NaNoWriMo Prep: The Name Game

Part of what's so brilliant and so horrible about National Novel Writing Month is that it's supposed to about writing. Not getting lost in research, not editing, but actually sitting down and writing 1,667 words per day, for an end-of-the-month goal of 50,000 words. Since November 1st is only 3 days away, it's time to get cracking on some of those picayune side projects that usually serve as great excuses for not writing. No time like the present, because come November...well, you know.

You're going to have characters, and they're going to have to be called something. I know that thumbing through that baby name book you bought at the thrift store is really fun, but in midst of NaNoWriMo, that's squandering precious writing time, so it's best to christen the bulk of your characters now. This is not as easy as it looks. (I know, because I once wrote a full-length play about two good-looking, edgy twenty-somethings named Gemma and Chase. I'd like to think I've learned my lesson since.) Here are some things to consider when naming your babies. 

1. Time and Place

The female lead in a Revolutionary War novel is probably not going to be named Maddyson. A recently Manhattan-born baby is probably not going to be named Jennifer. Assume the norm unless there's a reason for deviating from it. (There probably should be at least a couple of these reasons in your names. Nobody wants to read about a whole bunch of Toms and Sarahs making casseroles on Maple Street.)

2. Balance 

Yes, you can have a Gemma. But if you have a Gemma, you may want to counterbalance her with a John or a Mike or something. Unless you're writing some sort of PoMo Zeitgeist novel, it can't be Carrington, Declan, Mandarin, and Atticus all the time. For realistic fiction, you'll want a balance of original and traditional names. 

3. Speaking of Atticus...

Unless you have a really good reason for doing so, don't name one of your characters after a canonical character. If young Atticus's father is an insufferable hipster or a third-tier college professor, or if his mother was reading To Kill a Mockingbird at the library with a third-tier college professor at the time of conception, then I suppose it can be done. Just be careful, and know why you're doing what you're doing. 

4. Symbolism

I've yet to confess the most embarrassing part of the Gemma and Chase debacle. The names were also meant to be symbolic. Gemma was a damaged beauty, a diamond in the rough. Chase was an elusive, yet unintentionally profound manchild.

I hate my twenty-something self a lot. 

In fact, if I were to name my twenty-something self, I would name me Jane Janeway. The first name has a generic connotation, whereas the last name indicates excessive self-absorption. See what I did there? 

5. Places

Remember that your characters are going to live in towns or cities, and most likely work at and/or patronize various businesses and organizations. These things all need names as well. I usually like to check to see if the locale I've invented actually exists for real, so that I can make sure I'm not doing somebody's hometown too much injustice. As with character names, it's certainly okay to have fun with your locations, but not everything can be witty and bucolic. If your character is grabbing pie at The Dimpled Scone, address 3.14 Silvermoon Drive, you may want to take him somewhere more generic for lunch.

Try to nail down the bulk of your names today. They can always be changed later on, and I've found that they often do change. Sometimes a perfect name will emerge out of nowhere, midway through a first draft, as if the character has finally been born and you are nothing more than a conduit for him or her. That's beautiful and mystical and I hope it happens to you, I really do. But if the name that emerges is Gemma, don't say I didn't warn you.