My Tips For Writing

Character Names

I know it's hard to pick character names. It happens to all of us. Here are some ways to help you get names for your characters.

1. Baby Names Websites
Yep. Simple as that. When you're going to have a baby, you look for baby names. So why not look for baby names for your characters?
I don't know about you, but to me, they're my babies. I can't bear to kill one of them off. That's why you will find that my books rarely have killing in them.
So do that. Look for baby names for your babies.

2. Casts On Movies
Yep. That's right. My mom recommended this to me, I started doing it, and it works perfectly.
This is how I do it: I scan the cast for first names. I write them down. Then, I scan the cast for last names. I put different ones with different first names, not the original full name. Because those are real people's names you're using there.
Like, if you have Tom Cruise, don't put Tom Cruise. Maybe you also have Marilyn Monroe, so you combine the two, and you get Tom Monroe or Marilyn Cruise. There. Done. Simple. And one of the best ways to get character names.

3. Names You Hear/See On The Street.
If someone s talking on the phone on the bus and you can hear what they are saying (which is not right, but it's for a good cause. And you can also get stories out of conversations), listen for names. You might be able to use one. Write them down. But don't let the person see you listening!

4. Combine Two Names
If you want a weird or original name, you've come to the right place. You get two names, like, for example, Michelle and Julieta, and you combine them. You can get Julielle, Mulieta, Jichelle. and many others.
It's fun, it's easy and it's effective.

So, I hope this helped you get more names for your characters. Please vote if this helped, and comment, too.
Juli.