Naming your Character

Characters. They are the heart and soul of a book. They are what brings readers back and attaches them to the book. The reader should feel that the main character(s) is a close friend, or an extension of themselves.

The beginning of this relationship is when the reader first “meets” the character. First impressions are just as crucial as in real life. What is the character doing that day? What are they wearing? What are they thinking? These details will help the reader make judgments on the character that will guide their understanding of the rest of the book.

Of course, the first thing the reader will see is the character's name. There's something going on these days where authors are fighting hard to find new and interesting names. Out with the old, in with the new. Away with the commonplace!

This is leading to some problems.

Mellimeldisiel stepped out of her bedroom and yawned. She called her friend Aphaderuiondur so they could gossip about Maidhfinden before school.

Names like this trip up a reader. Just as it doesn't flow off the tongue nicely, it doesn't flow from the brain easily either. It slows down the reading.

Worse yet are the names with the crazy symbols.

Voronwë

T 'ealc

Sh-kyn'dra

If you're going to put in a crazy name, or one that uses a phonetic pattern unlike English, please explain how it should be pronounced. Trying to read an entire book without knowing how to pronounce a name is like repeatedly tripping over a brick.

One final point is that character's names should fit them. Personalities go with names, exemplify names, embody names. They should go together.

In the books The Hunger Games, the main character is Katniss Everdeen. This name sounds soft, quiet, sweet. But the character, we find out, is supposed to be tough, independent, and bad-ass. The contradiction is a constant annoyance.