Monday, September 20, 2010

If The Name Fits...

There are limits each writer must work within. Time, audience attention spans, and the physical/spatial limits of the stage all work together with other limitations to force the writer to become a problem solver.

One of the many tools sitting in the writer's problem-solving tool chest is "Character Names". The character names you choose can quickly and subtly tell your audience a lot about your characters and about your story. "Gilbert Gunk" and "Prudence Wellington" will probably conjure up two very different people in your mind, and if the characters fit the images you have of them, I've done my job.

There are a lot of different ways to name a character. Some of the best names just pop into your head when you're tossing their personality quirks around in your mind. One easy way - especially when you have a lot of characters to name in a short period of time - is by consulting the writer's best friend; the Internet. Baby Name websites are great, but you can even find better hits if you target your search right. For example, Wish Upon A Star takes place in the 1940s, so I searched for "1920 baby names", since my characters are mostly in their 20's. Make sense?

Another way is to use word association. Gilbert Gunk is a weird, grimy groundskeeper that has a habit of walking in during high society parties and disgusting guests with his mud-encrusted coveralls and dirty fingernails. Naming him "Lord Wetherby" just wouldn't do.

Another consideration is the genre of your play.  If you are writing a comedy - as I currently am - you might choose to keep your character names a little more whimsical.  If you are writing a drama, you might choose more realistic names.

All in all, the names you choose should make sense for your characters and your story.  One final consideration - you might try saying your character names out loud to make sure they're easy for actors to pronounce, and to make sure they are names you don't mind writing and reading and hearing about for the next several months.  

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