names and games

[marycatelli]

Some writers can write without names.  Call their characters Xzygy or another placeholder and then go back and fill it in later.

I can't.

It's fine for outlining -- usually -- where I call the characters "-" or "--" or "---".  But when I am actually writing, I need a name.  Frantic hunts through lists of names and baby name books are not unknown.

It might be kind of ironic for a bit character, or even a piece of the back story who will never appear onstage -- but then, names are vitally important for those characters because they have so little else to counterbalance them.  They're that important for major characters only on introduction.  (I once read an article on naming soap-opera characters that commented that if you're introducing the mayor, you can't name him Lefty, but if you have a character named Lefty, he can run for mayor, and win.  First impressions are so important.)

Comments

[alphien.livejournal.com]

While outlining I'll have some like "____" or "so-and-so's former paramour" or something. And then I'll hunt desperately for a name that fits, and usually, then it'll take me ten thousand words to feel the name and character match.

Sometimes it's just easier to be able to pull the first name off the top of your head then roll with it.

[marycatelli]

Sometimes assigning the name helps. Sometimes. . . .

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I'm like you: I need to know the actual name. Sometimes, later, I may change it, but I can't have just a placeholder name; I have to have a name that I think will actually be the real name. ... And I will drop everything and research to find the right name....

[marycatelli]

Oh, yeah. Some writers caution against choosing a name too soon because it comes with baggage, but I find that choosing the right name is the best way to define the character, with baggage I find hard to articulate but which fits.

[rai-ryu.livejournal.com]

I used to just make up characters and names on the fly, but I ended up with a fairly major character ending up with a horrible name...I've renamed him, of course, but it is hard to stop thinking of him by the original name.

[marycatelli]

search and replace can only do so much -- you have to keep on writing, and your fingers remember.