I have been working on this book I have been writing for over a year now but I never got past writing the first chapter I cant tell wether it was because the determination just wasnt there or if the ideas just wouldnt come. But, now I am completely starting over and I have names for three of my side characters but I cant set myself on a name that is screaming at me to be the Main Character's name. I orginally had one picked out but now I'm not sure because I dont want him to have a name that people pick up and cant figure out what the heck his name is. The book is based on my own theroy about vampires and how they came to be in our culture. My theroy on this is what if vampires werent just created at a certain point and time in our past by a man selling his soul to the devil himself but created in our distant future with no soul to begin with, and then sent back in time due to the person who created them couldnt destroy what he had created when ordered to terminate the project. Hopefully that isnt too confusing to follow if so please message me and I will explain to the best of my ablities. But to some everything up, I need help with a Main Character's name in a Dark Triller Vampire genre of writing. Any help will be much appreciated. Thanks, Chronicle535
When we read, we usually pronounce the names in our head. Your second choice is easier to read, and less complicated, so it stays in the memory better. I'd go with that one. Also, make sure you don't have a name that is too similar to the secondary characters for your MC, e.g. try not to have the same initials, exactlly the same syllable count, and always two names. BTW, in many cultures (where I live, for instance) people do not often have/use surnames, so don't feel you must have one...
Thanks for the help I kinda figured that people would have a harder time with the first name but when I thought of Zaris Redmist I honestly couldnt rip my mind away from that also it sounds like someone you wouldnt want to run into in the dark forest with a new moon to begin with. Now being that my story involves time travel do you think I should incorperate actual people with fictional properties or fictional characters with similar properties to actual historical figures??
Your story, your decisions. For naming, just choose any name for now. You can always change it later (global replace). But think about it - how likely are you to bump into someone who will be famous twenty years later, in the course of tracking someone down? Is it any more likely if the chase hops from one time period to another? Too many time travel stories have the heroes unintentionally materializing in the middle of major historical events. Sure, it may make for a more thrilling story, but really, what are the odds?
Well actually my story just has him being put into a random time one before the first recorded story of vampires
_____You've been working on chapter 1 for over a year? Houston, WE HAVE A PROBLEM! Do you not have some portion of the week that you set aside for the continuation of your work? Do you not care about getting it done? Most importantly, where is your outline--the script for your work? You need a plan, and you need to stick to it. Well, that is, unless you plan on being one of those jokers that takes ten years to write a novel while everyone else with the same capabilities has already written ten. _____Listen, writing a novel is like a marriage... Okay, make it a temporary marriage--like what Hollywood celebrities keep havin'. But even celebrity marriages require SOME maintenance. You need to get a schedule going, and you have to set quotas for how much writing you are going to get done per writing session. Having a schedule and a routine about your writing is the best and only way to be consistent. Otherwise, if you're not writing, then you're not a writer. Those're the breaks. Hey, and after the novel is done, it's a divorce--unless you write a sequel.
Eliot Bauers is correct. Set some time to write, keep an idea notebook, actually think about writing when you are forced to do nothing else but stand around. No one is saying you have to write 50,000 words a week (I can if I try), but you should at least being doing a scene or two in a sitting. Do not work for more then 1 hour and 30 minutes in a sitting, your brain will likely wander off in the process; take a 30 minute break and grab a snack or do something else other then writing to recharge. Then write some more. Getting through a novel is different from writing a novel; it is a lot of work. FYI, I spent over a year on my outlines and that was a really bad idea because it created a problem in which all I ever wrote was 'chapter 1s' and pushed the previous content to chapter 2 then chapter 3 and wrote a book in reverse without actually going forward, until the main plot I started with turned into a sub plot! If you cannot write chapter 1, write chapter 5, write some character exploration scenes, write anything that doesn't involve having a perfect opening. Writing that first chapter could end up being the last chapter you write; don't worry about doing it if it means not writing. Do chapter 1 later. As for names just try, 'Zaine' or 'Kaine' or 'Kahn (probably a good last name)' I also like Tobias. Tobias Kahn, the name has a nice ring to it. Also. Akealis Kalis is states that he is an energy vampire on a twitter page, but that's not his real name, if its yours I probably wouldn't name your character after an assumed identity, and if it isn't I wouldn't use it because it seems more then mere coincidence.
