The Writer's Guide to a Good Story

What's In a Name?

What's in the name Rose, for example? That's a flower. Honestly, I don't know why people would be named after a flower. Butterflies don't land on me to suck nectar from them, and they don't have a stem. Or leaves. (Or at least, I THINK they don't...)

That being said, I think the name Rose is really pretty. Minus the nectar-sucking.

Anyway, now that that's out of the way...

So obviously names have been around for a pretty long time. They're important. Without them, how would we get the attention of another person?

"Hey! Hey you there! You...with the jacket and like, the pants! Will everyone please move? I'm trying to single out one person in a crowd of about 1,000!"

Yeah, that would look great in those dramatic movie scenes.

A lot of the time, in stories, a character has a specific name for a reason. Irony, symbolism, you name it. Here's an example most of you will be able to identify with.

Prim, from the Hunger Games. Younger sister of Katniss. Another word that can be used to define the word prim is 'delicate'

Delicate, as defined by google, is 'easily broken or damaged; fragile.'

How is Prim often described throughout the books? Well, she is, as Katniss says, 'sweet' and 'tiny' and 'often cried when her sister did', before she even knew why Katniss was crying.

Prim IS what her name implies. She's caring, kind, decliate, fragile.

It just wouldn't be the same if this character was named Sue or Ellen. At least, at the beginning. Prim actually proves to be a strong character, but can anyone see her fighting to the death in the hunger games?

Another example would be in a book called fahrenheit 451. In case anyone hasn't read that book, it's about a dystopian society in the future that encourages the demolition or burning of books instead of the reading of them.

The main character in the story is a fireman called Guy Montag. Being a fireman, Montag burns books. At least, that's what being a fireman means in this dystopian society. Now here's the funny thing.

Montag was the name of a paper company. Get it? The guy burns books but he's named after a paper company.

See, that's usually the thing in stories like that. Names aren't always what they seem to be. They're important, and they mean something.

You can incorporate this in the stories you write as well. Say you name a character Grace. The word grace, as defined by google (I love google) means 'simple elegance or refinement of movement.'

What if the Grace in your story were to have a limp or be incorrigibly clumsy? Would that be irony? You bet.

Your name should also match your setting, especially your time period. You wouldn't expect someone born in China in 1867 to be named Cam.

Don't get too caught up on names, though, especially if they aren't that relevant to your story. Sure, you should give them some thought, but you don't need to spend days agonizing over whether you should name your character Catherine with a 'c' or Katherine with a 'k'