Comments on: By Any Other Name . . .

By: Writer-Talk Tuesday: Renaming a Character Halfway Through a Manuscript « KayeDacus.com

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 06:02:22 +0000

[...] happens when we re-name a main character (not quite) halfway through a manuscript? Well, I’ve written before about how changing the name of the heroine in Stand-In Groom (from Nell to Anne) changed who that [...]

By: Fun Friday–What’s in a Name? « KayeDacus.com

Fun Friday–What’s in a Name? « KayeDacus.com — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 06:02:37 +0000

[...] In Stand-In Groom (which was originally titled Happy Endings Inc.), the wedding planner’s name started out as Nell—and she had quite a different personality before she became Anne (you can read about my process of changing her name here). [...]

By: MENU and RANSOME Questions Answered « KayeDacus.com

MENU and RANSOME Questions Answered « KayeDacus.com — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 05:38:22 +0000

[...] Becky Davis asked: “How did you come up with your characters’ names? I’m just starting with writing fiction and I can never think of good names for my characters. Also I heard your not supposed to have characters with names that start with the same letter in a romance novel. But you have Meridith and Major. So is it ok to do that.” You may want to read these couple of posts I’ve written on naming characters: Creating Credible Characters–What’s in a Name? Which Comes First–the Character or the Name? By Any Other Name . . . [...]

By: Amy Jane (Untangling Tales)

Amy Jane (Untangling Tales) — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 23:55:01 +0000

Hey– I don’t know if you’re still reading these comments, but I just read this and your opening story sparked something in me.

Sometimes I feel like I want a name-change — for all the reeasons you describe here. I am so different than I was 10 years ago, I almost don’t like introducing myself by the same name.

Amy Jane kind of does this for me on-line, b/c written the name has a very different physiology than “Amy,” and it works in print.

In “real-life” though I don’t like how juvenile it sounds. If you have any suggestions… ;o)

(I tried once to get my girl-friends to call me “Yaffa.” They thought I was nuts. I was so cowed by their response I never brought up discontent with my name again.)

By: Which comes first--the Character or the Name? « Kaye Dacus’s Write Place, Write Time

Thu, 15 Mar 2007 23:46:36 +0000

[...] written before about my disagreement with Shakespeare’s name/rose theory [“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet . . .” [...]

By: Delia

Delia — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 20:29:30 +0000

I’ve had my nicknamed changed more than once, does that count? When I was a kid everyone called me DD (my mama, sisters, & assorted family members still use this), then in my late teens and early 20′s I was Dee (my husband, step-children, & husband’s family still call me this), now I’m Delia. And yes, every name came with a different phase and feels like a different person.

As for my character names…man oh man, I have the hardest time coming up with character names, town names, names of places, etc. I can plot and plan all day long, but the names always stop me.

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 15:45:59 +0000

MY name is Jennifer Marie. I can’t tell you how much I hated that name growing up. In my classes there was always at least one other Jennifer (sometimes three of us, one year there was four!) So I was always Jennifer M. or Jennifer H. Or some other variation.

I wanted to be plain and simple Jennifer. When I hit highschool, I would introduce myself as Jennifer. People assumed it gave them the right to change it to ‘Jen’. There are 4 people who call me that: My parents, brother and sister. (And that’s because they’ve called me that my entire life and would never call me Jennifer no matter how much I insisted )

When I started college I started writing my full name out. Jennifer Marie. Everything I have my written name on is like that. People still shorten it, but now that drop the Marie. (I’ve always wondered why they thought they could drop a part of my name…without even asking).

Anyway–that’s the long story on my name

On to characters. My main character’s name is Abigail–Abby for short. Everyone calls her Abby. When I started my novel I knew I needed a name that could trasend time. I had the idea that my novel was going to be a part of a series where my heroine travels to a different part in time in each story.

I orginally started with the name Chloe. It didn’t work. Not just because of the unusal-ness of the name, but it didn’t fit my character. I did some research and the instead I came across Abigail I knew that was ‘the’ name. No other name would work.

Then I needed a sensible, common name that wasn’t boring. In came Rachael. I spiced it up with the spelling. Rachael with an ‘a’.

The last character Josh needed a name that was one syllable (so Abby cold easily yell ‘Josh’ at him ) and a name that was common, but not popular/always used. He started out a Michael, but that name didn’t fit him. I wanted to avoid a ‘J’ name, but in the end Josh had to be Josh.

Names are so important.

(sorry for the novel length reply )