Do you have a favourite name for characters? Whenever I am thinking of new ideas I always seem to insert the same 2 names into the story. They do not necessarily stay to the final draft, but they always make an appearance at the early stages.
These two characters are Harland Quinn and Travin (no last name as yet). I am not sure where Travin came from, I used this as a login name several years back, and later found it in some books that I read. Harland came about as i was thinking of interesting words and how they could be converted to names. Harlequin stood out at the time and my character was born.
So do you have your little pieces of inspiration that continually raise there head in your work? Or is this something unusual to me?
Posted by Grant John (Member # 5993) on :
A bit off topic, but funny anyway. Years ago I named a character in my WIP Jarryd, liking the unusual spelling then last week I went to McDonalds because I wanted a hot breakfast (had a cold, plus my house was cold) was served by the first real life Jarryd I had ever seen.
As to a name always popping up, I tend to name a love interest in my stories Elli May (though in all but 1 I did change it later), who was the first girl I ever kissed. It works well though because I only knew her for 6 months back when I was about 11 and know nothing really about her, so I can make her up as the perfect female. I also feel a close connection to the name because it was the title of the first short story I wrote when I was in year 9, which was apparently so good when I submitted it again in year 11, then under the name Judy in year 12 I got perfect marks each time.
Grant
Posted by KayTi (Member # 5137) on :
I often am drawn to female MC's whose names begin with "A" - Amelia is one, Ariadne, Anya is another. Anya is actually the nickname we picked out for my daughter before she was born. Her full name is Anastasia. Turns out, after she was here and we got to know her, Anya didn't fit at all - so we had to unring that bell and tell all the friends and family (who knew the nickname Anya from updates during the pregnancy) that her name is Anastasia now, Stasia for short.
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
I've been prone to use the names from one story for characters in another---maybe it's because my characters are interchangable and all based on me. I've been trying to get away from that, with middlin' success.
In a way, it was easier in Internet Fan Fiction. The names of the characters were all set, and you introduced someone else to the mix at your own risk. (I had great success introducing a forgotten sister---something I found out years later 'cause I left the field just after.)
Posted by Zero (Member # 3619) on :
What are your thoughts about stealing names from other writers' characters when they strike you as good? Obviously if their character is Joe it's not very obvious, but if you named a character Gandalf, well, that's be pretty obvious. So, to what extent are you willing to rip out names?
Posted by JeanneT (Member # 5709) on :
Interesting discussion. I seem to be in the minority in having never re-used a name. I seem to be fairly good at making up names or at any rate I generally get good reactions to them. I generally take something that is a familiar name and change it enough that it is different but still somewhat familiar sounding. I personally don't like to use "Bob, Mary, etc" names in my fantasy. I recently accidentally reused a name, apparently also a real world name that I had never run into and doesn't come up on a goggle search as a first name, that was in one of Goodkind's novels for a horse. That made me laugh.
I debated changing Jessup's name when someone pointed out the Goodkind thing, but the name worked so well for me that I decided to keep it. I never deliberately take a name from another work.
[This message has been edited by JeanneT (edited August 18, 2007).]
Posted by Balthasar (Member # 5399) on :
I've found I do this, too -- use the same names that come naturally to me. What I do now is name my principle characters before I write, and when I meet new characters while I'm writing, I always stop and think of a name before continuing.
Posted by annepin (Member # 5952) on :
The best name I ever came up with was "Lorien." I was so in love with that name. And then I read LOTR. Sigh... I think I'm still going to use it, though now everyone will think I stole it from Tolkien.
I wouldn't consciously take names from others' works. This isn't quite plagiarism, but it just feels, well, wrong somehow. If it's a common name, well, that's not so bad. If it's unusual, or if its a main character in another book, I think you run the danger of a reader recognizing it and feeling a little disappointed in you.
I try very hard not to reuse names in my works. To me, a name is so evocative of a personality, that I fear if I let myself use the same name, I'll essentially be writing about the same character.
I usually get stumped on the minor character names. My WIP has a lot of misc people running around, all necessary to create milieu, but a pain to name. Some of them are given the same name on accident.
[This message has been edited by annepin (edited August 18, 2007).]
Posted by Umi-chan (Member # 5881) on :
I have a bad tendancy to use the same names for my characters. Most of my male characters begin as a James, or Jon, or Mike. I do have one character Maxwell who keeps showing up. My female MCs tend rotate between Rachelle and Chloe.
My character names tend to repeat themselves alot in initial drafts because I use the characters I've already created until the characters develope a life of their own.
Posted by darklight (Member # 5213) on :
I try not to have the same names in any of my stories. The only time that I might, is if its a minor character that only has a small part, then I don't really care what I call them. I would never take the name of another fictional character, in fact, I would go out of my way to avoid that. On the other hand, I have come across quite a few of my characters names in real life. And on occasion, they have turned up after the fact in fiction. That's quite annoying when I've gone out of my way to invent an original and unique name.
Once, I was told that the characters names in a piece I send for critique sounded very much like football players (soccer for those in the US and elsewhere). My secret was descovered! I did stop using football players as inspriation for names after that.
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
On stealing names...I have a related problem: the images the names conjure up. In one unrevised story I have a character named Daphne...I'm torn between images of Greek myth, "Frasier," and "Scooby Doo."
Posted by debhoag (Member # 5493) on :
similar to the name thing, one of my favorite "guilty pleasures" authors always has a character that eats candied almonds in her novels. I get a kick out of it.
Posted by Sparrol (Member # 5734) on :
I'm fond of the name Jeremy. I read it in an Internet fanfic, and the name and characterization have stuck with me. Maybe it was just because it was an English name in a Japanese setting; I don't know.
Aside from that, I usually try to mix up names in things I write, both original and fanfic. There's too many good names out there to waste.
Posted by sholar (Member # 3280) on :
I don't remember what author it was, but some published writer on her second book was told, hey, you have the same first name for these two unrelated characters. From that point on, she included a minor character with that name in every story.
Posted by hoptoad (Member # 2145) on :
Propagandalf makes his appearance in a few of mine. He's a communications and marketing consultant for a large government department. .. .. I don't think I got that name from any subliminal source ..
[This message has been edited by hoptoad (edited August 20, 2007).]
Posted by Pyre Dynasty (Member # 1947) on :
I always seem to have a female starting with J, as well as a male starting with V. I wonder who J is and when I'm going to meet her.
Posted by ArachneWeave (Member # 5469) on :
I spent a few weeks put a certain character into all the writing prompts I looked at. (I don't do prompts anymore; that was also a brief period). It was fun, and actually kind of a stretching experience. The result was a bit mad-cap, a lot quirky, but the story suits the guy. Cassidy is a normal guy with a magic aptitude but the luck of a shattered mirror.
I expect he will pop up elsewhere, when I've finished polishing that piece with him (and all the patchwork prompts).
I do have favorite names but I don't like re-using on purpose. "J" names for boys were my thing for a while, but now I'm just plain old name-crazy...the search for the right name thrills me.
I once inadvertantly ended up with a couple called Sam and Rosie. Rosie was so-and-so's young aunt, and when I visualized her husband, he had to be a Sam. I did not make the connection for a while.
RE Lorien: I also love it, but I'd like to name a daughter that. It would also be a tribute to my mother Laurie Ann.
[This message has been edited by ArachneWeave (edited August 21, 2007).]
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
I did happen to notice the other day, while filling in a character name, that I named a doctor "Carlson," which must be the umpteenth time I've used that name as a filler. I can't confess any fondness for it as a name. (My first reflex, which I beat down, was to call the character Doctor "Cheatham"---the name of a jazz musician.)
