Names
Greetings. I figure it’s been a while since I did one of these, so it’s about time I do one I thought I would talk about names. This is mostly because I don’t like coming up with names. I think is the most difficult part of writing a book. Conversations may go rather slowly when I’m writing, since I might write what one person says and then take a break and after a while compose the reply. Names on the other hand I have to come up with often with no clues to what they should be.
I’d sort of like to be able to write a book with no names at all in it. I could see it going something like this at the start. He was a tall thin man dressed in impeccable three-piece suit with a rather conservative tie. He was standing on a street corner and had a rather blank expression on his face as he looked around.
Spotting a similarly dressed man, he approached and asked “excuse me sir.”
“Yes, how may I be assistance to you.” The other man said politely.
“This may sound strange, but would you be aware of who I am or possibly know what my name is. I can’t seem to remember.”
The other man scratched his chin and then replied “no. I can’t seem to place you, but then I can’t remember my name or who I am either. You wouldn’t happen to know?”
I will continue, since I have no idea where that’s going. No doubt if I continued the story I’d sooner or later have to come up with some names. I’ve used a wide variety of ways of coming up with names. My main character’s name was created by my speech to text software. It often puts in a name if I mumble. In fact when writing the above, it name the other man Ralph. No idea where it got that. That’s also how I happen to name my main character Talida. I forget what name I was trying to call her, but Talida was way better.
I often give my characters simple names. I figure people have been using simple names for a long time and probably will continue to do so. Of course what I’ve consider a simple name might not be to someone else. Some of my characters I give nicknames based on something in their description. I never actually named Ant. His name is actually a nickname based on the fact that he’s a rather short man. If I was to give him a name I probably calling something like Theodore, or something else completely unrelated to Ant.
Another way I come up with names, I called the phone book method. You find a book or a list with a lot of names, close your eyes and point. Usually though be a name where you’re pointing or near where you’re pointing. That’s how I came up with the name Kandy for a town. I opened an Atlas and pointed and that was the name that was nearby.
For orcs I tend to use a keyboard mash. But I don’t stop by simply mashing keyboard. I then sort what comes out to get a name. As a result I’ve come up with names like Gresak, Acerrt, and Yahfi. They were all made by simply mashing my keyboard and then sorting the resulting mess into a name. For example this alksfdjjfoi might turn into Lakois, which would be a perfectly fine name for our.
Orlie’s are probably the hardest of all my alien species to name. They have three voice boxes although only one mouth and so can make three sounds simultaneously. Since their languages are tonal their names can spread clear up into the ultrasonic. Fortunately all the Orlie’s that have appeared in my books also have human name. Although I still have managed to write up their actual name as an Orlie.
To me my drogling, another alien species. I tend to roll dice. Their names are 2 to 4 characters long. So I roll a dice to determine how long the name will be. On a 1 it’s 2 letters long, 2-4 it’s 3 letters long and on 5 or 6 it’s 4 letters long. I have every rules for randomly generating what each letter is. Strangely enough I often get actual words thus the name of the main drogling character to appear in my book was Ore.
Even with all my silly rules, creating names for my characters drives me nuts. I still don’t like coming up with names for them. Sometimes I come up with absolutely ridiculous names for my characters. Talida’s mother is named Piece. They can also be spelled Peace. The nickname that she was given when she was younger by her father who called her his New Piece. It stuck with her since under her grandfathers training she learned some bardic magic. She often comes a calming song under her breath when she goes about her business. The results in the people around her becoming more calm and controlled.
While I figure this is enough for now. I hope that my readers here will take a look at my book and see the strange names I come up with for some of my characters and places. Also you could look at my website dalejohnsonauthor.com. On the Meadowlark page you can read to the fifth chapter of Stretching Their Wings. It’s unedited, but you can see how my writing is and whether it would interest you. If you want to read more in the story I posted the blog twice a month and update to the story. There I’m up to chapter 13, so I might update the Meadowlark page sometime adding a couple more chapters.
I’d sort of like to be able to write a book with no names at all in it. I could see it going something like this at the start. He was a tall thin man dressed in impeccable three-piece suit with a rather conservative tie. He was standing on a street corner and had a rather blank expression on his face as he looked around.
Spotting a similarly dressed man, he approached and asked “excuse me sir.”
“Yes, how may I be assistance to you.” The other man said politely.
“This may sound strange, but would you be aware of who I am or possibly know what my name is. I can’t seem to remember.”
The other man scratched his chin and then replied “no. I can’t seem to place you, but then I can’t remember my name or who I am either. You wouldn’t happen to know?”
I will continue, since I have no idea where that’s going. No doubt if I continued the story I’d sooner or later have to come up with some names. I’ve used a wide variety of ways of coming up with names. My main character’s name was created by my speech to text software. It often puts in a name if I mumble. In fact when writing the above, it name the other man Ralph. No idea where it got that. That’s also how I happen to name my main character Talida. I forget what name I was trying to call her, but Talida was way better.
I often give my characters simple names. I figure people have been using simple names for a long time and probably will continue to do so. Of course what I’ve consider a simple name might not be to someone else. Some of my characters I give nicknames based on something in their description. I never actually named Ant. His name is actually a nickname based on the fact that he’s a rather short man. If I was to give him a name I probably calling something like Theodore, or something else completely unrelated to Ant.
Another way I come up with names, I called the phone book method. You find a book or a list with a lot of names, close your eyes and point. Usually though be a name where you’re pointing or near where you’re pointing. That’s how I came up with the name Kandy for a town. I opened an Atlas and pointed and that was the name that was nearby.
For orcs I tend to use a keyboard mash. But I don’t stop by simply mashing keyboard. I then sort what comes out to get a name. As a result I’ve come up with names like Gresak, Acerrt, and Yahfi. They were all made by simply mashing my keyboard and then sorting the resulting mess into a name. For example this alksfdjjfoi might turn into Lakois, which would be a perfectly fine name for our.
Orlie’s are probably the hardest of all my alien species to name. They have three voice boxes although only one mouth and so can make three sounds simultaneously. Since their languages are tonal their names can spread clear up into the ultrasonic. Fortunately all the Orlie’s that have appeared in my books also have human name. Although I still have managed to write up their actual name as an Orlie.
To me my drogling, another alien species. I tend to roll dice. Their names are 2 to 4 characters long. So I roll a dice to determine how long the name will be. On a 1 it’s 2 letters long, 2-4 it’s 3 letters long and on 5 or 6 it’s 4 letters long. I have every rules for randomly generating what each letter is. Strangely enough I often get actual words thus the name of the main drogling character to appear in my book was Ore.
Even with all my silly rules, creating names for my characters drives me nuts. I still don’t like coming up with names for them. Sometimes I come up with absolutely ridiculous names for my characters. Talida’s mother is named Piece. They can also be spelled Peace. The nickname that she was given when she was younger by her father who called her his New Piece. It stuck with her since under her grandfathers training she learned some bardic magic. She often comes a calming song under her breath when she goes about her business. The results in the people around her becoming more calm and controlled.
While I figure this is enough for now. I hope that my readers here will take a look at my book and see the strange names I come up with for some of my characters and places. Also you could look at my website dalejohnsonauthor.com. On the Meadowlark page you can read to the fifth chapter of Stretching Their Wings. It’s unedited, but you can see how my writing is and whether it would interest you. If you want to read more in the story I posted the blog twice a month and update to the story. There I’m up to chapter 13, so I might update the Meadowlark page sometime adding a couple more chapters.
No comments have been added yet.
