Time for another Creative Writing 101, but this time I’d like to focus on something a little different. I had thought to write an entry dedicated to Character Creation for novels, but that in itself is a hugely diverse topic to explore (and I’m going to need a lot more coffee than I have to do that!). So I’ve decided to take baby steps…or at least keep the training wheels on a little longer.
Let’s start simple. This entry is purely designed to highlight a few points, hopefully share my own experiences, and provide a few laughs (at my own expense, of course!).
So what do you call your characters? Potentially, this can be one of the hardest parts of writing. Imagine yourself a parent, a proud mother or father to a newborn babe. Your child has its whole life to look forward to, anything is possible! Now, imagine if Cletus was to become President, or Montgomery was destined to paint the skin onto KFC takeaway meals…you get my point. Names define your characters, and if you can’t find one that fits you’ll be umm’ing and ahh’ing over the character as you write instead of doing the important thing…the ACTUAL WRITING.
A name has to fit the character’s personality. This sounds obvious enough when you consider Druss from David Gemmell’s works. The name is short, sharp, simple, but most importantly: blunt. Druss is a ‘what you see is what you get hero’. Axe first, politics later. His name suits him to the bottom of his iron-shod boots. But what if we were to call him…Eugene? Need I say more?
Names need to stick to the theme of the story, and where each character comes from. Take Arlen Bales and Leesha Paper from Peter V Brett’s Demon Cycle series. Each from village backgrounds set in a fantasy-medieval world; the names suit their origins (and coincidentally their families’ trades).
The same could be said for the time frame setting. I’ve yet to meet a ‘Sean’ in an Ancient Roman novel, nor an Odysseus in a crime thriller (though that’d be wicked! Time to add that to the ‘to do’ list).
Names don’t just need to be pronounceable, they need to be memorable. This is a massive oversight particularly in fantasy, where writers squeeze as many vowels into a character’s name as possible. Eieieiouaiue is a damned sight hard to read, let alone say, though it’s memorable (better luck trying to spell it from memory though). Sure, our sword-wielding hero Bob might be pronounceable enough…but truly memorable? I know a ‘Bob the Builder’ not a ‘Bob the Swordsman’. Even Eugeune the Axeman could take him on!
Think of your favourites. I dare you! Go on – and no peeking, no checking. If you read this, respond with three names each (yes three) from three of your favourite books. So that’s nine names in all. Now, ask yourself if it was the character’s actions, the story, or the name itself that helped you remember them.
Personally, the most memorable name in my mind is one from TV: Princess Consuela Banana-Hammock. Honest, it’s not something I’ve just made up. It was on Friends. Might just call one of my kids that…wonder if they’ll make President? (Not likely – I live in the UK!)
