Wednesday, July 28, 2010

KISS (Keep It Simple, Sweetie)

When selecting names for your characters make sure your readers will know how to pronounce them.

So many authors choose "exotic" names for their characters, but for me, I'd rather relate to a down-to-earth name. If I have to struggle to determine how to say the name out loud, I'm always detracted from the story itself.

Several of my character names have been: Beth, Jilly, Keith, Grace, Tyler, Hope, Zack, Jake, Amy, Joshua, Dolly, Brad, Tiffany, and Charlie.

I found a fun site to look up popular names by era. http://bit.ly/bD0qjk

Have fun selecting names, but try not to make them tongue twisters.

14 comments:

Clare Revell said...

I use http://babynamesworld.parentsconnect.com/
for Christian names and the phone book and a pin for surnames.

Or my daughter names them for me.

Caroline said...

Carol, I like your blog. I just became one of your followers. Would you return the favor? Thanks!
Carole B
http://sunnebnkwrtr.blogspot.com

Carol Ann said...

Clare, thanks for sharing your link with us. The phone directory is a good place for surnames, and I also like to browse the obituaries.

Carol Ann said...

Carole, so nice to connect with you again! Hope to see you at a meeting soon. I'm hopping over to your blog right now. Thanks for stopping by.

Marianne Evans said...

Great blog, Carol! To be honest, I've used both exotic and simple names. My last two have been quite exotic, my next two releases feature very "easy" heroine names... :-) Thought provoking post!! Blessings.

Jennifer Shirk said...

I have a couple of baby naming books I use--but all in all they've been pretty simple. I really don't like it when an author picks a name and I'm not sure if I'm pronouncing it right in my head. It's distracting.

Donna B said...

Names, names, names...I've actually gotten halfway through a story and had to change a name because it wasn't right and I was suddenly calling the female character something else. I guess she told me!

A name usually comes to me as I ponder a story line idea. Obviously, sometimes I get them wrong. LOL But I've never used a name list yet...

Kara Lynn Russell said...

Carol, I agree. Exotic names have a certain appeal, but I think in most cases "typical" names fit the characters better. My favorite site is http://nameberry.com/

Carol Ann said...

Marianne, I love exotic names as long as I can pronounce them! I used to struggle trying to come up with names that were different and that appealed to me, but after struggling over names in some books, I've opted for easy to pronounce. Thanks for stopping by!

Clare Revell said...

grins at Donna. Or they suddenly change their title from Mr to Lord and confuse the CP no end ;-)

Carol Ann said...

Jennifer, that's exactly what I'm talking about. I don't like to be second guessing myself when I'm reading a great book on whether or not I'm pronouncing the name right. I can usually come up with several variations and I find myself changing back and forth. *grin*
Thanks for stopping by!

Carol Ann said...

Hey Donna, I know about changing names. I've done that and then I confuse myself! I have a wip in which I've tried to change the name, but my character refuses to accept it. I should learn to listen.
Thanks for stopping by!

Carol Ann said...

Kara, thanks for sharing the link. I'm going to give it a try!

Diane Craver said...

I also use the social security site that gives popular names for any year you want. I avoid using my children's names in my books so that cuts out 6 names I can never use. LOL