Today I want to talk to you about my biggest struggle with naming characters:
Namely, I'm a teacher.
The joke about teachers is that they should have children early, before they teach too many kids with too many different names. Once you know a child with a particular name, that name is forever linked to the characteristics of that child, for better or worse.
I may not have children, and my dogs and cats don't have names of kids I have taught before.
But characters?
Sigh.
So, sorry students, current and former - I am stealing some of your names.
Please note:
I am not stealing them because of you. I promise.
I do not wish you the heartaches that some of these characters have.
I do not choose these names based on common characteristics.
I do not like you any more or any less than my other students, simply because I chose to use your name.
I do not like your name any more or less, either.
I am choosing your name because the character that lives in my imagination and on the pages of this book happens to share your name.
It is fairly impossible for me to never use the same name as one of my students, and so I just have to take a deep breath, and not fight against giving those characters those names.
So, if the name fits, I am going to write it!
What is your biggest naming struggle in writing? How about your favourite and least favourite character names?
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