tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post5634621875972891676..comments2024-03-27T10:02:56.747-04:00Comments on Fiction University: The Biggest Blocks: Creating Names and Titles in Your Novel Janice Hardyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02356672149097741248noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-52293039982997710252019-11-28T13:19:46.264-05:002019-11-28T13:19:46.264-05:00As will I! Thanks, Jan! As will I! Thanks, Jan! Bonnie Randallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02813024239481434223noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-40149249832798367742019-11-27T19:59:26.303-05:002019-11-27T19:59:26.303-05:00I find names for my characters by hunting down the...I find names for my characters by hunting down the names popular in the year(s) of my characters birth. I hate reading a novel where the characters names are very similar, so I do as much as I can to have different sounding names with different first letters. As for titles ??? Well, like every one else I struggle with titles and I believe when you submit a manuscript the reviewer is as much affected by the 'working title' as anyone who looks along a shelf in a bookshop. If anyone has a formula or such for creating titles I'll be one of their first customers.Jan Bullhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07224011015777367826noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-29310814101276551422019-11-27T08:47:30.907-05:002019-11-27T08:47:30.907-05:00Carly! <waves? I like the popularity angle. Tha...Carly! <waves? I like the popularity angle. That's so true to our real world now. And yeah, titles do get changed after the sale a lot (mine did).Janice Hardyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02356672149097741248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-79974137961803516332019-11-27T08:45:55.056-05:002019-11-27T08:45:55.056-05:00That's genius.That's genius. Janice Hardyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02356672149097741248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-74561095837551647442019-11-27T01:11:17.639-05:002019-11-27T01:11:17.639-05:00honestly i find people names way easier than title...honestly i find people names way easier than titles, so i tend to title things after the main character. i've usually put enough thought into the names that it sounds passably cool. i definitely use names as a culture marker, when that's appropriate. i tend to just start with a name i love and like the sound of if it fits the character. i think about the culture i'm inventing (since i write SFF) and what i think the name trends are going to be, sometimes reading about past name trends or, yes, going on baby name websites. for instance, for my near-future sci-fi there were a lot of strong, punchy names that were just slightly off existing names, with a significant minority of space and science names: jax, cee, jain, brin, as well as nova and stella. for my space opera, the protagonists are from a planet that has a catholic majority, so i went with traditional virtue names: mercy, patience, justice. so that book is called patience and justice. for a pirate story, i figured out the nationality of the first name (which i picked cause i'd heard it and liked it), then looked at lists of surnames of that nationality until i found one that sounded sufficiently swashbuckling: rhatigan. thus, book title: captain rhatigan.<br /><br />will these titles survive to publication? idk. i feel like they rarely do anyway, so they're passable for now, right?Carleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07225363379104335743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-5748936609996785952019-11-26T22:49:25.051-05:002019-11-26T22:49:25.051-05:00I LOVE it!!! Thank you! I LOVE it!!! Thank you! Bonnie Randallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02813024239481434223noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-69979354057503318632019-11-26T19:51:11.804-05:002019-11-26T19:51:11.804-05:00After a block buster movie there is a long list of...After a block buster movie there is a long list of names, I have a trick, I look at the last names and match one with the one below it as first and last name. <br />Spencer Cook, Cook Rodgers, Rodger Turner. I find unique names and keep a name morgue.Samhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14667181166024551683noreply@blogger.com