Sudden disconnect after change of characters' names

[AnyaKimlin]

Anya, it sounds like you're having too much fun with this writing lark

A mug of hot chocolate, no kids, a great CD, comfy PJs and slippers, and an afternoon in another world playing with imaginary friends. What's not to have fun with Oh OK sometimes a beer or something stronger can make it more of a blast.

Seriously though I find my characters either arrive with their names in tact or i'll struggle remembering what I called them until they have the right one. I tend to find they have the final say in what is the right one.

 

[nightdreamer]

Not a problem I can identify with. I'll put quite a bit of thought into a character's name before I assign it, but once it's done, it's essentially permanent. I guess I get attached to my characters and after I know them by that name I find it burdensome to try to change it. I have changed two names, both in novels that I haven't finished: Diden->Riden, and Brinbandalon->Shinbandalon. Both were because I was afraid the original names were too similar to others, but now, after years collecting dust, I still can't get the new names to work. If I ever get back to work on those novels, I suppose I'll have to change them back to the "right" name so I can find some peace of mind.

 

[Lucky_Lola]

I've changed quite a few names, and should probably change a lot more. I began my character formation and world building when I was in high school, so there are an awful lot of barely-veiled homages, terrible overuses of apostrophes and dozens of minor characters who differed from one another by a single vowel!

One of my mains went from Rhine (with an accent over the e, can't figure out how to do it on here, and pronounced REE-nah) to the much nicer and more phonetic Rhinah. I ended up quite happy with that one. As others have said, sometimes the name suits them so well, you can't make anything else fit.

 

[kaal]

After something like 10 years I'm changing the name of the MC in my main WIP.
Man, it feels weird. I doubt I could do it if I were still writing the first draft, but now I'm editing & revising, it's not so bad.
The name the MC has lived with thus far was a random, made-up name; the new name is one I've taken care over. I don't think I could have done it if those things weren't true, nor would I have felt the need, I think.

The reason for the name change in the first place is that the WIP is set in an alternative history, but not too alternative, with most characters having street-bumping names except the MC and his mentor. This was originally the idea, and a stupid one. The pay-for-editor I sent the WIP to 6 years ago wanted everyone to have funny names to make it more "other" but I disagreed; I figgered that having psionicists about the place would be enough "other" to be getting on with and I'd be better served "normalising" the names. So, "Styroi Thesbe" has become "Adam Samson" (I know it doesn't look carefully crafted, and that's the idea, too ), and "Gerand Uriso" (retaining his first name, but gaining a french accent on it) is now "Gerand Albert".

I still have to correct myself when I think "Styroi", though.
After this edit, when the manuscript will be entirely bereft of "Styroi"s, I'm sure it'll be easier.
HTH
K

 

[C. A. Mitchell]

I've changed a few minor characters' names. Someone said I should change a first name because it features in the HP books. I mulled and mulled for days, but there was no suitable alternative.

I had a wobbly the other day about one of my main characters. I didn't know if I liked the name any more. But when I considered alternatives, I realised I was having a 'moment' - her name couldn't possibly be changed, because then she'd become a different person.

For me, some characters must have a certain name. I guess it's like when a baby is born, and they must be called something (that's what my mum said about me anyway!)

 

[tlrobson1]

I have a habit of giving characters similar sounding names without realising. In one novel I have Warren and Rowan, and in another I have both Erika and Anika and Aaron and Darren. After some careful consideration I went ahead and self-published the former without changing anything, but I haven't decided yet if I will with the latter. Aaron and Darren are fine as they're both common names and the characters barely interact, but Erika and Anika? Those names are obscure enough for me to be worried that people will take notice, not to mention the fact that they're physically together for 90% of the novel.

Also, I saw that somebody had written something along the lines of 'the name should suit the character', and though I understand where that line of thought is coming from I'd have to strongly disagree, if purely from a realistic perspective. Names (as a rule, I'm sure some people's novels have exceptions) are given to people at birth, and so it stands to reason that your unexpected hero could well have an incredibly mundane or even jarringly unfitting name, and similarly, your drug addled nobody character could have an overtly flamboyant name. That line of thought has coerced me to employ a fairly strict policy of picking names at random for my characters.

 

[Gumboot]

I have a habit of giving characters similar sounding names without realising. In one novel I have Warren and Rowan, and in another I have both Erika and Anika and Aaron and Darren. After some careful consideration I went ahead and self-published the former without changing anything, but I haven't decided yet if I will with the latter. Aaron and Darren are fine as they're both common names and the characters barely interact, but Erika and Anika? Those names are obscure enough for me to be worried that people will take notice, not to mention the fact that they're physically together for 90% of the novel.

I wouldn't be worried about how the names "sound", unless you're planning on an audio book version. People read with their eyes, not their ears. How the word looks is far more important.

 

[Gumboot]

Also, I saw that somebody had written something along the lines of 'the name should suit the character', and though I understand where that line of thought is coming from I'd have to strongly disagree, if purely from a realistic perspective. Names (as a rule, I'm sure some people's novels have exceptions) are given to people at birth, and so it stands to reason that your unexpected hero could well have an incredibly mundane or even jarringly unfitting name, and similarly, your drug addled nobody character could have an overtly flamboyant name. That line of thought has coerced me to employ a fairly strict policy of picking names at random for my characters.

I agree, with the exception that I tend not to pick names by random, but rather try to think about what the character's parents are like, as most parents are pretty careful about choosing their characters' names.

I think one of the most important steps in my world moving away from generic fantasy into something more complex was when I ditched the "generic fantasy language" approach to names and actually started having distinct languages and even distinguishing types of names for different things.

As a result I can tell you, for example, that Duke Lucian Kelare's family have Syrinii in their bloodline, that Daran Teever is a commoner from Southern Terrador, and that Amelia Arrontine was probably named after a Saegardian relative, but her parents wanted to retain a Terradorian feel to her name (in fact her mother's sister-in-law is Contessa Amélie Voulée, a Saegardian), probably to dispel doubt about the family's loyalty to the Terrador throne.

 

[Jake Reynolds]

Also, I saw that somebody had written something along the lines of 'the name should suit the character', and though I understand where that line of thought is coming from I'd have to strongly disagree, if purely from a realistic perspective. Names (as a rule, I'm sure some people's novels have exceptions) are given to people at birth, and so it stands to reason that your unexpected hero could well have an incredibly mundane or even jarringly unfitting name, and similarly, your drug addled nobody character could have an overtly flamboyant name. That line of thought has coerced me to employ a fairly strict policy of picking names at random for my characters.

Though I agree, there are limitations. If you look at a class based society such as Britain, you wouldn't find a 'working class' child named Elizabeth, George, Charles, William and so on. Similarly you would never find an 'upper class' child named Mersaydees or Shardanay (read them aloud).

 

[tlrobson1]

Yeah you're both spot on. I didn't literally mean I picked names at random... they are of course appropriate to culture and geography. Otherwise it's fair game.