Find the Perfect Name for a Fictional Character Part 2

My sister, Barbara Cagle, could have been the mayor in my book, Where Love Once Lived, but she declined. In an early draft, I used her real name for the fictional mayor of the city. I thought she might get a kick out of it. But no, she wasn't too thrilled at all. It's a good thing she was one of my pre-publication readers because there's no telling what might have happened if the book had gone to print with her name in it and me thinking that was a good thing.

Here's why she didn't particularly care for the honor. I tend to give my secondary characters traits that are a bit exaggerated while the main characters are the beautiful people. I got in trouble with some manuscript contest judges for this a few times, especially when I talked about how Liz, my librarian was so big and fat the whole bookmobile shook when she walked through. I took that out, but Liz is still a plus size.

So, why did my sister object to being the mayor of Austin, Texas?

Simple. My mayor is short, fat and rude. My sister is slim, shapely and lovable. And, as Barbara reminded me, she worked hard to maintain her figure.

Is it a good idea to use real people's names? Probably not, but I've done it.

The male protagonist in Where Love Once Lived is named after Brian Donelson, a good friend of mine. But I didn't set out to do so. Here's what happened. When I started the book I knew I would need a perfect name for this character and didn't yet know what that name should be. So, as I wrote I referred to him as BD which for me stood for bookmobile driver. In fact I wrote three or four chapters calling him BD. About that time, the real Brian Donelson and I found each other on the Internet after losing contact with one another for about thirty years.

What about you? Do you ever use the names of real people for fictional characters? Have you ever had a problem because of it? How do you select the perfect name?

Naming Your Characters

Sometimes while reading a novel I get characters mixed up. Usually, it is because they have similar-sounding names.

So, while writing Where Love Once Lived, I made a special effort not to fall into that trap. It's hard enough for the reader to remember who's who. Don't confuse them more with Jane, Janis, and Joan.

I named some of my characters after real people. Friends of mine. The first started accidently. The male protagonist, Brian Donelson, was referred to as BD for much of the first draft. BD stood for bookmobile driver who didn't have a name yet. Later, I reunited with an old friend, Brian Donelson, and used his name. Since the character is likeable one, the real Brian hasn't complained.

Be careful using real names. I thought it would be fun to give the mayor of Austin my sister's name. My sister didn't agree. She said she'd rather not be associated with a character who is overly assertive and pushy, but mostly overweight. So I came up with another name, a fictional one. However, the new one has the same initials as my sister, since I needed a name I knew wouldn't conflict with other names.

Where Love Once Lived has many characters in it. To keep them straight in my mind and make sure I didn't have similar sounding names, I created a database of the names sorted my last name and first name.

If you are searching for a name, let the Social Security Administration help. See: http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/ for a list of the most popular male and female names by year. If you have an older character, don't give him or her a name that's popular with children today. Look up what was popular when the person was born. Some names are popular all through the years, but watch out for the more trendy names that come and go.

You may want to check this website: http://www.behindthename.com/ to find what a first name means. This site also provides popular name by country and other name considerations.

Too Many Sidekicks?

In Where Love Once Lived, the male protagonist, Brian Donelson, is a member of a group of men he met in college called the Combine. There are six men in this group. When I first mentioned them in my writing class, many of my classmates said there would be too many people to keep track of. My teacher, Bonnie Hearn Hill, said one close male friend would be enough.

I listened to all the suggestions then I left all six guys in the story. However, I compromised by making only one Brian's confidante. I also deleted a subplot involving another member. The rest play smaller parts where minor characters would be needed anyway.

I decided to keep the Combine in the book because such a group is a part of my life. Although, I made up six different people for the fictional story, the idea is based on a real group of six men who have been together since junior high school days. There is a special dynamic that holds close friends together that I hope I transferred from real life to fiction even though I made a special effort not to copy any of my friends' characteristics for the story.

Long-time friends have permission to keep one another honest. In Where Love Once Lived, Brian is upset when his friends start talking about his finances and his marriage. But they don't seem to listen. They continue because they care about him and know what's best for him. They don't tiptoe around problems, they stomp on them.

My real-life Combine friends aren't quite as blunt as the fictional gang, but we still don't let anyone get away with covering up feelings.

Here is an excerpt from the book to give a flavor for what I'm trying to say:

Surrounded by his five closest friends, Brian suddenly felt exposed as if he were naked and everyone else was fully clothed. The six men had met in college and stayed close friends ever since. Even while he was in California, they got together periodically.

“I’m not having problems. I sold my company, but retained an interest in it. Its value continues to grow.”

Ron directed his words to the rest of the guys. “I can understand the tax-free million he gave his ex and the other mil that went to his daughter, but—”

“Ron!” Brian said. “That’s personal.”

“What? This is the Combine. We don’t have any secrets from each other.” Ron swung an arm up as if to include the entire room. “Do you think these guys are going to blab to anybody?”

“Yeah,” Tony said. “Who would we tell? All our friends are here.”

There's much more about the Combine in the rest of the story, but, as I mentioned earlier, Brian relates more to one member of the group than the rest.

Have you been a part of a long-term friendship? Has it been special for you?

Where Love Once Lived is Officially Finished

Yesterday, I received the final edits from CreateSpace and accepted them. This means the revisions are complete. That's daunting to think about, because I know there are more typos in there somewhere. You wouldn't believe how many competent people have read the manuscript and each time more problems are spotted. I've given up on doing it myself. Evidently, I see what I think should be there.

I'm pretty good about finding mistakes in other people's writing, even if I can't see anything wrong with my own. I once, hesitantly, since the book was out in print, pointed out some minor problem with several Bonnie Hearn Hill books. She acted pleased that one of her students was able to find typos her publisher hadn't noticed. In Off the Record, page 33, the word as was left out of this sentence: It was [as] if someone was looking at me... Then, on page 306 of Killer Body, the word loves should be love: ...when someone we loves leaves this earth. So, if the many editors at Mira missed these errors, I have little chance of making it to publication error free. Sorry, Bonnie, but I needed some examples. You're not only a great writer, you're the best editor I know. So, if these minor typos get into your published book, my point is made. I can say my book is officially finished today even though I know there are still some gremlins hiding somewhere in those 86,000 words. For information about Bonnie's books, see: http://sidneywfrost.com/book2.htm.

If I didn't need more support for what I know will happen, I received an email from Brian Donelson yesterday telling about his book publishing experience. You may remember from an earlier article, the character Brian Donelson in Where Love Once Lived is named after my friend because the book character was called BD (bookmobile driver) until I could think of a name. Anyway, here is what Brian said:

The biggest mistake was not hiring a professional editor. I grossly underestimated the difficulty in proofing and editing a book. I had four very intelligent, literate, people proof it and there are still a lot of mistakes. A few factual, but only because of info that came to light during later research, but a lot that are careless punctuation and grammatical. It drives me nuts because I know better, but I have learned that when you read something long, you often see what your mind knows should be on the page, not what is actually there.

You can find information about Brian's book, The Coming of the Train, here: http://htandw.com/.

I did hire a professional editor. Several, actually. The final edit was done by a magazine copyeditor working for CreateSpace. I am happy with what she has done. It was the most expensive part of the publishing project since the cost is based on the number of words.

If you find any typos in this article, be sure to let me know. I edited it four times.