Character's Name: How To Pick It?

Have a question? Agree, disagree,
with me? Leave me your opinion.

There are other factors to consider
when picking a name for a character.
It's not wise to select a name because
it's pretty.

A character's name should be memorable,
impressive.

Origin, race, is stirred-in when choosing
a character's name. Usually, names
correspond to a character's family.
Or, a character's personality,
appearance, could be the focus when
naming him or her.

A tale revolving around an Irish-
American neighborhood, family, means
the characters will have the Irish
names.

Characters who are African-American
will have African-American names.

An aggressive character, for example,
is called, Fister.

He/she tends to use fists to settle
disagreements.

A character with black hair is named
Raven.

The name given to a character reveals
much about him/her, supposedly.

Also, a character from a certain time
period will reflect it. A character
placed in a 18th century setting
would have a name from that time
period.

Still, names shouldn't be so difficult
to pronounce until readers put your
story aside.

Take time in picking names for your
main characters. They are in more
scenes, and you want people to
remember them, your work.

The main characters have a relationship
with readers. Readers see them as
people. They want to hear their tale,
and see how it's solved. Readers look
at how characters react to their names,
sometimes.

How a character feels about his/her
name gives insight into the character.
He/she likes his/her name? He/she is
at odds with his/her heritage, family?

The same name isn't given to more
than one character in a story. It
causes disorder, confusion.

Similar sounding names are avoided
unless it's written in your plot.

It's a good idea to pick a character's
name and stick with it. Now, other
characters in a story can nickname each
other. One nickname per character.
Us the name, nickname, constantly.

Will your character have a nickname,
just a first name, whole name, or referred
to by his/her last name.

A character's name is picked after
you profile him/her.

If a character's name isn't a good fit,
for one reason or another, change it.

Now, names can be plucked from
television, head-lines, magazines,
books, history, and anywhere your
imagination reaches.

It's interesting to add to a name.
The name Raven becomes Ravina,
for instance. Ryan spins into Ry.

However, in my novel, Grave Street
House, the main character's name
is Amanda. It's an ordinary name,
nothing striking about it. Amanda
is undistinguished.

Yet, she manages the courage
to unravel a murderer. This
wasn't easy for her.

The above steps are guide-lines
to naming your fictional characters.