Have you ever met
a Mildred, Gertrude, Bertha, Elmer, Oscar or Herbert?
You might have if
you lived in the 1800's! Today, not so likely.
I have two
trusty tools for finding names for my characters:
1. a book called
2001 Names for Baby for characters in contemporary novels
2. Google search
for characters in historical novels (just enter "popular names" and
the year.)
Names make an
impression on the reader so it pays off to give them some thought. A boy called
Hugh is going to make a different impression than a boy called Butch! Can you
picture Esmeralda? Mimi? Jane?
How about Zero in
Louis Sacher's book Holes!
Names can be
useful to show ethnic background. Can you guess where Arshad, Chandrakin,
Meiling, Huong and Aleksei come from?
The meanings of
names can also be a lot of fun to explore. How about naming your character
Dustin which means "brave warrior" or Davina which means "loved
one.
I had a lot of fun
choosing names for hippies in two of my books, The Way Home and If Only, and came up with Meadow, Harmony, Summer, Coyote and River!
Nicknames can tell
you a lot about how one character feels about another. A mother who calls her
daughter Pickle . . . a father who calls
his son Champ.
Be careful with
names that sound alike - Jane, Janet and Janice in one story will having your
reader tearing his hair out!
What's in a name?
Lots!
Some advice
from Elizabeth George in Write Away . . .
The name I choose
cannot be arbitrary. It's the first of the tools I can use in revealing who and
what my creation is.
MY FAVOURITE KIDS BOOK OF THE WEEK:
The Underneath by Kathi Appel (Newbery Honor Book)
This is the story
of a wonderful heart warming friendship between a hound and a family of cats.
It is an absolute page turner!
FUN FOR KIDS:
What if . .
. the fireplace in your house was a
portal to another world. Would you dare to crawl inside? What would happen to
you?
Next week: Tantalizing Titles
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