FSN - Day 25 - By Any Other Name

[ladyseishou]

Day 25 - 6 days until the start of NNWM




I also like to make up lists of character names appropriate for the setting of my story. Sure tags like “Bad Guy 2” work in a pinch but it can be fun picking out a name from my Go-To list, imagining the character behind a name like Peter Gunner and James Whitelock (culled from an actual list of constables recruited for London’s first Metropolitan Police Force).

And if you haven’t already: make a Cast of Characters list for your story and a list of your Settings. At some point during the writing process, you’ll be very happy you have them. Trust me on this.

Questions? Comments? Recommendations for favorite Baby Names web site? Keep writing, Nano Writer!

Comments

[yifu]

I will never not recommend this site: http://www.20000-names.com/

Currently compiling my cast of characters list - not too satisfied with some names, hoping the actual writing will suggest better ones.

[dee_groovy]

I have a working title based on a song - right now, I just can't think of a better one. It fits the story so well (though I'm sure for copyright reasons, I'll have to choose a real one not based on it, I'm thinking...)

Behind the Name and Behind the Surname are good resources for names :)

http://www.behindthename.com/

http://surnames.behindthename.com/

[lap_otter]

I have a bad habit of naming my characters after whatever abbreviation I start using for them in my summaries. For example, my antagonist is named Anne, and a main character (or MC) of a prior NaNo is Mary-Cate. Other times, I'll get a vague idea of a name for a character (it starts with G... Gabriel? George? Grant? Oh, Garth, of course) and make endless lists until I find the just-right one. And Adison Quinn Hayes needed two androgynous names so she could switch between them; most of the time my characters don't get middle names.

Usually I have at least a vague idea for a working title (The Adventures of Yume Continued, Zombie Boyfriend, Little Lion King) but this time I've got nothing. So far I'm calling it Anne-Tagonist--she's really trying hard to be THE main character.

Cast of Characters is so far Adison Quinn Hayes, Garth Winters, Anne Tagonist, and Adrien McLastname. I need an evil school administrator, I guess. Settings are art class, GSA meetins in the English room, Adison's house, Anne's house, the magic university, and Garth's house.