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July 30th, 2010

tielan: (Default)
Friday, July 30th, 2010 08:18 am
Day 1
Day 2

Day 3. How do you come up with names, for characters (and for places if you're writing about fictional places)?

Usually I pick a known name, and change letters until it sounds about right. Or until my head decides it's an acceptable name to use. Fairly random. I try to avoid names of people I know, or places that are obvious. (Dear David Eddings, 'Upper Wenkroy' in Sendaria? Yeah, like I didn't see that one.) And if I'm writing fantasy about a country with real-world resemblances, I try to pick appropriate names.

I've a whole panoply of names back from when I used to just make up characters and situations (and never write them). These days, I just find a name that seems to suit the character, and run with that.

Interestingly, my "real world" girls - female characters who aren't in fantasy fiction - tend to have two syllables, and their name ends in an '-NA'. It may be id.
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