Naming characters is always tough when novel writing. The best fictional characters end up owning the name completely. Just ask anyone with a surname Bond, Potter or Lecter. Obviously you need to find the right name (the name Malton came from a memorial plaque on a bus depot in Gorton). A name which evokes the character and gives a little sense of who they are. Some easy nominative determinism. I find naming characters is a terrifying reminder that I’m sat at a desk making up people in my head and then talking to them all day.
But then you have all the other things to think about. Are there any other characters with too similar a name? There’s a rule in writing that you ought not to have characters with names all starting with the same letter. For some reason the human brain trips on one letter and I’ve found I’ve ended up with a cast full of Carls, Connors and Christines. At that point I’ve got to go back and rename half the book. It’s tricky because in real life there are no such rules (I love hearing about couples who both have the same name!) but when it comes to reading text and keeping people in your head it becomes harder the more similarity there is.
Then of course, are there any real people called this? There’s a famous example libel lawyers give of a TV show that had a character with some unpleasant proclivities who had the same name and job and hometown as a real person. That person sued and won. Of course there’s a huge leeway but you always want to make sure you’ve not accidentally got too close to a real person.
Then following on from that is a character named after someone you might bump into in real life? I’ve had to change character names just because I didn’t want a friend or acquaintance to think I’ve named a corpse or a killer after their darling seven year old. When it’s artistic integrity vs awkward conversations I know what usually wins...
Finally I often ask if people fancy having a character named after them and to my amazement people do. For my latest book I was doing a book event and told the crowd the first two people to buy a book and get it signed would have a character named after them. Tricia and Rachel, well done, you get to lend your names to two character in Settle the Score! Obviously the characters and their namesakes share nothing but a name but it’s fun sometimes to be able to give someone a nod by naming a character after them.
So whether you’re plucking names out of newspapers, book spines, gravestones or thin air it’s always worth thinking about what you’re going to call your characters. Because hopefully you’ll be spending a long time in their company.
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