Character Naming

As an Author naming your Character is an important step right after coming up with the plot. I am here to help you choose the right character name for you and your story.

Make sure your character name is Genre Appropriate. Make sure if it's a Historical Fiction novel or takes place in a real time period that the name was used then. Or if it's a fictionalized place then you can be as creative as you wish.

Just have fun with naming your character. It is after all your story.



Saturday, June 13, 2015

Musings of a Lonely Writer! ----- Living Vicariously Through My Characters

I’ve wanted to write a section like this for a while but have put it off, until now!

So today I am going to talk about living vicariously through my characters. I admit as sad as it is that I do tend to live vicariously through my characters in many ways. They are everything that I am not. They tend to be extroverts, vocal, strong, sassy, bold, say it as it is kind of characters. They have many flaws but for the most part they are exciting, adventurous, fun people. I’ve seen the dangers though of living through a character full time so I obviously know the line between reality and my characters lives (I call- characteralities) but I always think theirs lives are so much more fun.

I am the total opposite of them. I am an introvert and people tend to call me shy. Sometimes I don’t like to talk and other times I do. I will talk a lot to people I know well but they also know sometimes I just want to listen but not put much into the conversation. Sometimes around people in large group settings I like to just be ignored, be a viewer but not a participator, but then I am sad when I am ignored, I know crazy right, lol!

I hate social situations, don’t get me wrong I have friends and always have but I hate social situations such as parties. At parties I don’t spend all my time with my friends, I usually wind up sitting alone bored out of my mind and just wanting to go home.

Also I am way better at talking to people online. I can put myself out there a bit more because I am not in front of them. When I am talking to people face to face I get nervous, my face reddens, I get sweaty a bit and am at a loss for what to say but afterwards I think of a ton of things I should have said and want to kick myself for not saying it and being more open and sassy as my comments I think of afterwards would be just as sassy as some of my characters can be.

I didn’t start this post out to make it sound depressing! I just want to make a point that as a writer we often tend to be lonesome people because writing is usually a lonesome task. I talk to my writer friends about my stories but for the most part it is a solitary endeavor, which often times that solitary part of writing goes into our day to day lives. However the majority of writers are extroverted, talkative people and don’t have the same problems as some writers do.

I think maybe my overactive imagination and writing has been an escape from problems and things going on in my life in the real world. Going into a fantastical setting or just simply somewhere else in a normal setting on earth has been a way to explore other ways to live, through those characters adventures. It has been a hindrance in a way though because I think of my characters and their stories far too much, even in social situations and it leaves me completely unaware when some guy shows an interest in me too, lol! My friends will tell me of some guy that was checking me out or clearly flirting and I am totally at a loss because I didn’t realize it.

I know it is sad but my characters are more real to me than real people sometimes. I know that is probably not healthy but like I’ve said I know where the line is to reality and I don’t live too much in a fantasy world. Though I’ll admit I love to daydream and regular dream about my characters sometimes. In my dreams I am my characters and I love it.

I don’t think it is all that bad to live a little in a characters shoes as long as you come back to reality in the end, lol!

 I think it would be fun too when ordering coffee or drinks or something to give a characters name instead of yours or introduce yourself to a total stranger you won’t ever meet again and give them your characters name, though if you do meet again and tell them the truth they may think your crazy or a liar. Then again it may be the start to a fun new friendship, who knows and I am not responsible for any outcome should you do so, lol! Though I will say never pretend to be a character when the stakes are high and you have to tell the truth, don’t pretend then!

 I often think too it would be fun for one day to dress, talk, and act like one of my characters as a sort of experiment into how others view me and how I feel afterwards about that character. Though I’m afraid I will end up viewed as crazy or eccentric, I have been called eccentric before. I wonder if pretending to be one of my characters would give me the courage to be bolder when I am just me, hmm, I might try it and I will definitely fill you all in about it and may show a few pictures of what I will look like as one of my character, lol! :~)

I am hoping what I have written maybe helps others who feel similar in even a small way. I hope what I wrote makes since as I was kind of all over the place, lol. I hope too that I don’t regret writing this but I try not to regret any posts I blog about.

If anyone has any similar experiences with living vicariously through your characters or have times where you are lonely and think it is because of being a writer or an introvert or simply want to just tell me anything leave a comment in the comment section of this post. I would love to hear from anyone!

This has been Musings of a Lonely Writer and until next time I send my best regards and say Keep Writing, Keep Inspiring and don’t forget I don’t think it’s all that bad to live in your characters shoes for just a little while as long as you come back to reality in the end, lol!


Edit: June 14, 2015

 
I think in a way that readers get to explore and sometimes get drawn into and live vicariously through a fictitious character as well but they have the advantage of talking to others about the wonderful or scary or fun or adventurous characters they read about. Since writers are privy to worlds, realities and characters that others haven’t gotten to really explore yet is what also makes us writers feel different, lonely, and often a little odd for living in that reality too much. Others don’t want to hear often about characters that the rest of the world hasn’t gotten to read about yet. 

But being privy to worlds others haven’t explored yet is what I think makes writers lives even more special. We get more than a readers glimpse into these characters realities. They tell us their tale and we tell others what they have to say. I know they are not real but when I tell others about them I often say they tell me their story and I get a weird reaction but I laugh because it does feel as if the characters are letting me tell others about them. I don’t think that is unhealthy because doing it that way allows us to go at a story in a unique way.

Edit to the post Celebrities Pretending to be Writers!

**This below is what I put on the edit to the June 10, 2014 post titled, Celebrities Pretending to be Writers! If you want to see the entire original post about the following book go to this link-


**

Okay so I had read comments about this book where people said they thought maybe people were being harsh and exaggerating the badness of this book so they read it only to prove it wasn’t very good indeed.

Well I vowed after writing the original post that I would pick the book up and read the first few pages which I usually do to see if a book interests me. I thought too maybe people were just you know exaggerating or hating and to be honest on my post I said I didn’t read it and never would but curiosity got the best of me, lol!

So a few days ago while at the local Books-A-Million with my mom I decided to try and find the book while I was in the Teen Books section. Since I write Young Adult Novels I like to see what is new and fresh and occasionally love to read some.

Usually when I see a book I read the first page to get a view of if it will draw me in. Since I am dead broke right now books are a luxury so I don’t buy even the ones I love, instead I put them on my To Read in the Future list, which I will admit is growing longer by the Day, Week, Month and Year, lol!

Okay so I assumed when looking for the book that there would be more than one and it would be easy to find even it has been out for a year now. I looked and looked and finally found it, they had only one copy there on the self.

So I picked it up and while standing there I flipped to the Prologue and began to read. I honestly expected it to surprise me and be good and make me want to read more. About one paragraph in I didn’t care why the character was digging to the surface of earth that they didn’t think people survived, or I think so as I kind of skimmed. So I thought maybe it is one of those Prologues that are kind of boring, though I admit I love a Prologue in books and heck I write seriously long Prologues for my novels but some Prologues can be boring so I skipped to the first chapter.

So the first page annoyed me. The writing was flat and just boring. Some words didn’t make sense or were spelled wrong and a few paragraphs should have been two paragraphs instead of one, they were way too long. Plus there was an area that had way too many and’s repeated. I can’t remember the words used but it was like this:

First part of sentence then Word and Word and Word and Word. – Didn’t look right to me, there should have been commas instead of ands. I just put in Word in place of the actual words I can’t remember, lol! Sorry it’s been a few days and I forgot!

I would have written something like this though much more polished lol! This is just my example not taken from novel- The heart of the dwindling fire mesmerized her senses as she watched enthralled by the smoke, ashes, embers, and the crackling logs.

Okay so I skimmed to the next page and couldn’t be bothered to care as the feel of the words didn’t feel right. You would think with the publishing house, editors, and ghostwriters they had that the book would be engaging, well written, and well edited but it didn’t feel that way. So I skipped to the end page and was like oh great there probably will be a sequel as others said.

I put the book down and went onto other books as I wanted to browse more engaging novels before my mom finished and was sure to ask if I was finished as I can be a lengthy browser at book stores. I can literarily spend hours browsing and occasionally buying, lol!

The cover wasn’t impressive, the story theme is over done, the wording was mediocre, there were grammatical errors, and it just wasn’t something that made me want to read more.

I really did go into it wanting to give it a chance but I didn’t care for what I read at all. I am sure maybe someone else may like it but I didn’t care enough to read more or put it on my To Be Read in the Future list.  

Primeviere / Primevere

Meaning: (Primrose, This name was once common in Medieval times during the Anglo-Norman period in England.)

Origin: (French)

Pronunciation: (Priy-Maa-VEHR)

Gender: Female


I saw this name when I was looking for names that mean similar to Primrose. I think this is an absolutely beautiful name and even though it looks unique to some I love this name so much and I can’t wait to find a place to use this name in one of my novels. All in all the meaning and everything is wonderful to me.

Odeya

Meaning: (I Will Thank God, I Will Praise God)

Origin: (Latin, Hebrew)

Pronunciation: (oh-DEY-uh)  

Gender: Female, Possibly Uni-Sex


I was watching Law and Order: SVU and one of the young actresses that had a small part in one of the episodes is named Odeya Rush, the actress’s name is Odeya Rush not the character she played. She played Hannah Milner in the episode. I really love the name Odeya and the meaning is pretty great as well though I don’t know much about Hebrew to confirm this is the meaning, I just found it online.

I couldn’t find the pronunciation so I just went with what I think it looks like. If I am way off or wrong in any way and others have the real pronunciation please leave a comment below this post. Thanks!

Splendora

Meaning: (Medieval English name (found in a Curia Regis Roll item dated 1213), derived from Latin splendor meaning "Brilliance, Brightness, Lustre, Distinction". (It was listed in 'A Dictionary of English Surnames' by Dr. Reaney, who noted: "In the Middle Ages there was a fashion for fanciful feminine names, few of which have survived, or given rise to surnames.") This is also the name a small town in the U.S. state of Texas.)

Origin: (Medieval English, Italian)

Pronunciation: (splen-DAWR-ə (Medieval English))

Gender: Female


I was watching a movie once and I saw and heard this name. I thought it was interesting if a little hippie and odd by today’s standards. The meanings are beautiful and absolutely lovely and the name has an interesting to look it. I wouldn’t mind hearing this name in a novel if used the right way. I would hate for this name to be made fun of or used in a bad way but I don’t control how it is used so if I see it in that manner I will just have to deal with it, lol.

Keriana

Meaning: (Dusky, Dark, Black, Descendant of Ciar, Keriana is a variant of Kerry (Irish, Gaelic): from the male name Ciaran.)

Origin: (Irish, Gaelic)

Pronunciation: (keer-ee-ahn-uh, kerry-ahn-uh)

Gender: Female


I forget where I saw this name but I think I was looking for names I think for one of my characters granddaughters. I decided to go with Erieana instead of Keriana. I think that Keriana is a unique beautiful name. the meanings are beautiful and mysteries and lovely.

Chiana

Meaning: (An Algonquian tribe of the Great Plains and Capital city of Wyoming. Unintelligible Speakers. Chiana is a variant of Cheyenne (Native American Indian): from the French name "Shaiyena".)

Origin: (French, Native American)

Pronunciation: (CHEE-ahn-uh, K-IYAENAH)

Gender: Female


A few months ago I was watching re-runs of the sci-fi TV show Farscape. One of the alien women on the living ship is named Chiana. I love that show and I also love many of the names on the show. I have already added Aeryn *see on list of posts* and Moya *see on list of posts*. The meanings of this name aren’t so great but it does have an interesting history. I love the look of the name as well.

Moya

Meaning: (Bitter, Sea of Bitterness, Rebelliousness, Wished for Child, To Swell, Exceptional, Variant of Maia (Greek) Great, Mother, Also English form of Moira and Mary.)

Origin: (Irish, Celtic, Norwegian, Spanish, Hebrew, Egyptian)

Pronunciation: (MOYah)

Gender: Female


A few months ago I was watching re-runs of the sci-fi TV show Farscape. The living ship the crew resided on was called Moya. I love that show and I also love many of the names on the show. I have already added Aeryn *see on list of posts* and Chiana *see on list of posts*. Aeryn also is on my Favorite Female Name List.

The meanings are generally good and I like the variants so you can switch either of these names for the variants if you wish. Moya seems to me a name I could see on a Pacifica Islander or something. Since it was in a sci-fi / fantasy TV show it could of course fit right back in a sci-fi / fantasy novel setting.

Waleran

Meaning: (This is a surname of ancient pre 7th century origins. Recorded in the spellings of Waldram, Waldren, Waldron, Waleran, and Walrond, it is an excellent example of a style of individual name from the "Dark ages". It derives from the Olde German personal compound name "Wala-hram", and whilst it may have been introduced into Britain by the 8th century Anglo-Saxons, the first certain recordings are Norman-French, or at least after the 1066 Norman Invasion. These are found in the 1086 Domesday Book for Essex in the Latinized spellings of "Waleranni" and "Galeranni". The name translates literally as "Wall-raven", but it is probable that the original meaning was more on the lines of "strong bird", walls being associated with great strength, whilst the raven is heraldically known for its wisdom and cunning. Early examples of the name recording include Walerannus de Crikelade in the Pipe Rolls of Oxford for the year 1182, whilst Robert Waldrond is recorded for Worcester and Matilda Waldron in Warwick, both in the Hundred Rolls for their particular county in the year 1275. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Waleram. Which was dated 1196, in the charters of the district of Clerkenwell, London. During the reign of King Richard I, known as "The Lion Heart", 1189 - 1199. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

Read more: http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Waleran#ixzz3bqf6MXdj)

Origin: (Old German, English)

Pronunciation: (Wall-er-en)

Gender: Uni-Sex

I forget where I saw this name but somehow I added it to my list. I like the meanings and the history that is interesting but the pronunciation I couldn’t find so I went with what I thought it looked like but I may be off on it. This is an interesting name and I would think it would be best as surname but I wouldn’t mind seeing how else it may be used.

Thierry

Meaning: (People’s Rule, Powerful, Ruler of the People, God’s Gift, French form of Theodoric.)

Origin: (Teutonic, French, Germanic, Gothic)

Pronunciation: (tyeh-REE, TIYEH-R-iy, tee-e-REE)

Gender: Male


This is a name with great meanings but the pronunciation is a bit difficult for me. It is interesting to me that this is a form of Theodoric as the two names don’t look anything alike to me. I think it would do best as a surname but it would be kind of cool as a first name. It has a nice older foreign look to it.

Odile

Meaning: (Wealth, Fortune, Of the Fatherland, Fortunate or Prosperous in Battle, Variant of Odila.)

Origin: (French, Germanic, Dutch, English, Hebrew)

 Pronunciation: (OwDIY-L, oh-DEEL)

Gender: Uni-Sex

This is the name of the antagonist Black Swan in Swan Lake Ballet. I was looking for a few new names a few months ago and stumbled upon this one. I think the meanings are great and the look is definitely rare and I am on a rare name hunt as of late. I think the pronunciation is pretty simple and the name at least isn’t long or too complicated. It has a long history of use though so that is amazing as I am always looking for names that have lasted a long time so that authors can use them in any time period.

Lykken

Meaning: (Good Fortunate, Happiness)

Origin: (Danish, Norwegian)

Pronunciation: (LICK-en, LUU-keh-en, LUY-key-en, luka-en, Luukeh-en)  

Gender: Male, Possibly Uni-Sex

I forget where I saw this name but I think it is a variant of Lykke which I have seen more often but I like Lykken but I pronounce it all wrong as I pronounce it LIE-ken like Lycan, lol! I think the meanings are wonderful and it is definitely a name that is not seen by English speakers.

Erica / Erika / Erykah

Meaning: (Forever Strong, Complete Ruler, Honorable Ruler, Eternal Ruler, One Ruler, Ever Kingly, Ever Powerful, Powerful, Regal, Latinate feminine form of Eric, and also a flower name, as the Latin word Erica means "heather". Scandinavian name revived in the 19th century.)

Origin: (Norse, Scandinavian, Swedish, Latin, English, Teutonic)

Pronunciation: (AIR-a-ka, ER-i-kə (English), EH-ri-kə, Eh-rik-AH, Eh-RI-kah)

Gender: Female

I already added the male version Eric *see on list of posts*. But I decided to add the feminine version as its own post after I had seen the name Erica and Erykah a few times. I like best the spelling Erika and Erykah. It did at one time seem very popular and for that reason I am still not a fan but the meanings are wonderful and anyone who reads my name posts will know I am in love with names that have Royal meanings. It does seem very regal and for that reason I like it a bit.

I try to have the most accurate Meanings, Origin and Pronunciations for the names on this blog. It is best though to do research into the names you decide to use for your characters as there can be errors on my blog. Or meanings, origins, and pronunciations I have not seen thus not been able to add to this blog.





Try some of the leading Baby Name Sites and Baby Name or Character Naming books as well.


The baby name sites below are where I collect many of the Names, Origins, and Pronunciations I use on this blog.

Baby Names Sites:

http://www.thinkbabynames.com
http://www.babynamewizard.com
http://www.behindthename.com
http://www.babynamespedia.com