What’s in A Name?

Naming Characters

“O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?” Now, imagine if Shakespeare had misspoken, and instead named our fair compatriot Julius. Or Anthony. How would Juliet have made out? “O Julius, Julius! wherefore art thou Julius?” No. Okay, “O Anthony, Anthony! wherefore art thou Anthony?” You get the picture. Anyway, for us writers, names are very important and serve many purposes. Namely, they clue your reader in, to who your protagonist is, (and by extension, the rest of your cast of characters). Clues for example about their profession: Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple.

Make your characters memorable. I remember meeting Cormoran Strike for the first time in the Cuckoo’s Calling and being bowled away. Thinking, here is the name of a man who stands out. Who against all odds, seems different. I am certain you can remember some of the names that have stood out for you in the past. Frodo Baggins, Darth Vader. Lord Voldemort, etc. Think of reasons why these names continue to stick out. Do something similar for your characters.

One way to do this might be, to get your hands on a copy of the Character Naming Sourcebook, which someone else might have also been blogged about here. Trust me, I copied a few chapters a few weeks ago just to get started. In her 2005 book, Sherrilyn Kenyon provides 10 hints of how a writer should go about naming their characters. Choosing names from a wide range of origins, e.g. English, Dutch and Gaelic. And in case you need a little more help, she has also included advice from among a host of other well-known, published authors.

Here, though, I will mention three of them just to get you started. Rule number one, make sure that whatever name you use, captures the persona of that character. Or in other words, make sure that it means something. Does Cormoran Strike seem to you like a private investigator who gets his man? You can believe that he does. Or Hercule Poirot. Is he a man who is always using as he always says, those little grey cells (to outwit the villain). What about your character? Can you give him or her a name that says something about who they are? Brandi Daniels for example was supposed to be a kid, who like her namesake, Brandi Carlile, could be counted on to be inventive, an eventual initiator, someone who might even steal the spotlight. (Does she seem that way to you?)

Rule number eight, use genre appropriate names. Hence, Cormoran Strike and V.I Warshawski make great private investigators. But if you cat them in a romance novel, would the name still fit? Would he make a great Rhett Butler. Or could she be a Stella? Or consider Zoel Q-24, who appears in a sci-fi YA novel, called Glitch. If she was to make a crossover debut in a western alongside Longmire and Shane, would she seem appropriate. Does her name have enough heft?

And finally, the last rule. Avoid populating your fiction with the names other authors have already made famous. Say for example, Anita Blake and Harry Potter. As an aside, I should mention that after falling in love with the name Lucien in The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, I used it for my messenger in The Way of the Seer. Granted he wasn’t the main character, but then again, we all have to be careful. So I pinky promise…to never do it again. Well, now that I am aware of the rule that is.

What Poetry Can Teach Us About Naming Things

For anyone who has ever read, written or discussed poetry, it should come as no surprise that it can provide you with a rare insight into how to name things. What I am referring to here, may be seen as the appropriateness of a title. Consider Rita Dove’s American Smooth, W.S. Merwin’s Yesterday or even Robert Frost’s The Road Not Taken. To some extent, poets have a keen sense of time and place; and nowhere else is that insight more valuable, than to the writer of fiction, poetry and playwriting. Consider, the pieces included in Natasha Trethewey’s Native Guard.

It was there, that I first realized the extent to which a good name can focus your reader. Force them to see the world through your eyes. Below, I will present a few examples. Hopefully, they will serve as a guide and be as relevant to you as they were to me. The first poem is called, At Dusk.

At first I think she is calling a child,
my neighbor, leaning through her doorway
at dusk, street lamps just starting to hum…

So here, of course, the title keys us into the setting. Sometimes, the name of the novel can be about a place. e.g. Viral Nation. Sometimes it might not be apparent to you at the start of the piece, but looking back, after mulling over it, you can find a title that best serves your purpose. Something that tells the reader about the work.

The second example is called Myth. Myth like with Greek Myths.

I was asleep while you were dying.
It’s as if you slipped through some rift, a hollow
I made between slumber and my walking,…

Some of the poems from Native Guard, deal with the death of the poet’s mother. Others are about things she has learned. Myth gives you that feeling of being asleep. Being in a type of dream, like she is creating a type of myth in the way that she orchestrates the poem. In the novel, Glitch (by Heather Anastasiu), that I mentioned before, Zoel, talks about how she is changing, glitching and what would happen if anyone else found out. Is there something significant about your main character that could serve as a title? Eg. Jenny Downham’s novel, Before I Die, which like the title says is the story about a young girl who is about to die. Of course the novel, has been renamed to Now is Good; and was made into a movie that starred Dakota Fanning, but honestly I prefer the old name (even though it may seem a little bleak). It gave you a sense of what you were up against. Consider the following, the Abomination, the War of Art and 88 Killer.

The third poem is called, What the Body Can Say

Even in stone the gesture is unmistakable–
the man upright, though on his knees, spine

arched, head flung back, and covering his eyes,
his fingers spread across his face. I think

grief…

Taken in its entirety, I am sure you would be able to get the full picture of what this poem offers. Here though, I can only give you a snippet of the piece, with its gestures.  Things we cannot help seeing. Feeling. Something also expressed in the following poem, which might be a bit graphic, (content wise) because of the way it presents the image of people. But please keep an open mind, and consider the piece being located at the center of the page. With the title like the overhanging roof of a house or building.

Suji Kwock Kim’s, Occupation (taken from Notes from the Divided Country).

The soldiers
are hard at work
building a house.
They hammer
bodies into the earth
like nails,…

Kim here is making reference to the Korean War, in which her grandparents and father perished. Here though, she is only mentioning things that the people would have seen and felt. I admire the haunting nature of the things she presents. Here though, it is that sense of inhabiting a space. And what it means to be occupied. In the same way, you will have to think about what will be presented in your novel. And the type of experience you want your reader to gain. What do do you want them to see? Hear? Consider: Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. Lean In and Married Love.

What is your novel, poem, play about, at its core? What clues are you going to provide for your reader? Here, consider the appropriateness of the title. And if you have time, check out some of the blogs I follow. Eye-Dancers has a piece on Names called: The (Name’s) the Thing (Or, what Should I Call It?). While these four bloggers have poetry posts: FracturedGalaxies, Legends of Windemere, mysuccessisyoursuccess and Write, Write, Write, Sleep, Write. Some of them have more than others but do check them out. See how the titles of the pieces work for you, and the piece that is being presented. Then apply what you have learned to your own work, all the while, making sure that you have given subtle clues to your readers.

But above all, choose wisely. Make sure that the name says something about your character, or highlights something about your novel. So, until next time, keep reading, writing and posting. And good luck with all of your endeavours. Oh, and check back next Friday, for a post on novel beginnings.

Latest Writing Tip : Don’t Bury Your Lead

In the last week, I’ve managed to upload a bit more chapters and I’m grateful to you, the readers for accepting, reading and liking my posts (for the Way of the Seer). Seriously kudos and thank you! While doing this though, I’ve also tried to keep up with my reading, which as you all know can help us, to write better. One good thing I’ve learned in that time is that while there are many maxims for writing, one of the greatest seems to me: don’t bury your lead.

Now, depending on the writer, such a line might come either at the end or the start of the paragraph. For some of the really great writers, having a good lead-in at the start of a piece can be really insightful. Moving. Even if every writer is different or uses different techniques. Check for yourself. Get a copy of the Cuckoo’s Calling or the Husband’s Secret and see for yourself. Both are a good read. No, sorry, great read. Or even check the novel you are currently reading.

I mean here are two writers are not afraid to create intrigue by laying it all on the line. The Husband’s Secret begins with the line: It was all because of the Berlin Wall… I know to some of you it might not seem like much, but this very line, lays the groundwork for the entire novel. Think of other novels you may have read, how did they begin? For me the novel, Every Day (by David Levithan) comes to mind. It starts with the line: I wake up. Either way, the writer (of THS), Liane Moriarty digs deep, gets us in there. Down in the trenches, where her story unfolds. Trust me, I read the first three chapters before going to bed and woke up ready to thumb through the rest of the novel as if I had discovered the Holy Grail.

As writers, sometimes we may lack direction and purpose, but keep at it. That opening line is just as crucial as the adjoining mini steps that comes at the start of the other alternating paragraphs. Create a trajectory. Focus your readers by redirecting language that might have otherwise seemed like sloppy edits. Take your time. Relax and read over what you have written, edit it and then re-write. Give your readers their money’s worth. (Or if you’re still learning the craft, like me, keep at it, in time you’ll be duly rewarded).

And just in case you’ve like the post, leave a comment. Tell me some of the books you like/d and some of the lead in’s that really hooked you. And above all, remember to the two most important lessons of being a writer: Read, read, read. And write, write, write. I wish you all the best in your many endeavours.

Below is a copy of the before and after versions of chapter 21, The Dog Ate My Homework. See for yourself how the first sentence helps control the piece.

Chapter 21: No Seriously, the dog ate my homework.

As the other students walked through the huge mahogany doors, Brandi strolled in after them. Wondering how it was that one minute she was, where she was supposed to be, and then (the next) somehow she was in another. Cursing under her breath, she grabbed a couple of things from out of her locker and then made it further down the hall to math class.

Oh great, she though, as a trio of teachers moved past the door before her. Her head/she caught sight of the back of Mrs. Jenkins’ head and the curl of her horn-rimmed glasses. She would have thirty minutes to accomplish a feat that should have taken her all night (a few hours).

Brandi groaned and dropped into one of the back chairs, noticing for the first time that Roger and Teresa’s chairs were also empty. Until the door opened again, and she caught sight of her friend removing a pair of sunglasses from her face. She frowned, not really remembering her friend as someone who would be dulls up/glammed up. Brandi lowered her head, pulled out a few books and laid them almost silently onto her desk. As she bit into the bottom of her pencil, almost snapping/ chewing off the eraser.

Chapter 21: The Dog Ate My Homework

As the other students walked through the school’s mahogany doors, Brandi followed. Wondering how it was that one minute, she was, where she was supposed to be and the next, in another place entirely. Cursing under her breath, she grabbed a couple of things from her locker, and then, she went further down the hall to math class.

Ahead of her, she caught sight of a trio of teachers. Her breath caught. She was dismayed at seeing the curl. Edge of a pair of horn-rimmed glasses which she knew belonged to Mrs. Jenkins. Oh, great! she thought, feeling the huge expanse that she had often thought of as time, slip through her fingers. There was no way she would accomplish this feat in half an hour, she lamented, holding her head in her hands. Why had she squandered the night?

She dropped onto the black-cushioned, metallic chair, searching for her friends, but Roger and Teresa weren’t there. They had absconded. Why hadn’t she also received the memo? she thought, pulling books out of her bag and dropping them onto the desk, as if their usefulness meant nothing to her. She glanced out the window and forced herself to take a calming breath. Then she heard the side door open again and she caught sight of Teresa. A new and improved version of Teresa, who was wearing a pair of designer shades, and looked way too glammed up. Something inside of her shifted and she shook her head, remembering the party that she had been tricked into attending. She turned her face, hoping to avoid another confrontation, like the one on the bus.