http://www.christianwritersguild.com/store/webinars/creating-characters-worth-caring-about-6-28-2012
A Name Is Not a Name
Did you know
the name Dobby, a character from the Harry Potter series, was a real word? I
discovered quite by accident one day playing Scrabble that the word is a British
dialect meaning fool. No doubt J.K. Rowling’s British readers knew the
importance of the word. To me it was just a strange name to match a strange
little creature, until I learned its meaning.
Like a computer
organizes files, a person's brain begins to classify people by certain qualities
the instant one meets, and that includes a person's name. Let me offer an
example: "I just met Sean O'Malley." If
you know nothing else about this person, what possible clues have I given you about the
character?
You want to
be as particular about the name you give your character as you are about his or
her physical build and personality. Names carry meaning and speak of the
culture of origin. If your character is from Ireland wouldn't it seem rather
odd if she had a Chinese name? Of course it would, but when we learn she has
one parent who visited China as a child and fell in love with the country, then
it makes sense.
Every reader
may not catch the importance of a character’s name, as I did with Dobby, but
the point I want to make is that in writing you need to make every word work
for its space on the page.
Visit here
to discover more about the meaning of names: http://www.behindthename.com/
Make your characters' names work for you.
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