So I was musing over what
I should name one of the many, minor humans soldiers in Book Three,
and I realized (though this is actually really obvious) that all the
humans have normal-people names, and all the elves have weird names
that I either made up or found in some name book. Hmm, I
thought, at least that makes it easy to distinguish to which race
a character belongs! See, guys? I'm looking out for you.
Names are extremely
important to me; they always have been, and it irks me like nothing
else when authors give their characters extremely cliché or dumb
names. For example, if your princess is some amazing, gorgeous,
perfect woman with long, flowing hair and a beautiful pearly-white
smile, please don't name her Belle, or Rose, or Aurora, or any
other name that suggests she was named at eighteen, not as a
screaming, red-faced, tiny baby. Her parents didn't know what she was
gonna look like, guys. But I think that happens mostly in fairy-tales
(I hope?), although I've read a few books with absolutely ridiculous
character names that made me want to launch the book at the nearest
wall.
So names are important
to me? Why is this? These are real people—yes, I know they're not
actually real—but a point of writing is to convey a story in way
that can convince the reader that somewhere in space and time, that
story could have actually happened. You want your characters
to be as flesh-and-blood as possible! You want your readers to be
able to smell the salty air of your world's coastline, and feel the
grass between their toes alongside your main character. You want the
culture and cities to seem as though they could be found somewhere in
the galaxy and be just as developed as ours. Is it sometimes
incredibly hard to do this? Absolutely; it's taken me a good five
years to develop Yaracina and Eshen, and I'm currently doing the same
world-creation with another novel I'm writing (which is not related
to S&D in any way). I love learning the history of my worlds,
though; it's so enjoyable to create a backstory, cities and
towns, rulers, landscapes, locals, etc. for a world where you can
literally do anything you want! So just as you must craft a
completely unique place for your characters to inhabit (if you copy
someone else's world, I will come hunt you down—that's not cool),
you must make the systems of names at least somewhat unique.
Sure, you can name your characters Jacob or Emma or Catherine or
John, but if they live on a world that's not Earth … does that
really make sense? I guess that wouldn't bother some people; it only
bothers me slightly. The good thing for me, however, is that Yaracina
and Eshen are futuristic versions of our world, so I can use
literally any names I wish to use—I can use current names for my
humans, which I do, and I can make up names (or even use more exotic
real names) for my elves! It's the best of both worlds.
For example, Elysia may
sound made up, but it's actually Greek, and it means “sweet” or
“blissful.” Her sister's name (Malitha) is actually a fake name,
though :) I lucked out with Elysia's name; I was scouring a name book
(Bruce Lansky's 100,000+ Baby Names is the most helpful book
on the planet for naming characters) and came across 'Elysia.' At the
time, I had no idea what sort of person she would be, and I forgot
what the name meant for a while. But when I was looking it up again a
few years later, I saw what 'Elysia' meant and it was awesome how
well her name matched her character! Lliam was the same way. I don't
actually remember how/when I decided to name him Lliam, but his name
means “determined guardian” (that will make more sense later on …
although it does work for YF, too). Roman just means “from
Rome,” though; sorry, buddy. It also amuses me when I think I make
a name up and then discover it's actually a real name. That happened
with Yaron—I thought I came up with his name all on my own … and
then saw it in my name book. In case you're curious, it means “I
will sing; I will cry out.” Does that fit Yaron's character? Maybe
the crying out portion; he does not sing ;) But it's still a cool
name for him!
Anyway, characters'
names are important. I wouldn't name one of the Spanish soldiers Bob
or Ryan. (Who names a fantasy soldier Bob, anyway?) I wouldn't name
an elf Emily or Patrick. The name needs to fit the character's
origins. For example—Zoser's real name, Neron, is Spanish and means
“strong.” He is Spanish, so that works. Elysia is a Greek
name, but it doesn't necessarily sound Greek and isn't common enough
to be thought of as a Greek name. (Well, there is Elysium in Greek
mythology, so an argument could be made.) Efroy, Malitha, and Aubryn
are not real names and therefore they became elven names for my
characters :) Coming up in Book Three (and FR), we'll also
meet several Chinese characters, so they will all have
culture-appropriate names.
I love names. It's a
slight obsession. But hey, it's an important obsession for
book-writing, especially in the fantasy genre! Names tell you about a
character—whether he's human or elf (in my books' case), and
whatever connotations accompany his name. If you use it correctly, a
character's name can be just as, if not more, important than his
physical appearance.
So there you have it—my
thoughts on literary names. And remember … naming your princess
Belle is not okay (unless you're rewriting Beauty and the Beast).
Especially if she's not from Earth. Now go forth and name wisely, my
friends!
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