So, if the name comes naturally, that's great. That's awesome for you. However, for many of us writers, naming characters is a struggle because we think too hard about it.
For example, I think that I struggle with character names because it has to mean something for me. Like, I'll go to Google Translate (I know, it's really a bad translator, don't get me started) and type something in English just to see the Latin outcome, then I'll look at the Greek outcome. I look at the outcomes and see if I can get a name from either one of them, and if not, I look at Japanese, then several other languages. I'm just trying to get a name that I know what the meaning is.
Or I'll go look on several webpages to see what certain names mean. I just like to know what the name means when I give it to a character.
My characters are like my children, they have to be given significant names.
Here's my advice for those of you who struggle with a character name:
- Don't think about it too much. You're over thinking something that should be super simple.
- Give your character a short name that's easy to write. One or two syllables would be best. At the very least, have a short nickname for the character. It's a whole lot easier to write. Take my name for example; 'Jessicah' isn't something that you want to have to type out when your ideas are trying to flow, but Jess is easier. Try to stick to 3-5 letters and it's probably a good name/nickname
I am by no means a pro at character names, but I thought I'd share a little bit of insight on it with the world. It may or may not work for you, and that's okay. You don't have to go by this. It just might make it easier for some struggling writers out there.
~Jessicah
