25. Choosing Character Names
Having trouble deciding what name best describes your character's personality? More often than not, writers will overthink the process of name-picking, and end up empty handed anyways. Here are a couple things to think about (but not think about too much) when hunting out the perfect name. Firstly, come up with a list of ten or so good names that you could see yourself writing over and over throughout the novel. Then, circle all the names you could see your character actually representing (like maybe don't name the bad boy Bob, or the good girl Nosebleed). Cross out all the names that aren't cricled. This should be an easier way to figure out what to call your protaganist.
Or, try this; write a made up prologue or brief paragraph-long story based off of something you plan on using in the actual story. Make sure to reference the main character at least six times. When finished, read it aloud. Now erase all the names and replace it with the next one on your list. Read aloud the same story, but with different characters. Which one did you find flowed and worked the best? That one gets the job of being your protagonist's name.
Why, you might ask, is naming your character so important? Well, it may not seem like a big deal when you first get started, but after a while, you'll be writing and reading over that same main character's name for better part of a quarter of the book. You don't want a boring name that after ten chapters you're going "blah blah blah" instead of "Marybeth". Find a name you like. Find a name that suits your story.
