Hi, all! Please help me welcome Beth Carter, author of spirals.
What’s in a Name?
'Tis but thy name that is my enemy:
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What's Montague? It is nor hand nor foot,
Nor arm nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O be some other name!
What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other word would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,
and for thy name, which is no part of thee,
Take all myself.
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What's Montague? It is nor hand nor foot,
Nor arm nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O be some other name!
What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other word would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,
and for thy name, which is no part of thee,
Take all myself.
Arguably, one of the most famous scenes in literature, Shakespeare knew the art of names. Naming a character is like naming a child. You have to find the right combination of first and last names to match characteristics, looks, intelligence and character background. And it can be a long process.
Just imagine this line, “Buddy, Buddy, where for art thou Buddy?”. It’s just doesn’t have the same impact. Now imagine Edward Cullen. The name ‘Edward’ has a certain ring to it, a noble quality, while the character of Edward Cullen is gentlemanly, cultivated, and distinguished. The name fits with who he is, where he came from, and the time period he was born.
And not only do writers have to figure all that in, but we have to be aware that some names are new creations. For instance, the name Vanessa was “invented” by the author Jonathan Swift in the early 1700’s, so if you happen to be writing a piece set in the 1600’s then the name would be anachronistic.
I have a hard time, just like every other writer, finding that one name that jumps out at me to define the character I have in my head. But I tend to get my names from unusual places. For instance, in my book Spirals, the two heroes are Tobias Noble and Orion West… which are all street names in LA County. Even my heroine, Kaori, got her last name from a street in El Segundo , California
-Beth D. Carter
http://bethdcarter.blogspot.com/
2 comments:
Naming characters is definitely an art. Street names are good. I also like to watch the credits on TV shows and movies for inspiration. Sometimes I know my character's name right away, other times, it eludes me for a while. Every now and then, I'll meet a person who has a cool name that I want to steal. I will either use the first or last separately or pick a name that rhymes with the one I want to use.
Thanks Lindsay for having me today!
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