 Action/Adventure: February 11, 2015 Issue [#6822] |
  Action/Adventure
This week: The Name Game Edited by: Storm Machine  
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"My name is a half an hour early, but my body is on time.”
― Jarod Kintz, This Book Has No Title
"What's your name?" he asked above the roar of the music.
She leaned close. "My name is Wind," she whispered. "And Rain. And Bone and Dust. My name is a snippet of a half-remembered song."
He chuckled a low, delightful sound. She was drunk and silly, and so full of the glory of being young and alive and in the capital of the world that she could hardly contain herself.
"I have no name," she purred. "I am whoever the keepers of my fate tell me to be."
He grasped her by her wrist, running a thumb along the sensitive skin underneath. "Then let me call you Mine for a dance or two.”
― Sarah J. Maas, The Assassin and the Underworld |
| ASIN: B07RKLNKH7 |
Product Type: Kindle Store
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Amazon's Price: $ 0.99
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A hero isn't truly a hero unless he has the best name. Would you still adore Indiana Jones if we'd called him Henry Jones, Jr. like his father did? Henry doesn't have the same feel of adventure or the same level of uncommon appeal. It also makes it funnier when we learned the dog's name was Indiana. Who names himself after his dog? But you knew he wouldn't call himself Serpent Jones, because he's a bit nervous around snakes.
The damsel in distress often has her own name to bear, something feminine and interesting. If she's going to be saved by a hero, does she ever get a strong name? Would you rather save someone called Sugar Lips or someone who answers to Mommy Dearest?
Whatever your scheme at naming someone, each of those names has a history and a meaning and a person it can be attached to. Edmund might not wear his name properly, feeling like it doesn't fit because he's always wished to be named Bruce. And your character Isolde could be fuming each time someone calls her Izzy.
Thank you very much, my name is Kimber. Not Kim or Kimberly or Kiki.
Have you met people like that? Well, what about your characters? Are they the laid-back sorts who don't mind if Rebecca becomes Reba or Becky or Becca? Or do they object to the very idea of anything that isn't the full given name? Did you try to call Matt "Matthew" only to find his given name is actually Matt?
And going beyond that first name, there could be a middle or last name attached. Most characters have at least a last name if not also a middle.
What does it reveal about your character that it isn't just the sound and feel of the name? Martinez might feel different than Frank or Novak or Bhattacharjee. Did the parents move and decide to give a more common first name for the geography than the family's origin? Did you wonder where Ritu Frank came from or if Gabe Bhattacharjee might have interesting roots?
Whatever you might be saying, there are ideas behind each name. Some of them fit; some of them don't. I get so annoyed when I have to change a character's name several times within the life of the book. Luckily that was what Edit> Replace All was created for. The thing I've learned is to be consistent through the first draft so all instances get changed.
Good luck with the names. You can use the random name generators, but you might end up with siblings named Joyce, Royce, Grace, and Mace. Reader confusion will become a problem.
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| |  | Spy story (13+)
So this is really rough and loose, but I need critique on it. Be as harsh as you please!
#2029861 by Smiley1456  |
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| ASIN: B083RZ37SZ |
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Quick-Quill 
You give good advice to the new reader and a good reminder. It is imparative that characters are real. Indiana joned didn't like snakes, Ron Weasley didn't like Spiders. Yet he was the only character with natural fears. We didn't think less of the other chacracters because they had other flaws. No one but super hero have fears. Yet Superman can't be near Kyptonite and Batman can't really "fly" In the heat of action there has to be a winner and loser. In my novel the MC gets beatup. I could have had him fight, win or even have others come to the rescue. Then he wouldn't have been in the right place at the right time to get a big clue.
Exactly. Characters must be real. The more real the reader can imagine the character, the more we'll root for success.
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| ASIN: B00KN0JEYA |
Product Type: Kindle Store
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Amazon's Price: $ 4.99
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