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Character Names

Happy Friday the 13th.

Someone asked me how I come up with character names. Character names aren’t very important to me. I don’t spend a lot of time or thought on them for the most part. I merely use an online name generator until I like the name that pops up. My chief concern is that the name is pronounceable. 
Happy Friday the 13th.

Someone asked me how I come up with character names. Character names aren’t very important to me. I don’t spend a lot of time or thought on them for the most part. I merely use an online name generator until I like the name that pops up. My chief concern is that the name is pronounceable. 

Many people want a name to reflect the character, or their backstory. Most of my characters have very little backstory because I enjoy discovering who the characters are through the story I’m telling. I will imply the backstory. My characters behavior in the story determines their backstory, not the other way around.

My current WIP, “The Singular Case of the Dead Cowboy”, is a Sherlock Holmes story. The principal characters already exist, have names, and histories. My antagonist already has a name and story. The names of my supporting characters were my primary concern. 

I knew who these characters are before I wrote them. I knew who they needed to be. These are the characters that needed names. I don’t spend a lot of time on names, but in this case I wanted to hint at who they were–an inside joke, even if I’m the only one to get the joke. I spent a time doing research and came up with the following names:

  • Cynthia Sing
  • Locastia Asketill
  • Tessie Thropp

  • The names work for the characters and are unique.
  • The names sound “Victorian”.  
  • The names hold a clue, and are an inside joke. 

I’m quite pleased. 

As of 11/12, I am over 23K words.

Good luck! Keep writing!

Word up!