It was one of those days. You know those days. Days that the most rudimentary application flees your mind as if drinking and writing were habitual.
Needless to say, I don't drink.
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So what was the authorian infraction? Names. Names to my characters to be exact. I spent so much time working out plot lines, characterization, and dialogue that I forgot to give more than half my characters surnames.
The travesty!
Not really, but the situation did give me another prescription in my bid to edit and polish Nocturnal Redemption: In the Eye of the Beholder.
So I went out on a discovery expedition. My antagonist, Chloe, needed a dark name. One that showed where she was in the story. I wanted to do: deWinter, but thought the name too closely resembled the Dumas character in The Three Musketeers.
Since one of the scenes is and others will be in France, I decided to investigate the French word for winter, which happens to be le hiver. In my rounds on the internet I discovered place names like de l'hiver, and l'hiv. That gave me the idea to name her: Chloe de L'Hiv (of the Winter).
Neat, right?
To name a character in one's story takes a little time and effort. Many new writers are overwhelmed by the task. There are an innumerable amount of baby name websites to choose from. The way to go about naming your characters is to know who your characters are and where they come from.
Doing the brainstorming first before researching the name for a character cuts out the middle man so to speak.
I went from panic mode to a quick afternoon's jaunt into France. The internet is a wonderful place. A writer can now venture any where in the world.
So do not get stuck naming your characters, get proactive with fleshing out your characters and researching those ends online.
Have a great and wonderful day!