naming…
About seven hours ago I had reason to throw out what I had drafted for today. More on that in a bit (I assume most of you have already seen the reason on flickr). Anyway, I always have trouble naming characters. I want there to been hidden fun meaning, yet have a name that is not so obvious stupid annoying.
I’ll never forget the first “book” I wrote (even though I forget much of the details right now) and how I had to insist strongly that the name of my female character be spelled a certain way [ooh, more on that next week, all is not lost from today’s draft]. Leave me be, I was SIX. I’ve always been one for uncommon names, despite all four of mine being quite commonplace (though with some variations on spelling, I like an E on the end of one and an H on the other).
Most of the female characters I’ve drafted lately are quite autobiographical and I’ve named them as such. I need to get away from this and do some massive editing before I let anything out to the wilds of the public. How do you come up with names? Does your character speak to you or remind you of someone you once knew named Beth, Mary, or Joe?
More importantly, I’m still not sure of gender (I’ve been saying she, but I could be wrong), any ideas on how to name the one who followed me home today?
I spun a little on it tonight, but I need to get back to the pile of work and prepare for the week ahead. I’m spinning some beautiful purple merino that Squid gave me back when she taught me to spin in July. Yes this is one of the least expensive wheels out there, but I think it’s a good fit for me. I will not allow myself to second guess my choice. I will however be writing an idiots guide to using your wheel that first night. I may give more as to my decision on Wednesday, I may not. I do know that I will be rereading In Sheep’s Clothing as wandering around the Fairgrounds reminded me how insanely ignorant I am.
To those I missed playing Bingo today, I’m sorry. I was feeling quite overwhelmed and nervous about my choice, additionally my ear has been bothering me which didn’t help anything.
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I used to tend to name my main characters (also frequently autobiographical) with the same first initial as mine. I don’t really have a system now – in fact, I have been writing lots of fragments with nameless characters. I think at some point I’ll get back to researching by meanings or by the feel I want the character to have in relation to the story.