I am around the 10k mark, out of minimum 45-50k, and I have drawn up a very crucial scene in the upward slope of my storyline. I have hit a major road block - giving a last name to a minor antagonist (yes, a last name is necessary). First name is Skylar, female, mid-20's, athletic build/5'6", dark brown eyes, light brown/strawberry blonde hair dyes to black cherry red (possibly). Help!!
What ethnicity is your characters.? Is she related to any major family? Why is the last name important? Is it set in a fantasy world or ours? For me, I just like to make something up. Mind you my story is set in a fantasy world, so our world last names do not rally apply.
What kind of people where her parents? Where is she from? What kind of socioeconomic class and culture are we talking? Without other information I suggest perhaps Keanes. Skylar Keanes has a nice ring to it and it's a surname with a similar "upper-middle class white hippy feel to it" IMO.
My apologies for not including my full character bio (as far as what has been drafted). The story takes place in Georgia, USA. She was born overseas to military parents (US Air Force) but came state-side when she was 3 years old. She met my main character's significant other (my secondary main character) in Elementary School and stayed very close friends until she moved back overseas with her parents at 17 years old. The two were the stereotypical attached-at-the-hip best friends prior to Skylar moving. A critical part of their story/history is that they were frequently known as doing everything together, and were given the nicknames "Sky-bar" (Skylar - after the candy bar name) and "Snickers" (Nicole - family and close friends call her Nikki, long term girlfriend calls her Nic or Nics). General character bio: Born: Naval Air Station Sigonella, Italy, Winter 1992 Female, Caucasian Heterosexual 5'6" Dark Brown eyes Light brown/strawberry blonde hair; dyes hair black cherry red (takes place present day, 26 years old, when her and Nicole reconnect [first necessary mention of altered hair color]) Bachelor's of Art degree in Business Communication (University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom) [graduated at 22 years old] Socioeconomic class: raised in middle-high zone of Middle Class spectrum [due to parents being high paid ranks in USAF: father (officer) - Lieutenant Colonel at retirement, mother (enlisted rank) - Chief Master Sergeant retiring soon] Raised in Christian faith, but not strictly followed/enforced in the home/environment. Raised to be humble and selfless, volunteered at family events to run kids' games and activities once in teen years. This is pretty much all of the info that I have drafted for this character. Last names I have highly considered: - Bramley - Campbell - Chambers - Collins - Harris - Holmes - Laraway I'd love to hear any and all ideas or input yall have to offer - either post below in the comments or shoot me a message and we can talk more in detail.
funny. I'm working on a sequel to my first novel, and am thinking about whether I need to give my main character a last name. I wrote a 95k word novel and not once did I mention his last name. Same goes for most of my other characters. I'm not sure why I did it that way, but last names just didn't seem important for my story.
I use an intense level of detail and emotional appeal and connection within my work, especially my current WIP. So when building a character bio, backstory, and role in my overall storyline and in specific scenes, last names and sometimes middle names as well are a tool I am fond of using.
I asked one of my beta readers if they thought I needed to give them last names. Her reply: "I didn't even notice." lol
I've used internet random name generators with some success, even if to just pull a first or last name. My choices are mostly based on what sounds right. I also wrote an entire novel using no last names for multiple characters until the very end when the MC was addressed by a government official. Until that point in the story her last name simply wasn't necessary. Some readers found it odd; others didn't notice at all.
Interesting. In my first book one of my MCs went through most of the book only by a title. Think 20pgs from the end does she ever name herself. O_0 Though nobody seems to notice.
The family is from Georgia so if you give character a last name, use something that would be common in that area. I use a random name generator which lists 20 names at once. I look down the list but generate a new list if a name does not jump out to me. The lists only give me options. I use what is right based on story and location.
Most people are named after professions, their ancestors, places, or something out of nature. Just look at a map of England and zoom in on the cities and you'll find half of all Anglo names in existence right there (as many people named themselves after their place of birth/ownership, or named their place after themselves). So, just think of what makes the most sense in her family history and go from there.
When we used to play roleplaying games, and we couldn't figure out what to do next, we would open a fortune cookie. (We usually ordered Chinese food with roleplaying games.) Insert the random into your fictional world: Find a magazine. Find the masthead--where they show the names of the publisher, editor, contributors, blah. Count down the names until you get to the thirteenth one. That's your last name.
