Monday, May 2, 2011

All Your Names Are Belong To Me

I'm a name hog.

My friends have recently been accusing me of stealing ALL THE NAMES POSSIBLE. But it's not MY fault I have over a dozen books filled with characters who needed names.

...oh wait, it is. Crap.

And the sad thing is I can remember almost every single name. Someone says a name, and I'm like, "Oh yeah, that was my MC's best friend's grandma. You know, in that book I wrote four years ago." Apparently, my brain has a whole file just for The Names Of Characters In My Books No Matter How Minor.

But here's the thing, friends, THEY WERE MINE FIRST. No, that's not what I meant. I can understand your frustration at my seeming domination of all cool names. Let's face it—I have good taste in names. But you know I'm good at sharing, and you also know at least half, if not more, of those books will never see the light of day anyway.

Writers tend to take names pretty seriously. I know I do. I can't start writing a character until I know what to call them. It's part of their personality for me, and it's really hard to change a name once I've decided.

But I wonder if readers take names as seriously. I can only think of one case where a name bugged me while reading, but other than that character names are just...names. It's weird, since I know how much I care about my own, that when reading they aren't as important. And when I read two books that happen to have the same MC name? Doesn't bother me either.

I don't really know what I'm trying to say. I've just been thinking about names ever since I got accused of stealing them ALL. I used to see them as this Huge Deal, kind of how it bugged me in school when another girl had my name, as if they were stealing part of my identity or something. But now that I'm older, both in years and writing, it just doesn't...matter.

That might sound horrible, but I guess I'm saying a name is only a very small fraction of a character. If you've written a truly dimensional character, they will stand out no matter what their name is. That's what we should really be concerned about. So maybe instead of asking, "Is this the right name?" We should ask, "Would this character stand out even if I named him John Smith?"

24 comments:

  1. I've tried to avoid naming minor characters before. So. Doesn't. Work. Totally agree with you on the name thing.

    'Course, I find that even if you name someone after another someone, your someone and the other someone are two completely different people. The same name doesn't change that--if that makes any sense whatsoever.

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  2. What a great point! And definitely a question I must apply to my own characters :)

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  3. Oooh yeah...someone else who makes jokes about the "All your base are belong to us." ;-) I'm such a video game nerd that it's kind of sad. But, I'm cool with it.

    I like names, too, and they have to be perfect for the character's personality. An 'every man' type would be great as John Smith, but could you imagine if Heathcliff was named that? It would be a little weird...and I'm not sure that I would like it.

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  4. Tara, who's to say? Maybe it would have changed everyone's perception of the name;) I tend to think naming reflects more about the writer than the actual name. One person could see a name as strong or romantic, based on their experiences and associations. While another person could see that name as wussy or brutish.

    Like me? Whenever I think of Colin I think of that wussy boy in The Secret Garden movie who cries a lot. CANNOT get that image out of my head no matter how many nice and not wussy Colins I've met. True story.

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  5. I agree that names are super important to me as a writer, but as a reader, they're not nearly that vital. If I love the character, I often grow to really love the name, even if I didn't like it before. One of my favorite series has a MC named Bowman, and I now like the name--it fits the character. But, if the character isn't my favorite ever, a bad name can really turn me off. I started a book once and couldn't make it more than a few chapters because one of the MC's names was Mimi. And she was really annoying. So it's a matter of taste, I suppose. =)

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  6. I have noticed a few of those tweets going around. ;-)

    I hadn't noticed until recently other people having the same character names as ones I am using. Some of them are even in published books. *gasp* Okay, it's not really that shocking. There are only a few that I imagine would be hard to re-use. Harry is a useable name, but I'm sure no one else is going to be using Harry Potter. And I don't know how I would feel reading any name similar to Rand Al-Thor or umm whatever Rand's last name is in Robert Jordan's epic series. Some names maybe be harder to use than others, but as long as the characters have their own personalities and stories, I can get over repeated names very easily.

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  7. You are the smartest, prettiest name hogger I know. So I forgive you. But if I don't sell that book because the cat has the wrong name, it's your fault.

    Also, I don't like it when cute boys have names that I already associate with someone in real life and don't like. It's hard for me to get past. Other than that, names don't matter that much to me in books (and if I don't love the book, I forget the names almost immediately). Or, in your case, if I haven't read the book in four years then yes, I don't remember the MC's best friend's grandmother's name.

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  8. I had an experience in the last few weeks where I was writing soldiers and officers. In the case of one, a general, I kept avoiding giving him a name. With the others, I didn't feel the need to name them for them to come alive, but he needed one.

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  9. I'm a pyscho with names. I have to figure out my main characters names before I ever start writing anything about them. And then I'll ask my friends and family for names they like to fill in minor characters and I usually end up rejecting all of the suggestions and picking my own. What?! I'm very particular! My poor friends and family. :)

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  10. While some of my characters (both MC and minor) have names right away, sometimes I don't end up assigning names until at least half way through the draft. In my current WIP, the poor hero was just (hero) or even just H for a lot of his life. Once I knew who he was, then I made a huge list of potential names to select from.

    Some names seem obvious my characters, while some require research to make sure the name fits. The main problem for me at the moment seems to be not to give several characters names starting with the same letter.

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  11. Charlotte, I do that too! The same letter thing. It's like I get in this rut or something, and then I realize there's M's everywhere! Ha. I am more conscious of it now.

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  12. I'll never forgive you for taking Maggie first!!!!!!


    ;)

    Back when I was writing my fantasy novel with the MC named Tristan, I thought that was the most unique, special name ever, and I didn't want ANYONE to take it EVER.

    Then I saw that Neil Gaiman had pretty much snagged it first. And I got over it. :)

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  13. Natalie - I feel you there. I couldn't stand Colin in the Secret Garden (in the book he was pretty annoying, too until the garden 'got' him).
    Perhaps, if Heathcliff was named John Smith, it might have changed the perspective, but I don't know. Perhaps, she didn't chose a typical name like John b/c it didn't fit the image she had of the character.

    I often change names while writing. The name that seemed so perfect when I first planned the character turns out to be not so perfect as he/she grows and changes on paper (computer screen?). For my current WIP, I've changed the main characters names once and a couple of the minor characters have gone through several. Only one name has stayed the same...it just fits.

    P.S. I tend to use a lot of 'J' names.

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  14. I love names too. I spend a lot of time finding the right one for my characters. I too cannot write a character until I have the name. Recently, I was beta reading for a friend and discovered that one of her characters had the same name as one of mine. We laughed about it and figured great minds think alike. It was no big deal. I'll change mine if she makes it first and she'd do the same I'm sure. What I truly need to know though is, can you really walk in those heels?

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  15. Tara, I'm sure it didn't fit the image of the character:) I'm just saying—Heathcliff would have been a great character even with a different name. The name accents that, for sure.

    TC, yes, I can walk in those heels. They aren't that high:P Like 3 inches. I actually love heels and will wear them if I can get away with it. They make my legs look longer!

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  16. I am so into names. I cannot start writing a story until my characters have the perfect names. I love going crazy with really unique names but often I get too many in one place. :)

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  17. I had to change a character name once and it really messed with me. I felt like a bad parent.

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  18. Interesting point. Maybe I will name all my characters John and Jane until I know they are interesting anyway... then give them the cool names. Although, that would probably make the book ridiculously confusing... I know! John1, John2, etc! :)

    btw... I loved the name of this post. I just geeked out and cracked up at the same time. :)

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  19. I doubt I’ve spent more than a couple of minutes thinking of the name of any character in any of my books and many of the characters in my stories go without names completely. Unless I’ve been watching a TV show for years I’m lucky if I can name two or three main characters. In fact I just tried to remember the name of any of the characters on CSI and I struggled to remember ‘Grisham’. I don’t know why names don’t matter to me. I have an excellent memory for faces though.

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  20. Naming characters is kind-of like naming your children. You find the name...it totally rocks... and then now that you have committed to the name--you notice it everywhere.
    E-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e.
    But you know what? It's still yours. :)

    Again, cool post.

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  21. I tend to not care as much about names in the books I read, but I also pay a lot of attention to naming my main characters. My minor ones not so much. :)

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  23. Interesting post. As a writer I've done the whole search the baby names and name meanings sites/books to come up with the best possible names. Names that will reflect character, personality and even history (family origins). However, as a reader the only time names jump out at me is when they are ridiculous names. Jade Windfellow? Eddi McCandry? (A Musician nontheless) Give me a ridiculous name and I'm likely to throw the book.

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