I have this character who turns to a life of crime and needs a nickname. I want him to think his nickname is way cooler than it is. My lover was cracking up reading my story because the nickname I used means something completely different in the urban dictionary that everyone knew but me it would seem. So, my quite embarrassing character nickname needs to go. And you guys are so cool so please help me come up with a cool name for my small-time crook. Thanks.
I'll try, but I need more info (and I need to know the original nickname - for inspiration purposes only, of course ) What crime life is he living? What is he like? Are we talking Mafia or.. ? Any stand out characteristics or trademarks?
I'll PM you the original nickname if you want to know, but I don't think I should post it. I feel really stupid for not knowing what it was slang for. My character is just kind of a petty thief, small-time pot dealer, does what he thinks he has to to get by, but someone just brought him into a bigger deal and told him he needs to go by something other than his name. This is a newer character to the story so I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with him yet. He is actually the least developed character in my little criminal operation I have going on over here in my fiction. But I want him to be the one with the cool name (that isn't really cool, but he thinks it is and maybe it could be if it belonged to someone else). Any ideas? I'm feeling totally suck on this.
Maybe. I am going to need that PM though. Seriously, I'm not asking so I can laugh at you or something - I legitimately want to see what direction you were going, you know?
Okay. I am sending it now. I'm not always this stupid or clueless, but thanks a lot for trying to help.
Could be something from a movie or book that he likes, if you've developed him enough to know what kinds of things he'd like. If he thinks he's hot shit he might name himself after a main character or villain he thinks is cool - bonus points if he never actually finished the book/movie to find out that the character died in a hilarious way, or something.
Here's something that may get you thinking- I used to know a guy that went by 'Little G'. He embraced the name. He thought it was comparing him to someone he looked up to. In reality, he got the name because he sold speed and shorted everyone on grams.
There was a great bit like this in Guardians of the Galaxy (the second movie but he's apparently original to the comics) - one of the bad guys decided to dub himself Taserface, which he thinks is cool but everyone else thinks is the dumbest villain name ever. Since he's so small time I'd suggest maybe a riff on a famous, actual bad-ass crime lord like Pablo Escobar or Manuel Noriega. ETA: Or maybe a fictional crime lord reference, like Scarface?
Scarface was my first thought but I reckon that's probably a little too on the nose. I dunno, though ...
So, should we pass the hat around for money to bribe Trish to give up that name, or what? I'm dying of curiosity! We're writers, we need closure on that story or we won't be able to sleep.
If you want him to think the nickname is cooler than it really is, why not stick with the original? Perhaps he chose it for himself, thinking it was cool, but not knowing what it really means. You can acknowledge the stupidity of the nickname through the dialogue of other characters--just to make sure the reader knows that you know what it means, even if the character doesn't.
Now I’m curious how bad it is. Funny names can also work as long as it’s ackmowledged in-story that there is a joke involved. I have written sketchy characters identified by physical appearance, chosen monikers, and puns. If you’re going to write in a funny name you can have someone “assign” them their nickname against their will - and then watch them own it!
After a few stabs at it, I've got a name that works, I think. Though if anyone here still wants to drop some names, I'm all ears. I'm bad enough coming up with names. Nicknames are a bit of a different puzzle piece, aren't they. Anyway, I understand what you guys are saying about it being an opportunity for comedy, but that's not was I was going for here. That being said, I think all the nicknames I'm using for characters in this piece are unintentionally funny. Not sure what to make of that so who knows? Thanks for the responses.
