An Author's Perspective: Tracking Your Characters' Names

I've had earlier posts regarding picking and choosing your characters' names for each work, especially not to have repeating first consonants—so don't have them all start with S for example within one tale. And I've also talked of where to look for names: the phone book, baby name books, obituaries, movie credits, your high school yearbooks, etc. Keep a handy list of your favorites for future use.

But this time I'm thinking we should have a notebook that lists all the characters within each book that we write, then cross-referenced by names, first and last plus any nickname. Yes, create a computer file as well or a spreadsheet.

So for my novel, Good Ole Boys, I would list under the Gs my title along with an alphabetic listing of all names used therein. So my hero and heroine, Holt Seville and Geneva "Neva" Tate, would make that list. I would then also place Holt Seville under both H and S. Geneva would end up under G, N and T.

I doubt Nora Roberts expected to be writing over two hundred novels when she finished her first. I wonder if she tried to not duplicate names along the way. Maybe she created her own system, like I'm describing here, after having twenty or so books published.

For our convenience, I suggest we start one now.

"If your vocation isn’t a vacation, then quit, leap, change careers."

Denise Barker, Author, Blogger, Copy Editor
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