I love hearing about how other people pick their characters' names! I probably spend WAY too much time on the process 😅 (a hazard of too much specialty knowledge about names), but I also definitely have different goals for different projects.
If I'm writing a real world period story, I try really hard to make sure the names are realistic for the time and place (Joss Whedon's Gen X characters named Xander and Willow drove me nuts 😅😅😅) If a character does have an unusual name, I consider it as part of their backstory -- why did their parents choose this name for them?
With characters in a future or alternate world setting, the process is different. I'm a conlanger too, so in alternate world settings I'll think about what the name rules are for the imaginary culture and then go from there. Coming up with future names is a fun exercise in considering what might be "normal" in another hundred years.
I spend a ton of time looking at name data already, so these kinds of elaboration are just an extension of that work 😊 but it's definitely a place you can go deep!
I love that you get so involved in deciding names for characters, Hannah, and really seem to enjoy it. Also like it when someone gets me looking up a word :) it's an opportunity to learn something new. I'd never heard of a conlanger. Very interesting.
well, I've never been paid for that part 😅the name consultant piece I do sometimes make money for--more often for children than characters, though I'm sure there's people who'd pay for character help too!
I love hearing about how other people pick their characters' names! I probably spend WAY too much time on the process 😅 (a hazard of too much specialty knowledge about names), but I also definitely have different goals for different projects.
If I'm writing a real world period story, I try really hard to make sure the names are realistic for the time and place (Joss Whedon's Gen X characters named Xander and Willow drove me nuts 😅😅😅) If a character does have an unusual name, I consider it as part of their backstory -- why did their parents choose this name for them?
With characters in a future or alternate world setting, the process is different. I'm a conlanger too, so in alternate world settings I'll think about what the name rules are for the imaginary culture and then go from there. Coming up with future names is a fun exercise in considering what might be "normal" in another hundred years.
I spend a ton of time looking at name data already, so these kinds of elaboration are just an extension of that work 😊 but it's definitely a place you can go deep!
I love that you get so involved in deciding names for characters, Hannah, and really seem to enjoy it. Also like it when someone gets me looking up a word :) it's an opportunity to learn something new. I'd never heard of a conlanger. Very interesting.
well, I've never been paid for that part 😅the name consultant piece I do sometimes make money for--more often for children than characters, though I'm sure there's people who'd pay for character help too!
I had no idea people paid consultants to name children. And now I see that you have a whole newsletter/blog here on names and naming. Cool!