You're writing ...

[serafina20]

You're writing an OC or even an original piece of fiction. How do you come up with character names? How often do you choose a name that means something? What process do you go through to create a character, or do they create themselves?

Comments

[rhiannonhero.livejournal.com]

Hmm, this is not a helpful answer, I'm sure, but I just wait until a name hits me in the gut and just feels right.

[serafina20.livejournal.com]

Hmm, this is not a helpful answer, I'm sure, but I just wait until a name hits me in the gut and just feels right.

Well, it's my answer most of the time too, so of course it's helpful. Thanks! :)

[mercy.livejournal.com]

I used to be into all the typical cheese cliches in naming a character. Like picking names that symbolized who they are in the story or exotic or even made up names. Sometimes, even just picking a name out of nowhere and not really thinking about what it meant.

Now I focused on how a character comes to be named, allowing that to flesh out the character even more.

Aaron, was named after Aaron the Moore, from Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus. Her mother named her this, because he was one of her favorite characters. Aaron herself has resentment around being named after a villain, which foreshadows the adversarial nature of the relationship between her and her mother. What she doesn't know is that her mother sees Aaron as the driving force in the story, someone who takes action, a master of destiny not a mere participant. This is how she wishes her daughter to live, thus that is why she named her after him.

Now in real life, I liked the name and thought it sounded right for the character. Then I looked at the character of her mother and rationalized why she would be named this. Which ended up fleshing out my story and characters?

[serafina20.livejournal.com]

Like picking names that symbolized who they are in the story or exotic or even made up names.

Did you ever pick a name that you really liked, then found out what it meant and felt awkward about keeping it? I've had that happened a few times.

Now I focused on how a character comes to be named, allowing that to flesh out the character even more.

Now that is a really cool idea. Thanks for sharing!

[mercy.livejournal.com]

Did you ever pick a name that you really liked, then found out what it meant and felt awkward about keeping it? I've had that happened a few times.

Actually no. If I did find out that one of the names that I had chosen had a odd meaning, I would probablly try to put a humuors spin on it.

Now that is a really cool idea. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks.

[wanderlustlover]

Usually I work on little things. Like I'll get a glimpse of the person in my head. I'll try to make them talk to me, figure out how they'd like things. Work on inspiration around their little quirks that make sense for them in my head.

And I do somethign else all the time. I pick up cheap baby name books in half price. Books and books on names from different centuries to the most popular of this decade/century. Then sometimes I just flip through them till a name that I see fits the character I'm thinking about.

[serafina20.livejournal.com]

Usually I work on little things. Like I'll get a glimpse of the person in my head. I'll try to make them talk to me, figure out how they'd like things. Work on inspiration around their little quirks that make sense for them in my head.

See, I need to know who I'm dealing with before I can really work on things like that. And a lot of time their personality, how they move,and what they look like are really tied into that name. I have a character named Daniel whose name I tried to change to Joel; he immediatly was about four years younger, different hair/eyes attitude, and a lot sweeter, which didn't work for the character. It's frustrating.

[meret.livejournal.com]

I have a book of baby names I look at. You can also find them online.