Coming Up With Names for Your Characters
A Silas in every book.
Writers get the delicious job of coming up with names for characters. This is true for every genre, even creative nonfiction.
Most real characters will keep their own names, but occasionally you’ll want to give someone a fake name. You do this
if you don’t want to be sued for libel.
if you want to protect a person’s identity.
if the person is a child.
if the character is an amalgamation (and you make that clear).
Just as every parent gets to name someone, so does every writer.
For the time an opportunity presents itself to name a character, I started a collection of names that appeal to me. I keep these in a commonplace book, and the page is titled “People’s Names.” Some are names of real people I meet. Some come from literature and the movies. Some come from social media and classifieds.
Names Matter
I’m not going to say much about what names mean, just that all of us know that a name carries layers of meaning. “Shaquita” is very different from “Brittany,” which is different from “Evelyn,” which is different from “Tao,” which is different from “Mary Katherine.” With every one of those names you get a different connotation.
Given Names From the List
Gincy
Fielding
Evangeline
Delahunt
Titus
Galen
Dove
Bernadette
Joe Grady
Pearl
Ennis
Jolene
Euphrasia
Ina
Malcolm
Mamie
Here are a few surnames: Breedlove, Youngblood, Yeomans, Lovejoy, and Peacock. You see how I love those compound names. I mean, Lovejoy? What can beat that? What would your name be if that were your surname?
At a Recent Reading
When I was at the Georgia Writers Museum earlier this summer, an attendant wrote names for personalizing books on post-it notes. I kept all of them, and I took a photo of them after I got home. “Emmitt” and “Inez” ended up in my commonplace book.
One Other Naming Tradition
My grown son is named Silas. Obviously I love that name a lot or I wouldn’t have named him that.
I have a tradition. At least one person is named Silas in every book I write. Usually the person is the actual Silas. Even if it’s a book in which he doesn’t appear, I give someone else the name.
It’s one way I have of honoring him.
Question
To what names are you partial?
Is there a name you tend to reuse?
In the work you’re currently writing, what is the name of the main character?
Call for Submissions
The availability of inexpensive DNA testing has meant jaw-dropping surprises and serious reckonings within families.
Many of writers with whom I’ve worked have written these stories, and I’ve heard dozens of them at our local Archives.
Now I’m editing an anthology of creative nonfiction stories about how a DNA test permanently changed your idea of the past. If this has happened to you, please send me an essay about it. The essay should be 5-20 pages long, double-spaced, 12-point font, Times New Roman.
If your essay is accepted for the anthology, you will receive 3 author copies, a small honorarium, plus half the profit of all copies you sell (by affiliate links).
Deadline is Sept. 1. Please submit it to me, Janisse Ray, via email at wildfire1491@yahoo.com. I so much look forward to reading your work.
Please forward this call for submissions to anyone, writer or not, who has a DNA story to tell. Thank you.
Feel free to ask any question in the Comments section in case someone else has the same question. I’ll answer them there.
Craft & Current
If you didn’t get a chance to order my new writing manual via the Kickstarter campaign, you can now preorder it directly from me, the author, at my website. I’m aiming for books to begin to ship August 2024. The order from the United Kingdom has not arrived, and neither have the case laminate hardbacks from KDP.
Sunday Journaling Sessions Are Back!
Explore the zany and surprising archetype of the fool in light-hearted and generative journaling sessions four Sunday evenings in a row.
These Sunday Sessions are designed for you to document and celebrate your life. Summer is a busy, fun time, so we'll focus on being fully alive, new adventures, and many types of foolishness.
We are the journaling fools.
Each session will be
one hour long
each Sunday afternoon
7-8 pm Eastern US/Canada Time
4 Sundays in a row in July
starting July 7, 2024
ending July 28, 2024.
Sessions will take place from on Sunday, July 7 | July 14 | July 21 | and July 28.
You can register for the event here.
Nobody wants to be called a fool. On the other hand, the fool is willing to speak honestly, playfully, and courageously. The fool often turns out to be the wise one. Each session will have a theme, and within those themes we'll write about foolish things we've done, foolish things we wish we'd done, foolish things we'd like to do, foolish ideas that stuck, how we're being environmental fools, and the new journeys we're beginning.
Themes for the sessions will be:
Foolish Us
Fools for the Earth
Tomfoolery
The Fool's Journey
Cost
Cost of the Sunday Sessions is by donation, which means you get to determine the class's value to you. Pay what you wish.
When you sign up, you're signing up for all 4 sessions. July 7, 2024 is the first session and July 28, 2024 is the last. On Eventbrite this may look like a single event, but it's a 4-session course.
The Zoom link you receive will be the same for all 4 sessions. Register at Eventbrite.
Participation
The course is a chance to increase your creative output, generate writing pieces that can be used alone or in a longer work, and have a good time.
The vibe will be fun, cheerful, and encouraging.
You are not obligated to share your thoughts or your writing in any way. You will be welcome to turn off your video. Level of participation is your decision, and participation is always optional.
Show up on Sunday afternoons at 7 pm Eastern Time for an hour directed toward adventures and exploration. You can come for one session or for all four.
You will need your journal and your sharpened pencils or your pens. Having art pencils on hand would be wonderful.
Note
I try to make recordings available afterward, but I cannot make any promises.
What you get
all the benefits of keeping a journal
a deeper relationship with your joker
archetype
four hours of flow
at least 12 pieces of writing that you can use for social media posts or as part of essays or books you are writing
a chance to explore writing in your journal without fear of judgement
the space to be in community with like-minded folks
This course is for you if you
brim with thoughts and feelings about the meaning of life.
know that journaling about them would be helpful and healthful.
are willing to give form to your creativity.
are caught in patterns of disconnection.
would benefit from being in the same space with others like you.
would like to have in hand at least 12 pieces of writing at the end of 4 weeks.
want to put more color and art and design in your life.
want to learn more about the natural world around you.
want to be introduced to more ideas, thinkers, and colleagues.
could be inspired by prompts and handouts.
could be inspired by Janisse.
Every time I read something of yours, I feel a sense of possibility. A notebook of names. Yes, of course! Thank you. 🌱
Names. Oh my. I had a personal fiction project for a long time that served no other purpose than to let my fool archetype have fun. My town was called Moonshine Stills, and the Diamondback River ran through it. Characters included Luther Strange and his son Thurble, twins Victor and Champion Strange, and another set of twins Puppy and Pony Lightfoot. Then, giving my fool full rein and with no plans for anyone to ever read this, I went ahead and named a journalist Penn Fountain, a nurse Nurse Grudges, an bar owner Pearl Wisdom, and an MC Billy Divine. I kind of miss Moonshine Stills now that I recall these characters with the ridiculous names. I love the recurring Silas, and the Sunday nights sound (Billy) Divine! Here's hoping I can make some. Thank you!