When it comes to writing fiction of any sort, names are everything. First off, they have to be believable in the setting, time period, genre, world, ect. It would do no good to confuse your readers by putting sci-fi names in a fantasy novel (well, if your characters are time travellers from the future, it is excusable). Secondly, they need to fit the character, this is a dilemma that we've probably all gone through, the last thing you want is a name that awkwardly stands out from the character himself. Sometimes of course, an awkward or ill-fitting name is chosen to be humorous or because the poor character couldn't help having inconsiderate parents that gave him a strange name. Last, but not least is spelling, sometimes this is one of the hardest steps, as we want our characters to have unique names that stand out, but we don't want to confuse our readers to the extent that they can't even say the names. I am guilty of having used unpronounceable names, and have since turned to a large baby name book for inspiration....
Do you have any tips for choosing a name for a character? Feel free to share your secrets to success in this tricky business!
Do you have any tips for choosing a name for a character? Feel free to share your secrets to success in this tricky business!