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Q&A Choosing character names is a constant difficulty

Another writer friend of mine went through NaNoWriMo last year, writing furiously to make her 50,000 words, without naming her characters at all. Naming isn't easy. Sometimes a character will hav...

posted 14y ago by justkt‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T00:39:01Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/166
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar justkt‭ · 2019-12-08T00:39:01Z (almost 5 years ago)
Another writer friend of mine went through [NaNoWriMo](http://www.nanowrimo.org/) last year, writing furiously to make her 50,000 words, without naming her characters at all.

Naming isn't easy. Sometimes a character will have a name that fits, perhaps, but often not. If you find it difficult _put it off_. Don't let it get in the way of your writing. Instead write. If necessary, get all the way to the end of your story. Then tackle the naming problem.

How do you tackle it? Do it with a baby name book. Use an online baby naming resource. Take a name and change it up a little in your head as if you are a parent who simply has to have a unique name for Baby X. Pick the name you always thought you were going to call your daughter until your spouse overrode it. Use the middle name of your friend who least or most resembles the character. Flip through your college yearbook and pick the kid who most looks like your character. These are just a few ideas. There are tons more. Just write. Then name.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2010-11-19T13:14:44Z (almost 14 years ago)
Original score: 8