Tim had the best idea a few weeks ago. Do you ever have trouble coming up with character names? Oh, usually there are reasons why you choose the names for your MAIN characters, but you know those moments when you need a name for some random someone who’s found his way on your page? So you scan the spines of your books or glance through the magazine on the table, or dig out that baby name book you’ve had since your nephew was born in 1971–wait, that’s me.
Tim suggested using the names of all those lunatics who send us mail for p*nis enlargements, ci*lis, and the like. And they DO have some great names! It’ll be amusing, though, if we start seeing the same names in books by our favorite authors. At least we can be sure they know how to enlarge their p*nis*s.
I go to graveyards.
I’m trying to figure out a way to connect that statement with your increasingly frequent declaration of “You’re dead to me.”
You are cracking me up.
Great idea, but which would you choose as the last name, wet or Wet or Susan?
Susan. Definitely Susan.
oooooops forgot to sign off ,
Michelle
The Phone Book Method
I can’t say I’m a fiction writer really, since all I’ve written are unpublished and unperformed plays, but I’ve always like the phone book method of finding names. It’s second only to the obituaries. (There are some great old Southern names showcased there daily.) 😉
But admittedly I was a weird child (and thus, by default, am a weird adult, I guess) who loved to read dictionaries and encyclopedias…and phone books. This method may not be for you.
Shawn Lea
http://everythingandnothing.typepad.com
Re: The Phone Book Method
Oh, yeah, good point! I’ve definitely picked up the phone book on occasion when looking for a name, and Houston’s is great because it’s so big.
What’s weird about reading dictionaries and encyclopedias or falling asleep on the couch holding a globe? I mean, not that I’ve done any of those things.
So I was thinking about this post when I was cycling Saturday morning. A number of street names around town make great last names. Many street names in Bellaire are first names. Granted, this is kind of like the old “What’s your Soap Opera Name” game. But it does work.
Cynthia Inwood
Dorothy Willowick
Valerie Inverness
OK, it does take a dive with names like
Holt Buffalo Speedway and Weslayan Allen Parkway…but it could work!
I used to write pages of made up names for Characters I concocted as a kid. I never wrote anything, but loved naming folks.
To this day I name/nickname friends, family, possessions, etc……