tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3855283511538601375.post2270857591326874482..comments2024-03-16T07:27:27.752+00:00Comments on Novel Points of View: What’s in a name?Rae Cowiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10213969901991611348noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3855283511538601375.post-28058083459350324822013-02-08T18:21:16.562+00:002013-02-08T18:21:16.562+00:00Thanks for dropping in, Joan, and leaving a commen...Thanks for dropping in, Joan, and leaving a comment, whihc confirms how important names are. I hadn't thought about a chain reaction if one name is changed but I can see it could be problematic, expecially if you are a good way through the book.. Mary Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14688996930245857265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3855283511538601375.post-82092487404465439242013-02-08T17:18:28.271+00:002013-02-08T17:18:28.271+00:00Fascinating post, Mary. I need to have a name for ...Fascinating post, Mary. I need to have a name for a character before I can let him or her loose in a novel. If the name isn't right, the character is constrained somehow. Changing a name can set a whole new chain of events in motion.Joan Fleminghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09629276914643471249noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3855283511538601375.post-88710826157057662332013-02-07T10:48:35.540+00:002013-02-07T10:48:35.540+00:00Thanks, Rosemary. Those right names are so importa...Thanks, Rosemary. Those right names are so important. It's interesting how the character in your contemporary WIP has tried on other names before the right one came along. I'm curious to know if you find it easier to decide on names for your Regency characters? Mary Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14688996930245857265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3855283511538601375.post-70239083690891332622013-02-07T09:33:43.656+00:002013-02-07T09:33:43.656+00:00Love the post, Mary. I enjoy choosing names and us...Love the post, Mary. I enjoy choosing names and usually have to find the right name for main characters before I can write the story. Had more of a problem with the contemporary WIP - the hero had two other names and neither sounded right. Suddenly came up with one that suited him better and I now fel more comfortable with the character!Rosemary Gemmellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09311840205603508422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3855283511538601375.post-72344180832797799182013-02-06T16:50:17.125+00:002013-02-06T16:50:17.125+00:00Yes, indeed, it's lovely to see some new visit...Yes, indeed, it's lovely to see some new visitors. Thanks for spreading the word, Linda.Mary Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14688996930245857265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3855283511538601375.post-26530719600528142812013-02-06T16:49:31.148+00:002013-02-06T16:49:31.148+00:00That sounds a fascinating way to find names for yo...That sounds a fascinating way to find names for your character, Michelle. Good luck with Fish Soup. Great title. Let us know when it comes out.Mary Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14688996930245857265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3855283511538601375.post-6557619641549036612013-02-06T16:47:38.490+00:002013-02-06T16:47:38.490+00:00Hi Debs, thanks for dropping in and leaving a comm...Hi Debs, thanks for dropping in and leaving a comment. I replied but Blogger swallowed up the reply - wonder if it will reappear? I'd never thought of using film and television credits as a source of names for characters - what a great tip. Thanks for passing it on. Hope your daughter likes her name.Mary Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14688996930245857265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3855283511538601375.post-1253366086553016062013-02-06T15:18:06.307+00:002013-02-06T15:18:06.307+00:00Great to see Debs abd Michelle pop up here, is it ...Great to see Debs abd Michelle pop up here, is it not? Thanks for taking the time, girls....:0Linda Mitchelmorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10948518126405880012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3855283511538601375.post-39341281246496039522013-02-06T14:13:11.335+00:002013-02-06T14:13:11.335+00:00In my novel Fish Soup (out in April) I took a grea...In my novel Fish Soup (out in April) I took a great deal of time with names. Each one has a meaning which determined their character. Cecilia - the way for the blind, Isadora - gift of Isis, Chloe - young green shoot. I had great fun researching names and the meaning of names for this novel. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16475673950861168697noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3855283511538601375.post-56218029466369553302013-02-06T12:32:48.359+00:002013-02-06T12:32:48.359+00:00I don't feel my characters are properly formed...I don't feel my characters are properly formed in my mind until I have the correct name for them. I've always found credits on tv programmes and films fascinating and love reading the names. <br /><br />In fact I discovered my daughter's name watching Saskia Reeves in a film. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07299424383918605036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3855283511538601375.post-33994663852294677412013-02-06T10:47:27.333+00:002013-02-06T10:47:27.333+00:00Ooh, Linda, how lucky to have your character arriv...Ooh, Linda, how lucky to have your character arrive with their names attached. I wish mine did so I didn't have the messiness and frustration of trying out the names I think they should have. Mary Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14688996930245857265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3855283511538601375.post-84763513699010966252013-02-06T10:18:55.171+00:002013-02-06T10:18:55.171+00:00Fabulous post! Names are really important to me fo...Fabulous post! Names are really important to me for my characters. But.....and don't send for the men in white coats! - my characters come to me fully-formed with a name, and rarely do I have to change names.Linda Mitchelmorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10948518126405880012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3855283511538601375.post-92164697223508811332013-02-05T21:48:04.664+00:002013-02-05T21:48:04.664+00:00Thanks for commenting, Jenny. It sounds like a few...Thanks for commenting, Jenny. It sounds like a few of us change our characters' names along the way. I've never really had a name appear from nowhere. Well, apart from Suzy who is in a partly-written novel but who tends to pop up from time to time wanting to appear in a short story - but I won't use her because I want her in the novel. I don't have a last name for her yet.Mary Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14688996930245857265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3855283511538601375.post-31652707250636413362013-02-05T21:32:08.503+00:002013-02-05T21:32:08.503+00:00Much to ponder, Mary. Names have to feel just righ...Much to ponder, Mary. Names have to feel just right and sometimes I change them more than once during the course of writing a book (as Jennifer knows!). Other times they just appear from nowhere and stick - it's lovely when that happens.Jenny Harperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16721428313351462045noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3855283511538601375.post-66655033256636103022013-02-05T21:21:00.698+00:002013-02-05T21:21:00.698+00:00I think it is because I also feel a name can tell ...I think it is because I also feel a name can tell such a lot about the character I am worried about not choosing the correct names for them. As Gill pointed out earlier it can spoil the book for the reader if the name doesn't 'fit' right.<br />As for the image. It was on Google Images but I can't remember where I found it. I'll have to have a look to try and find it again - if I can remember what search term I used.Mary Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14688996930245857265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3855283511538601375.post-7072650465655848812013-02-05T12:07:01.546+00:002013-02-05T12:07:01.546+00:00I love choosing names. I really feel a name can te...I love choosing names. I really feel a name can tell you a lot about the person and can have many connotations. BTW where is the image from - the one with all the names at the head of the post. I was wondering if it was available for re-use.L Lanirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11187644446839149244noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3855283511538601375.post-87813628765652593382013-02-05T12:02:22.762+00:002013-02-05T12:02:22.762+00:00I'm not good at names, either, Jennifer, which...I'm not good at names, either, Jennifer, which is what prompted the blog post. I also feel I shouldn't give a character the same name as any of my friends, or their husbands or children, which limits choice considerably!Mary Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14688996930245857265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3855283511538601375.post-71875957712503496032013-02-05T11:59:08.651+00:002013-02-05T11:59:08.651+00:00There is something almost magical about names. In ...There is something almost magical about names. In Afghanistan no man will speak the name of his sisters or wife in public. He will refer to his wife as the mother of (insert name of son). Very protective but you can imagine how it would complicate my novel if I'd stuck to that system.<br /><br />The thing about getting to know your characters better makes me wonder if parents would still give their older children the names they gave them as babies? That would be an interesting - if pointless - area of research.Mary Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14688996930245857265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3855283511538601375.post-47753208772849046172013-02-05T10:15:44.847+00:002013-02-05T10:15:44.847+00:00Now, Mary, you've got me thinking. I don't...Now, Mary, you've got me thinking. I don't think I'm good at names. I always feel a character OUGHT to suit a particular name but so often that doesn't happen...and I confess, I have been known to turn to the phone book for a surname (though it never feels very satisfactory)!<br /> Jo Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12976757854217324838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3855283511538601375.post-2968691005188550372013-02-05T10:03:41.398+00:002013-02-05T10:03:41.398+00:00I love the process of choosing names for character...I love the process of choosing names for characters, I think because names have always interested me. Sometimes the name of a character appears at exactly the same time as the idea for them (I think J K Rowling said that happened for her with Harry P) and sometimes, like you, I have to wait a while and may even change the name once I get to know the character better.<br /><br />I do think names are very culture-specific. In one American book I read the hero was called Derek. To me Derek is not a hero's name (sorry to all the Dereks out there) and it really spoilt the book!Gill Stewarthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03139563775181908912noreply@blogger.com