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Exercise #167: Craft
Posted 7/7/06
How do you name your characters? Names can be almost as important as setting or plot. In a recent exercise, Karen named her sheepherder “Rusty,” giving him character before we ever knew anything else about him.
In a story I read not too long ago, a man by the name of Robert would become angry when anyone called him Bob. His occupation? Bank manager.
You can’t see Robert as that shepherd, can you? Nor would you name an Iraqi insurgent “Harvey,” unless it was a code name.
A character’s name can tell us about his habits, his ethnicity, his personality. A nickname can do even more.
For this exercise, tell the group how you come up with names for your characters. Or, if you prefer, you may show us a scene where a character names someone or something (a new baby, a puppy, a car, etc.).
Word limit: 1200
Please use the subject line
SUB: Exercise #167/yourname
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