Widgets

Creative Writer? 

Looking for those helpful little widgets - things like translator, character name generator, Title-o-matic, writing prompts and a bunch more? Then run over to Writing Is A Virus and find them all in one place, well a bunch of them anyway. 

Check it out now and have fun.

Name Those Characters - A Writer's Puzzle

Have you toyed with, fought with, howled at with giving names to your characters when you’re writing? Have you developed a character, followed him or her, saw them through all sorts of tight spots and just knew the name wasn’t right? Ask any parent, there are many factors that go into naming a child and those characters in your novel you write are just like your children.  

Names are important.  An obvious fact.  

Just think of a name and an instant preconception springs to mind. If the name doesn’t fit the character it’s difficult if not impossible to get/keep things moving on the written page.  Names can reflect our personalities, our background or ethnicity or faith.  Think about it. Kathryn can be very professional, Katie  very friendly and bouncy and Kate more neutral.  Then there’s Elizabeth who can be, of course, Elizabeth, Liz, Lizzy, Beth or even Betty or Bet.

Last names are equally important. Smith or Goldblum. Varella or Capra. Singleton or Brown. Well, you get it. A name can inspire not only your reader, seeing  your ‘hero’ as a dynamic, well, hero, as opposed to a mumbling, introverted nerd, it can also inspire you, the writer. 

So what to do? 

Well, there are a lot of resources available to us. Just ask any expectant parent.  There are still all those books for baby naming. The web has a lot to offer (some resources below), phone books, friends you can bedevil for suggestions, movie credits you can read (you can even pause your DVD if you like so you can read), other books where you can pluck a first name from one and last name from another. And don’t forget you can compile lists of your own when you run across a name that seems great out of context. You might well have the opportunity to put it IN context with your next writing project.  

You can try writing about a character with a ‘place holder’ name if you can’t come up with the right one when you’re first writing, but I’ll bet that will niggle at you like an annoying paper cut until you can fill in that blank. It just seems like the character can’t get it right until he or she has the right name bestowed upon  him or her.  And that translates into your writing being unbalanced, not right, until you can grab that name. 

Is there a secret formula? A magic way to pluck the name you need out of the vapors and spur your writing to new heights? Nope, but there are a few loose guidelines that can help. Things I keep in mind. 

*Don’t use several names that begin with the same letter.  In fact try not to use two names that begin with the same letter in the same novel.  Fact of the matter is after the first introduction of the character most readers don’t actually read the name, but rather identify the character by the first letter and the shape of his name as they skim down the page.  Best not to risk confusing your reader.

* Pick names that are realistic and don’t get carried away with naming after you’ve been searching for a long time and feel a bit desperate.  Especially don’t fill your story with bizarre and complicated names the reader will need a score card to figure out.  

*Think about history and geography when naming your characters. Yes, they have a bearing.  Germanic names are different than Scots. English different than Spanish. Keep it in mind.

*Watch out for gender neutral names.  Lee, Drew, Lynn, Francis (Frances), Tracy, Kelly, Jean, etc. If you use one, be sure to immediately let your reader know if the character is man, woman, boy, girl. Don’t let it hang out there for them to figure out. 

 *And don’t be afraid to change a name if you discover as you write that it just isn’t working. That’s what global replace is for.  But keep in mind that a change of name may well signal a change in character and could instigate the need for rewrite in areas prior to the change. 

If, when looking over the material you’ve written, a name change necessity arises, don’t fight it. A character with the wrong name can throw quite the ‘monkey wrench’ into a story no matter how well written to that point. Seriously, think about it.

Here are a few resources to help you along:

Social Security’s Popular Baby Names - what’s popular this year - and other years?

The Greatest Baby Name Book Ever by Carol McD. Wallace 

The Writer’s Digest Character Naming Sourcebook by Sherrilyn Kenyon -Organizes names alphabetically, by origin, and by popularity according to year. 

Want the history and etymology of first names? Behind The Name   allows searches by meaning and includes a generator.  

Going to follow in Tolkien’s footsteps? Try The Elvish Name Generator 

The Baby Name Bible 

The Baby Name Wizard  Unique baby names 

Victorian Names online  and Victorian & Steampunk

Fantasy Name Generator—Set the specifications to your needs and generate lots of name possibles. 

Now you’re all set – but don’t forget those newspapers, magazines, phone books (in any city you live or visit) and of course Google for even more possibilities.

  

Writers & Readers Websites Wednesday -Baby Name Genie

For you writers out there searching for the perfect names for your characters --

For you readers who enjoy tagging along---

For you readers and writers who are about to be parents for the first time or the second or the ---well you know. 

Here's the Baby Name Genie and it suggests great first and middle names.

Play, explore, have fun with it.  Fun to see what comes up. 

The Writer's Bane & Joy - Character Naming

Names = preconceptions. 

That's the way it is, you can't get away from it. You hear the name John or Cameron, Elizabeth or Carie and from somewhere deep inside you conjure.

Yes, you do.

Elizabeth can become Liz or Lizzie Bet or Betty.

Names can come from ethnic background, religious beliefs, or maybe a roll of the dice.

Think about it and you realize quickly enough how important the naming of your characters in script, novel or short story can be. Names can be a stumbling block or an inspiration. Easily remembered or a struggle. Give a character a wimpy or even just neutral name and you're liable to have a character who's unmotivated and doesn't do a whole lot.  Give that character a spunky name, a heroic name and weirdly it will even affect you as the writer. The right name fills a void and pumps life into that character.

Readers will tell you the same. A name that's right, for whatever reason, strikes a chord and draws the reader in.

What's in a name? A whole heckuva lot!

I still have a collection of name books on my shelf in hard copy.  Names are a must, they're important, they're character. When I'm stuck for a name it drives me crazy and I know it affects other writers the same way. There should be some magic method, but alas, there isn't.

But there are some things you can do, some places you can go.

Okay, simply, for starters, don't have your characters names all start with the same letter.  No Mary, Max, Megan, Melissa, Matt, Mike....you get it. It slows the reader down, makes him focus on which "M" character has taken the stage. I've mentioned this in another post, but it still holds.

When you pick a name, choose one that's realistic. When you're plowing through all the possibles it's easy to start reaching, you know, going for a  name that really stands out. Something flowery and expressive, or out of the medieval texts (that's okay  if you're writing a historical piece). But don't get carried away. Some characters are just "Bob" or "John" - really. The key is in how the character name fits - both the character and the story.

If what you're writing has a historic or geographic need to fulfill with the name, then do so.  The last thing you want to do is to insert a name so out of character with the time or place that you trip your reader right into a sudden dose of reality that drags them out of the dream world you created.

Another thought.  Is the name you've chosen gender-neutral?  Is it Lee or Tracy? If it is, make sure you make it plain from the get-go whether it's male or female.

Oh, and while I'm thinking of it, don't hesitate to change a name when the first one you picked just isn't working.  That's why you have a global replace function.

So, where can you look for all these names.  Lots of places. The Character Naming Sourcebook 

There's the Social Security Administration's records of baby names

You can find Victorian Era names.  

Then there's The Random Name Generator 

 The Fantasy Name Generator  that has links to several generators.

The Random Title Generator  Ooops, but that's a whole 'nother thing.

The Elvish Name Generator 

The Fake name Generator  

Behind The Name - Baby name meanings of first names


Then there's the Victorian and Steampunk name generator 

and probably a whole lot more if you care to spend some more time searching.

Check them out, tell me what you think and comment on your own name selection struggles.

Writers Websites Wednesday - Baby Name Genie

Struggling to find the perfect name for your character? Baby Name Genie could be your solution.  He comes up with some great combinations. Only hitch is, you supply the last name - he focuses on first and middle. A great way to kickstart the thought process even if the genie doesn't come up with the exact name you're looking for.

Writers Websites Wednesday - Superhero Nation

 

Super Hero Nation offers writing tips, insights and advice. It's a fun site that posts short videos such as movie trailers as well. Check it out, peruse the site and let me know what you think.  I enjoyed my tour. 

The Writer's Art of Naming

What's in a name you say?  Well, a whole lot.  It's a serious matter for the writer.  Think about the names that leap to mind.  Dracula for one. James Bond for another. How about Jack Sparrow or Scarlett O'Hara of Gone With the Wind Fame or Ender of Orson Scott Card creation or maybe Odd Thomas created by Dean Koontz?  Ring any bells? 

The perfect name for a character is like a gift to your readers. It's a handle, it fits, it evokes the personality of the character and makes the story the stronger for it.

Sometimes that name is right there, staring you in the face, the right one at the right time.  other times it can be damn difficult to put a name to a character. When that name comes easily and swift, congratulations!  But, when it's difficult, almost darn near impossible even though that character is already a presence in your mind and on your page, then you have to do something, but what?  Well, a simple 'placeholder' name that you can easily do a find and replace is my solution.  You can call the character "Dark Villain" or "Evil Seductress" or "Friend 1".  You could use nonsense names, but you might find that a detriment to creating your final name. That character will interact with you as will the name and you don't want to set yourself up for disassociating with your characters.  Hopefully as you create your story the name will emerge or you will have taken pains to create the right name and you can replace it quickly.

So, if the name is not suggesting itself, not popping into your head while doing the laundry or evaluating the plums at the grocery store, how does one go about mining for names?  Well, there's always the phone book.  Don't laugh, it can, at times, work. Either provide the perfect name  or kick start your creativity so that you come up with the just the right one.

But there are other avenues you may want to pursue in your quest to create the right names for your characters.  Think about what sort of name you want to have.  If the name Sky or Rose appeals to you think about why.  Do you want it to be real, Sky is a glorious, expansive person, dependable and big as the horizon or do you want it to be ironic and Sky is about as dark as the bowels of the earth, shallow and pretty much a worthless waste of space? Play with names, think about what your goal is with that character.

You might also consider symbolic names.  This can be a slippery area however. It's far too easy to slip into what have become 'cliche' names for a good guy inserting 'sun' in the name or using initials such as J.C. (for you know who). You can't be  heavy-handed when creating a symbolic name. Be subtle, base it on your character's deeper traits, something a reader might not get right away, but it imparts that character's character plainly.

Or you could just create a straight forward name, on without hidden meanings that falls trippingly off the tongue. Harry Potter maybe, or Forrest Gump.  Gandolf. John Carter of Mars.

Here's where phone books, baby books and naming books can come in handy.  Or surf the web and find names and surnames by national origin.  There are are plenty of sites that tell what a name means and there are lots of sites that simply generate names. The Forge fantasy name generator for example which offers several generators.  Heck, heck on over to your local library and spend some time perusing books like encyclopedias on various subjects such as history, music, sports or TV. Try the geneology section for lots of names.

Oh and a few last tips.  When writing something  historical, make sure you get the name right for the era.  Don't name a character Sky, as suggested above if it's totally inappropriate to the era which you're writing about.  Take a moment to speak your names out loud.  What if you decide on publication as an audio book or if it's digital and the text to voice in turned on?  And don't forget to give your characters distinctive names apart from each other.  Use different initials, different syllable length.  Don't allow them to be to close together so the reader has a hard time distinguishing between Huey & Dewey. 

Naming characters so you give them life, personality and the ability to capture the hearts and attention of your readers is a real challenge, but if you allow your mind to play and trust your ear and gut reactions you'll find it does get easier.  Think of the great names you can identify and what their story content is.  Then get out there and create your own.