I’m curious if there are any writers out there who don’t want to use their favorite names in case you’re able to use it for a child someday. I just finished writing a novel with a character I named [name]Thisbe[/name]. The name fits her; it is her. I love the name so much, though, and can’t stop thinking that it might be a name I’d use for a child. Chances are, this novel will never be published and it won’t matter. But what if it is? Could I still use the name for a daughter or is it no longer an option?
And this is just one name! I go through this all the time, loving a name so much I want to hoard it in preparation for some child I may never even have. My SO says just to pick way out there names I’d never use for a real baby, but my writing doesn’t work like that. I name my characters with as much thought as I would a real person, with a name that suits them.
Anyway, does anyone else battle with this? If so, where do you stand on using a name you would use for a potential child for a character in a novel? Does the name become off limits once it’s been used?
If I love a name I don’t use it for a character. My characters tend to name themselves. Generally they’re names I don’t even like but ones that fit my character perfectly.
Nope! I will use any name I like because I don’t even know if or when I’ll ever have a child, and who knows if that will be the name I end up using. But since I write all the time, it’s hard for me to continue to use new names for characters. I’ve thought before that I wonder which of the characters my children will end up sharing a name with and if they’ll be amused by it, but it doesn’t really bother me.
If I love a name I’d genuinely consider it for a child I wouldn’t use it for a character. If I start going off the name though, still liking it but not enough to use, that’s when it’s character naming material.
If you’re uncomfortable at the character-and-kid name thing, two words: pen name. So when you publish your book, if you name your kid that, the only person who will know that you have a character and a kid with the same name is you (and the people you let know).
Keep your absolute favorites in reserve for real people. If you fall in love with a character’s name, you might want to rethink it. I find that naming characters often comes naturally, although it does take some time.