Comments on: The Name Game http://writerunboxed.com/2009/01/14/the-name-game/ about the craft and business of fiction Sat, 11 Feb 2012 02:26:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Sarah http://writerunboxed.com/2009/01/14/the-name-game/#comment-99015 Sarah Sun, 18 Jan 2009 11:43:39 +0000 http://writerunboxed.com/2009/01/14/the-name-game/#comment-99015 After I plot out my character and their design, I like to look up names with meanings that connect to them. Only problem I run across is keeping the origin steady. After I plot out my character and their design, I like to look up names with meanings that connect to them.

Only problem I run across is keeping the origin steady.

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]]> By: Satima Flavell http://writerunboxed.com/2009/01/14/the-name-game/#comment-98735 Satima Flavell Thu, 15 Jan 2009 02:12:53 +0000 http://writerunboxed.com/2009/01/14/the-name-game/#comment-98735 Sometimes I think that no one should be allowed to write Fantasy until they've passed Linguistics 101 - basic phonology and morphology and history of language. It astonishes me that editors ever read past the first page of a ms whose characters have names full of exes, kays, zeds and apostrophes, let alone see such a work though to publication without insisting on appropriate changes! Sometimes I think that no one should be allowed to write Fantasy until they’ve passed Linguistics 101 – basic phonology and morphology and history of language. It astonishes me that editors ever read past the first page of a ms whose characters have names full of exes, kays, zeds and apostrophes, let alone see such a work though to publication without insisting on appropriate changes!

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]]> By: adele geras http://writerunboxed.com/2009/01/14/the-name-game/#comment-98730 adele geras Wed, 14 Jan 2009 23:57:52 +0000 http://writerunboxed.com/2009/01/14/the-name-game/#comment-98730 This is such a fascinating subject...thank you, Sophie. I go through agonies till I find the right name for a character and when I do hit on it eventually it's always immensely satisfying. One of the things that sometimes puts me off fantasy (not yours, needless to say!) is the peculiar names, esp. when they have a Stoneagey sound to them. Titles are fun too. I like long poetic ones or one word ones but apparently enigmatic ones don't go down well on bestseller lists. People like books whose titles make it clear what the book's about. Allegedly! My Facing the Light was a good title but you only got to understand that when you'd read the whole book! DOH! I should have called it something like 'The party at Willow Court' which is less interesting and poetic but possibly would have led to more SALES! This is such a fascinating subject…thank you, Sophie. I go through agonies till I find the right name for a character and when I do hit on it eventually it’s always immensely satisfying. One of the things that sometimes puts me off fantasy (not yours, needless to say!) is the peculiar names, esp. when they have a Stoneagey sound to them. Titles are fun too. I like long poetic ones or one word ones but apparently enigmatic ones don’t go down well on bestseller lists. People like books whose titles make it clear what the book’s about. Allegedly!
My Facing the Light was a good title but you only got to understand that when you’d read the whole book! DOH! I should have called it something like ‘The party at Willow Court’ which is less interesting and poetic but possibly would have led to more SALES!

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]]> By: Alan Gould http://writerunboxed.com/2009/01/14/the-name-game/#comment-98728 Alan Gould Wed, 14 Jan 2009 22:50:14 +0000 http://writerunboxed.com/2009/01/14/the-name-game/#comment-98728 Occasionally a name will come as a gift - my Shel in Close Ups, for instance, where the concision and suggestion of hard exterior, intriguing interior, suited my interest in this brave, complex girl. Sometimes I have over-deliberated the problem. My doomed apprentice, Jack Bell, in The Man Who Stayed Below, was so surnamed because he is the Baldur figure in that novel's working out of the Norse Baldur/Loki/Hodur myth and bell is an Irish equivalent god to Baldur. But such niceties lose the essential immediacy that attaches to naming, a sound-byte that gives a figure a particularity in their presence. I am happier with the naming of my 'lakewoman' in my imminent novel, 'The Lakewoman' because it combines a plausible nickname given to her by the german troops billetted in her Normandy farmhouse while also alluding to the Viviane of Arthurian story who was the Lady Of The Lake. But like many of the entries above, I find both names, and titles difficult because so much hangs on them, and knowing this makes one self-conscious and too fastidious in choosing them. One looks for immediacy and rightness, the two qualities that establish presence. For that reason I envy the sheer brilliance of the great namers - Dickens, Shakespeare in his minor characters, Waugh, Kipling, Occasionally a name will come as a gift – my Shel in Close Ups, for instance, where the concision and suggestion of hard exterior, intriguing interior, suited my interest in this brave, complex girl.
Sometimes I have over-deliberated the problem. My doomed apprentice, Jack Bell, in The Man Who Stayed Below, was so surnamed because he is the Baldur figure in that novel’s working out of the Norse Baldur/Loki/Hodur myth and bell is an Irish equivalent god to Baldur. But such niceties lose the essential immediacy that attaches to naming, a sound-byte that gives a figure a particularity in their presence.
I am happier with the naming of my ‘lakewoman’ in my imminent novel, ‘The Lakewoman’ because it combines a plausible nickname given to her by the german troops billetted in her Normandy farmhouse while also alluding to the Viviane of Arthurian story who was the Lady Of The Lake.
But like many of the entries above, I find both names, and titles difficult because so much hangs on them, and knowing this makes one self-conscious and too fastidious in choosing them. One looks for immediacy and rightness, the two qualities that establish presence. For that reason I envy the sheer brilliance of the great namers – Dickens, Shakespeare in his minor characters, Waugh, Kipling,

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]]> By: felicity pulman http://writerunboxed.com/2009/01/14/the-name-game/#comment-98725 felicity pulman Wed, 14 Jan 2009 22:14:05 +0000 http://writerunboxed.com/2009/01/14/the-name-game/#comment-98725 Yes, the wrong name can totally throw the author as well as a reader, and it's certainly worth spending time on getting it right. As a reader, I must admit I tend to pass over fantasy novels with names that sound really 'made up' and pretentious. But names that are based in reality or on an image (I LOVE Owlchurch!) really add a depth and extra dimension to a story. Yes, the wrong name can totally throw the author as well as a reader, and it’s certainly worth spending time on getting it right. As a reader, I must admit I tend to pass over fantasy novels with names that sound really ‘made up’ and pretentious. But names that are based in reality or on an image (I LOVE Owlchurch!) really add a depth and extra dimension to a story.

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]]> By: Therese Walsh http://writerunboxed.com/2009/01/14/the-name-game/#comment-98714 Therese Walsh Wed, 14 Jan 2009 19:40:57 +0000 http://writerunboxed.com/2009/01/14/the-name-game/#comment-98714 <em>naming them makes them spring fully into life</em> This is true for me, too. I've had a lot of fun naming characters and looking for meaning in those names. One secondary character, for example, is named Ermanno. He's an Italian, and the meaning of his name is "combative." His role as a brother to another character is key, so his name is also an auditory cheap trick, sounding like the Spanish "hermano," which means brother. Since several languages are used in the novel, I thought this worked. I also love the sound of Owlchurch and the reason you've given for the name. Thanks for a great post, Sophie! naming them makes them spring fully into life

This is true for me, too.

I’ve had a lot of fun naming characters and looking for meaning in those names. One secondary character, for example, is named Ermanno. He’s an Italian, and the meaning of his name is “combative.” His role as a brother to another character is key, so his name is also an auditory cheap trick, sounding like the Spanish “hermano,” which means brother. Since several languages are used in the novel, I thought this worked.

I also love the sound of Owlchurch and the reason you’ve given for the name.

Thanks for a great post, Sophie!

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]]> By: Kristan http://writerunboxed.com/2009/01/14/the-name-game/#comment-98709 Kristan Wed, 14 Jan 2009 17:52:42 +0000 http://writerunboxed.com/2009/01/14/the-name-game/#comment-98709 I have to admit, I tend to judge fantasy books on their names. Really bad, hard to say/comprehend names will totally and immediately turn me off. For other books, there are impressions and associations certainly, but actually I often like when a reader gives me a character with a name I certainly think about in a certain way and then totally changes it. I have to admit, I tend to judge fantasy books on their names. Really bad, hard to say/comprehend names will totally and immediately turn me off.

For other books, there are impressions and associations certainly, but actually I often like when a reader gives me a character with a name I certainly think about in a certain way and then totally changes it.

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]]> By: Kathleen Bolton http://writerunboxed.com/2009/01/14/the-name-game/#comment-98702 Kathleen Bolton Wed, 14 Jan 2009 15:26:35 +0000 http://writerunboxed.com/2009/01/14/the-name-game/#comment-98702 For me, it's all about the name. Having a character named Joe or Bud suggests something totally different than naming him Winthrop or Chase. I dig the name Owlchurch, Sophie. I like the way it looks on the page, and the connotations of 'owl' and 'church' together. What I don't like in fantasy novels are absurdly made-up names like Kaa'tgn'. Too many of those and I have a hard time remembering who is who. Great post, as usual! For me, it’s all about the name. Having a character named Joe or Bud suggests something totally different than naming him Winthrop or Chase.

I dig the name Owlchurch, Sophie. I like the way it looks on the page, and the connotations of ‘owl’ and ‘church’ together.

What I don’t like in fantasy novels are absurdly made-up names like Kaa’tgn’. Too many of those and I have a hard time remembering who is who.

Great post, as usual!

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]]> By: annie http://writerunboxed.com/2009/01/14/the-name-game/#comment-98700 annie Wed, 14 Jan 2009 15:14:52 +0000 http://writerunboxed.com/2009/01/14/the-name-game/#comment-98700 Names are a close second to titles in degree of difficulty for me. Names are a close second to titles in degree of difficulty for me.

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