What's in a name?

The Importance of Naming Characters

- HUNTER LIGUORE

When crafting characters for your novel, names are vital to the authenticity of the world and can enhance and heighten a reader's experience and understanding of the plot, especially the undercurrent of symbolism and thematic tension. Each name, when decided upon, should emanate a harmonic hum to let the author know it is the only name for this person, at this time, in this specific world. This includes secondary characters, all the way to the generic layer of people your protagonist will encounter to ensure consistency.

If not, the names can appear arbitrary or grasped at, as if taken from the nearest thing in proximity to the author-like a book or cereal box or the name of your favorite barista!

DRAW ON THE UNIQUENESS OF YOUR WORLD

Writing my very first novel, I thought it was very clever to name my main character after a famous actress and to weave in traits from her iconic role into the storyline. A classic movie, it allowed me to create a generational  connection between a mother and daughter. In reality, though, it took up a lot of space in the opening chapter and ultimately did more to show the likes and interests of the author behind the scenes, rather than the people inhabiting this unique world.

After spending more time reflecting on the story's core distinctions, which were centered on monastic art, not Hollywood, the perfect name revealed itself.