Names

Names can sometimes break or make your story and character. As a reader we have pre-made conceptions of what kind of people are likely to have what names. Let's say I was to come across a character in a book by the name of Matthew then the image I would get would be somebody is more silly than serious. Someone who is a big child no matter their age and what they're supposed to be doing at that time. If I were to come across a character called Hannah then I could only imagine somebody who's a little bit of a 'head in the clouds' kind of person. And a little bit of a ditz.

Life experiences alter what names we associate with what. If we were to have a fantastic experience with a person called Amanda, we may subconsciously think that the next Amanda we meet will also be a great person. If we were to meet somebody called Nathan who we had a terrible experience with, we may not want to meet the next Nathan in our lives.

Think back to the people in your childhood. Their names and the kind of personalities they had. Think of other people you've met with that name and see if there's a connection. You may be surprised to find out that there is.

Or you may not. In which case, fair enough.

As a writer we may find names more of a challenge. I certainly struggle when it comes to names for my characters. If we don't have the right name, that one name that just rolls of the tongue and fits with the character, then we may not feel the story as much as we should. Sometimes just having the right name can give us the strength to go on.

Let's say that I was going to write a romance story between two late forty somethings who think they've had it with the word love and finding Mr/Mrs Right. I might call my guy, Aaron and my girl Sarah. I might get a few chapters in and find Aaron too much of a bore or just off. So what if I was to change his name to Paul. already I feel better.

Don't forget that these two people are going to be in their 40's. They were born in the 70's, maybe even the 60's. Paul sounds more 'old' than Aaron.

And that is one thing to keep in mind when naming your characters. Their age and from which time period they would be named from. Elizabeth would be popular with the older characters whilst names like Caitlin, Abby and Reece are going to be for the younger people.

So if you start writing a story just take a few seconds to ask yourself, does the name fit? Does it fit from the time they were born? Could I write an entire story about this person with this name? Do I hate the name? Do I love it?

If a story seems to be failing, just try changing the name and see where that takes you.

Happy Writing.