Melvin thrust deep into her, his buttocks...

[NoJo]

Do you care about the name of your characters?

I often decide to rename the protagonists in the middle of writing, sometimes confusing the reader when I forget to change all instances.

Is the name important to you?

 

[zeb1094]

Do you care about the name of your characters?

I often decide to rename the protagonists in the middle of writing, sometimes confusing the reader when I forget to change all instances.

Is the name important to you?

Well I try and keep them gender specific but other than that it depends on the character. I try using a name that fits the person I'm trying to portray.

 

[impressive]

Is the name important to you?

Yes, it is.

 

[entitled]

And here i was just wondering why Melvin was thrusting into her his buttocks... completely changes things without that comma

 

[sincerely_helene]

And here i was just wondering why Melvin was thrusting into her his buttocks... completely changes things without that comma

Funny. I was wondering why Melvin was thrusting into her/his buttocks.

 

[cloudy]

Yes, it is.

What Imp said.

I can't even start a story until I have the name thing settled.

 

[rgraham666]

Somewhat.

I usually try for something rather 'whitebread'. I don't want a name that jars the reader.

Like zeb, I try to make sure my female characters have women's names.

I am expanding on that a bit. I gave the vampire in Abyss a noticeably French name, since he was French. And one of the secondary characters had a distinctly ethnic name as well.

 

[Roxanne Appleby]

Do you care about the name of your characters?

I often decide to rename the protagonists in the middle of writing, sometimes confusing the reader when I forget to change all instances.

Is the name important to you?

If you use MS Word I recommend the "find and replace character's name" tool, under which you select "replace all."

 

[Rumple Foreskin]

Do you care about the name of your characters?

I often decide to rename the protagonists in the middle of writing, sometimes confusing the reader when I forget to change all instances.

Is the name important to you?

Yes. But more from a technical standpoint than artistic.

As Zeb said, there's just certain things it's usually best to avoid.

Gender neutral names.
Names that sound/look similar.
Some names should be avoided due to association. Name a black guy, Rufus, and some PC sensitive folks could take umbridge. Naming your modern female protag Ethel or your male protag Hubert is "iffy".

Rumple Foreskin

 

[OhMissScarlett]

Like Cloudy, I can't even start a story without my main characters having names. Most of the time my protagonist's name occurs to me at the same time the plot enters my brain. I have tried to change a character's name mid-story and it's impossible for me to think of them with another name.

 

[NoJo]

If you use MS Word I recommend the "find and replace character's name" tool, under which you select "replace all."

Yes, I've heard of that. It's near the "Any" key.

It happens because I make a lot of typos, and my character usually has about three spellings in the story. I had one story when one of the characters was named Suzanne, Susanne and Zoe, which I noticed after submitting.

 

[lil_elvis]

Yes. But more from a technical standpoint than artistic.

As Zeb said, there's just certain things it's usually best to avoid.

Gender neutral names.
Names that sound/look similar.
Some names should be avoided due to association. Name a black guy, Rufus, and some PC sensitive folks could take umbridge. Naming your modern female protag Ethel or your male protag Hubert is "iffy".

Rumple Foreskin

So Melvin was having a wet dream?

 

[NoJo]

If my first kid had been a girl, I would have liked her to be called "Ruby". But my wife said it sounded like her aunt Ruby, who was ugly. So to her, "Ruby" was an ugly name.

My evil characters, I've noticed, tend to have "V"'s in their name. Masculine people have monosyllabic, canine names. "Pretty girls" have "L"'s and "S"s.

Often I base a charcter on a real life person I know, or else a famous actor. So while I'm writing I have "Hugh" for the Hugh Grant character, etc. That's one reason I end up changing names. The character have "working names" while I'm writing.

 

[Guest]

I'm with most, the right name can make or break a story.

"Our town's librarian was the shyest, most plain looking woman around."

Would one name be better than the other if your choices were Kristin or Charlotte?

 

[Selena_Kitt]

If you use MS Word I recommend the "find and replace character's name" tool, under which you select "replace all."

careful with this function... I replace one at a time... because once I had a character named "Pat" and replaced him with "Stuart"... hit that "replace all" function and suddenly had sentences like, "I knew he was being Stuartronizing."

 

[impressive]

What Imp said.

You're flirting with me again, aren't you?


To expound -- I use character names to convey a bit ABOUT the character. There are ethnic-sounding names (Deshawn, Tia), young/trendy names (Brianna, Dakota), old names (Gertrude, Homer), fun names (Charlie, Chloe), serious names (Jackson, Deloris), etc.

I chose Stormy for the Rainy Day Story Challenge -- for obvious reasons.

I wrote the little quickie story "Jake" for a friend who'd bestowed the name on a toy I gave her last Christmas. I changed the name in that story a few times -- and it changed the entire tone of the piece. With an older name, it felt like a desperate crone obsessed with her vibrator. With a younger name, it took on the feel of a lusty chick who loved to get off.

 

[cloudy]

You're flirting with me again, aren't you?

of course I am.

 

[simply_cyn]

What Imp said.

I can't even start a story until I have the name thing settled.

Ditto. I'm the same way.

 

[Rumple Foreskin]

careful with this function... I replace one at a time... because once I had a character named "Pat" and replaced him with "Stuart"... hit that "replace all" function and suddenly had sentences like, "I knew he was being Stuartronizing."

Oh, hell yes. Been there. Done that.

I've got a hunch that while names are important in novels, they're vital in short stories, since novels give you more time to develop a character.

My favorite "naming" story involves the novle, Gone With the Wind. Reportedly, at the very last minute before the book with to press, NY editors managed to convince Mitchell to change her protags name from what would have been a fairly common name in the 1860's, "Pansy" to the very uncommon, "Scarlett."

Rumple Foreskin

 

[R. Richard]

Yes, I've heard of that. It's near the "Any" key.

It happens because I make a lot of typos, and my character usually has about three spellings in the story. I had one story when one of the characters was named Suzanne, Susanne and Zoe, which I noticed after submitting.

Don't feel like the lone ranger here. I also managed to change the name of my main character in a story and I also didn't notice until after I submitted the story.

 

[cloudy]

I've got a hunch that while names are important in novels, they're vital in short stories, since novels give you more time to develop a character.

Yes!

In my halloween story last year, the two main female protags were Creoles named Danielle and Nicole.

It wouldn't have worked nearly as well if they'd been Tiffany and Jennifer.

 

[sophia jane]

When I actually name my characters, the name is important. Like Ellie in Pleasing Ellie- her name, for various reasons that some could figure out if they know me, is really important. But often, I don't name my characters at all.

 

[AppleBiter]

Yes, the name is important. I don't want a name that reminds me, however remotely, of anyone that I know because the thought of that person will start off small, but then will infest the entire story, ruining the whole thing for me.

I also think that some names are just sexier than others. *shrugs* I don't know why, per se, but I know I'm not alone on that one.

 

[Guest]

I also think that some names are just sexier than others. *shrugs* I don't know why, per se, but I know I'm not alone on that one.

Totally concur.

Betha unsexy.

Terri sexy.

Just two examples.

 

[Boxlicker101]

Yes. But more from a technical standpoint than artistic.

As Zeb said, there's just certain things it's usually best to avoid.

Gender neutral names.
Names that sound/look similar.
Some names should be avoided due to association. Name a black guy, Rufus, and some PC sensitive folks could take umbridge. Naming your modern female protag Ethel or your male protag Hubert is "iffy".

Rumple Foreskin

Sometimes you want a gender neutral name. I wrote a story about a TS named Chris. The man in the story expected her to be a woman, and she is, but she also has a cock and balls.

If you have twins and they appear in an incest scent or a threesome, similar names might be neat. Otherwise, I agree.

When I started, the male protag was named George and the women had common names like Linda and Gloria. Many of my stories are written about specific readers (always women) and I use their names. Usually I try to use names that will fit the characters, insofar as age, ethnicity, etc.