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It depends on what sort of story you want to write. If you want your character to stand out (superhero, famous outlaw, rebel leader, etc.) it's probably better to pick a name that stands out. If ...
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#4: Attribution notice removed
by
System
·
2019-12-14T20:45:27Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/44030 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added
by
System
·
2019-12-08T11:30:42Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/44030 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision
It depends on what sort of story you want to write. If you want your character to stand out (superhero, famous outlaw, rebel leader, etc.) it's probably better to pick a name that stands out. If you're trying to show that this is an ordinary person, living an ordinary life, then using something more common can be an effective tool. Think of Winston Smith from _1984_ - his last name's meant to sound like a generic, boring British guy. There's nothing particularly remarkable about him. He's a guy who tries to rebel and fails. A generic name can also be an alias meant to make an interesting character sound less remarkable (spy, secret agent, etc.). For example, John Reese in the TV show _Person of Interest_. There's the humor angle, too. Maybe you're writing about some poor guy named "John Doe" that no one can take seriously.
#1: Imported from external source
by
System
·
2019-03-25T22:03:18Z (about 5 years ago)
Original score: 5