What to Call Your Characters
Story Step 8 In Story Step 6, I suggested you don’t need to have the perfect title before you write your story. Working titles are fine. Stumbling across the perfect title during the process is always fun. On the other hand, choosing names for your characters is an important early step when writing a story. Assigning names helps you bond with your characters better than calling them Male #1 or Female #2. Names carry a lot of weight. This is as true in real life as it is in a story. Choosing the right name for your characters is important. I love names and have a spreadsheet of several hundred male and female names I’ve collected over the years. I’ve visited cemeteries to record names and life span dates from gravestones. I’ve found unusual names in obituary columns and news articles, and I’ve plucked names off the identity badges of sales clerks. I’m not shy about name gathering or asking the story behind an unusual name. After complimenting a person’s name, I of...