Haha, I just called it the City. The neighbourhoods were important though, so they got names pretty quickly. For my characters this city is their whole world and they rarely venture outside of it, so it felt so odd to have them call the city by name. Then when I eventually named it, I just couldn't find places to slip the name in naturally, so I think it's mentioned like once or twice in the whole book after the editing stages. It's not always like that, but I kinda wish it was, because big city-names are the bane of my writing-existance. I'm so terribly crappy at it. Any advice on that matter is very welcome, by the way.
If it's an American city, easy. Just string together a bunch of words about nature. I wrote a story as a kid, named my city 'Eastlake' without any agonizing. Come to think of it, wasn't Oxford named that because it had a major ford for oxen? Try researching a bit of etymology.
Thank you for the advice, and I'll definitely try harder at my city-names. And Eastlake is an awesome name for a city.
I choose them based on religion and ethnicity of the characters. People complain about "cultural overload", but I'm all for authenticity. I'm not going to have a native Nicaraguan Catholic girl be named Keiko, I'm going to give her a Nicaraguan name, I'll also give her a Confirmation name, as well. Perhaps it will be used as a nickname, or perhaps I'll end up using it as her primary name. Who knows lol.
For my main characters I have specific names for specific reasons. Reasons specific to me that is, which are mostly meaningless to anyone else. Other characters, I go with what whim I have that day. Sometimes they change a few times before I'm done.
I have a sort of formula for choosing names. I start with the last name. When I decide what the character looks like I figure out what nationality makes the most sense for her physical appearance. Red hair, maybe Scottish, blonde maybe Norwegian, English, or German. That kind of thing. Then I do a search for "top 100 Scottish surnames" and pick one that rolls nicely off the tongue. For first name, I go by her age. If she's 30, I search "Most popular girl names in 1987" and find one that feels right and doesn't sound awkward with her last name. If the character is named after someone in their family in a previous generation, then I search for popular names of the decade that person was born.
I actually managed to write down a compendium filled to the brim with cool-sounding character names scattered across multiple cultures and mythologies. These names are mostly meant for fantasy purposes, but nonetheless, most names on it can act as both a first name and a surname as well. It isn't finished yet, though, but I'd be happy to share it soon. So far I have possibly over 200 names and going, also paired with their meanings and origins.
Why doesn't anybody just pilfer the memberlist of writingforums.org? You could have Mrs. Laurin Smith, Homer Zoupskim, Ginger Firewater, Stormburn Bayview, Minstrel Deadrats, and cool names like that!
Ah, I can do better than that.... let's see... Trish Minstrel of Aschendale, a hard hitting reporter and part time private detective. Now I just need someone to write her story.
Ah, I can do better than that.... let's see... Trish Minstrel of Aschendale, a hard hitting reporter for the Bayview Chronicle and part time private detective. Now I just need someone to write her story. Edti: Watch as she fights against the criminal Organization known as Dark Infinity led by Redst.
Sounds like it's your story to write. That's the deal, you know. You think of it and you have to write it
Yeah, but I have the slightest idea how to write a Crime Novel, so far I have her placed in one of my fictional nations and she is a Lizardperson . She's from the 15th century and is now part of the Royal Marshal Core, whose job it is to investigate crimes and arrest criminals, she works out of the branch in Achendale, where she was born and raised.
The Other problem is, I'm great at writing for myself, but terrible at writing for others to read. . maybe i'll try a short story. (50 pages maybe)
Yeah, I think that's a fairly common problem. Of course, you don't get better if you don't try, so... trying matters. Short stories are good
Here is my thought on this, and I'll probably get corrected by those who know better. You have to write for yourself. If you are not, then this is going to be a hard profession to maintain. Don't get me wrong, if you don't write something that others will read, then it won't work out either. You have to find a balance between enjoying what you do, and keeping it open enough for others to come in and enjoy it with you. I think a short story is a great way to getting closer to that balance.
I agree. If you're not into what you're writing, it will show. And while you can write a technically correct story without joy, I don't think it would be anywhere near as good as it would be if you really loved what you were doing.
Well, here's the process I'm currently using: My character is jumped by a female assassin in a town named Arinsal in the country of Andorra. Ok, the inspiration for Andorra is, loosely, northern Spain. I google Spanish assassins and find Idoia Lopez Riano, a modern assassin from Basgue called La Tigresa. Basque would be located in my fantasy world along the tail end of a mountain chain called the Aizkors that is under Dwarven rule. So, I create the human nation of Vibora, since the tail end of the Aizkors resembles a snake's tail, who are fighting for independence from the dwarves. The assassin is now Idoa Tigresa, a Viboran assassin and revolutionary. Its a simple formula, but, since I'm creating a lot of characters, it works very well. Godspeed!
Well, I usually take the setting and time into consideration. I try to name my characters based on where their from, what year they're in and, sometimes, their personality and lifestyle (or even the lifestyle of their parents). If its fantasy, I'd have a good time making up weird, sometimes punny names. When I'm stuck, I'd seek out Springhole naming generators. Very helpful. If I'm really desperate, I'd scour some random baby naming sites and do some mini-research so my names are historically accurate. Of course, this is just my way (the hard way).
i just generally tend to make up name at random. My problem is that I very often tend to use the same names over and over again (e.g. Andea, Karen, Emma, etc.)
English names seem similar. Or they're about something being upon something (Stratford-upon-Avon, for example). If it's a shire (or was a shire), shire is also often included. Americans learned their naming skills from the English, apparently. I generally choose names (of people) by perusing different baby naming sites. I also like to choose something that might mean what my character does or is such as Floren for a character that will do a lot of flowering. Sometimes I like to unnecessarily torture them by choosing names that are highly hippy-ish in nature or aren't common at all. Or have bearing on their life in some other stupid way like naming a gay assassin Faerydae (so he goes by Fae...which can mean fairy and what do awful people call gay guys...? You probably see where I'm going with this.) In fantasies, I mash things together until they sound like a word that makes sense and follows a set of linguistic rules. I then Google the word to make sure it doesn't actually exist because I don't want to offend someone.
I often chose names based on aesthetics when writing fantasy (mostly Greek/Latin elements), but when writing realistic fiction I chose names of people I respect. The main character in my new story is named John C. Hillman. The first and middle name being a reference to the poet John Clare, the surname belonging to Gordon Hillman, an archaeobotanist.
