The Trials of Procrastination
Sep. 2nd, 2006 01:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
marfiskOkay, I know I'm not the only author who struggles with the myriad of names required for a book, especially when you can't go with Tom, Dick, and Harry but rather must come up with Garum, Therandon, Catterum, etc. Since I'm making the wild guess that those who follow my LJ are mostly if not all writers (I don't even think my parents come here ;)), I thought you'd find this amusing.
Part of When She Calls is the main character's rejection of his father's legacy. He never meant it to be permanent, but put off learning the trade until it was too late. Ultimately, fate had a different role in store for him, but it's a part of him throughout the novel that he's rejected this connection to his family.
What does this have to do with names you ask? Well, I'm nearing the end and things are happening that are turning him back toward, not his family tradition, but a more normal life. As a sign of this, I have another character call him by his full name...umm, what was his father's name again? Because of the period, his full name is: Therandon, son of *insert father's name here*.
No problem says I. I'll just wander back to the other reference and snag it from there since mysteriously it does not show on my character name list.
This is what I found:
Old habits had Andon executing a short bow to acknowledge the introductions. "I am Therandon, son of--" He stopped, knowing he'd lost the right to that title, to the industry it implied.
*GROAN*
And just in case you're curious:
72 scenes
68 complete - 94% of the novel
4 Scenes remain
5519 Remaining word count
99341 Estimated length - with an average of 1380 words per scene.
93822 Current Total
Part of When She Calls is the main character's rejection of his father's legacy. He never meant it to be permanent, but put off learning the trade until it was too late. Ultimately, fate had a different role in store for him, but it's a part of him throughout the novel that he's rejected this connection to his family.
What does this have to do with names you ask? Well, I'm nearing the end and things are happening that are turning him back toward, not his family tradition, but a more normal life. As a sign of this, I have another character call him by his full name...umm, what was his father's name again? Because of the period, his full name is: Therandon, son of *insert father's name here*.
No problem says I. I'll just wander back to the other reference and snag it from there since mysteriously it does not show on my character name list.
This is what I found:
Old habits had Andon executing a short bow to acknowledge the introductions. "I am Therandon, son of--" He stopped, knowing he'd lost the right to that title, to the industry it implied.
*GROAN*
And just in case you're curious:
72 scenes
68 complete - 94% of the novel
4 Scenes remain
5519 Remaining word count
99341 Estimated length - with an average of 1380 words per scene.
93822 Current Total
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no subject
Date: 2006-09-02 11:04 pm (UTC)After naming the more important characters, I keep a bunch of names handy in case I need another character. In my case that means lists with Gothic names, Saxon names, early Germanic names, Pictish names, the odd Armenian or Basque name thrown in ... you get the picture. And don't get me started on the fun that is the tripartite Roman naming pattern. Adding up three names ending on -us does not work (I can always distinguish badly researched Roman books by the names). :)
Therandon son of Thargon? sounds nice, imho.
no subject
Date: 2006-09-03 12:16 am (UTC)I'm afraid your suggestion has the same problem for me. The double TH, even though occurring only once in the book, would bug me. Sounds a bit too Tolkien for me :D.
It's actually not too hard for me to come up with names, it's just that people who go by titles often get missed, like Father, Mother, etc. But I can't prepare the names in advance. They have to "feel" right. It's silly, I know, but also remember that I don't have lists to go by. I'm listening for how the name rolls off my tongue and echoes in my ear. Which may be how I ended up with sauce :). I did spend my childhood in the Middle East and this is a Middle East like setting, though completely fantasy.
no subject
Date: 2006-09-03 12:58 am (UTC)I understand about names having to feel right - aside from the historical correctness, a name also has to feel right for me and not every name goes, esp. not for the major characters.
no subject
Date: 2006-09-03 01:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-03 06:42 am (UTC)Nice work on the nearly-done novel, though, and hopefully the last 6% will go quickly (if it hasn't already. I saw on FM that you'd finished the UB dare).
no subject
Date: 2006-09-03 04:54 pm (UTC)And that's okay on the suggestions. I wasn't really looking for them. You don't have my character list so you can't see how the suggestions would interact. There's a TON of named characters in this book. Why oh why can't I write a book with one character :).
no subject
Date: 2006-09-03 01:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-03 05:02 pm (UTC)Trouble with ideas when the book is already at 97k is that you don't have the full cultural/character sense so or unlikely to hit on the mark. But thanks for offering.
no subject
Date: 2006-09-04 12:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-04 12:55 am (UTC)Names!
Date: 2006-09-05 05:32 am (UTC)I'm coming up to a point in my novel where the heroes will be encountering an alien race, and I have NO IDEA how to name them - the race, or the individuals. *sigh* Glorthup is funny for the first draft, but doesn't cut it for the finished product you know?
Good luck!
~PJ~
Re: Names!
Date: 2006-09-05 04:01 pm (UTC)On your aliens, spend some time thinking about what and who they are, then take human words that approximate and scramble letters until you find something appealing. At least that's what I do when I'm stumped. Usually the names just come to me though :).