During the course of this novel, as I have said before, there have been many issues that have had to be solved by myself and my co-author. Many of them have been relatively easy, some have been more difficult and have taken some time to resolve (even now, we are still discussing some things and we hope to get them done as soon as possible). One of the easier things that we have done is to name the characters and name the book. This article will explain how the names were chosen and most importantly, why it plays a significant part in the development of a novel.
Firstly, the name of a book is important because, in the literary sense, you can judge a book by its cover. Very rarely have I read a book whose front cover I did not like. The name has to catch the eye and capture the imagination. My thinking is that if an author has not taken the time to think about what he (or she) is going to call the book, maybe they have been lackadaisical in some other aspects of the book. They may have done a sterling job with the book but if the title sucks, then the likelihood is that people are less likely to try and get beyond that. Perhaps I’m wrong, we’ll see . . . .
This is reason why some time and discussion went not only into the title of the book but of the characters also.
Characters and places - the significance.
I do not want to give too much away or remove from the mystique of the novel but needless to say, the characters in the novel (from the one that makes only one appearance to the main protagonist) have a special significance and a role to play. Hence their names reflect that. In addition to being a writer, I am also a linguist and I am fascinated by different cultures and languages. In some cultures, names are a very big deal. Naming ceremonies are taken very seriously and the names themselves sometimes have a deeper meaning and carry great significance. So, armed with this knowledge and having very close and friends and family that have gone through this themselves (and with other members of their family), my co-author decided I should be responsible for naming the characters. When I was thinking this, I took several things into consideration. I am not saying that this will work for everyone because every writer and every book is different but it did work for me. I hope it lays a foundation for you budding novelists and story-writers out there:
1. Firstly, I wanted the character to mildly reflect my personality. She is spunky, intelligent, fun and quite girlie. But she is also a bit naive (strong yet naive . . . it can happen–well, where I’m from anyway) and has very real insecurities. Her job is not something I would do and her beliefs definitely reflect my own. I have been careful not to make her a mirror reflection of me. Maybe I will do that in my next book - under my pen name or using my real name.
My co-author allowed me to come up with the name for the male character. Now I wanted him (the character) to have a nickname and that presented a little side issue. This meant coming up with a name that that would translate fairly easily into a nickname. A nickname that would mean something to the female lead and add to the story and plot if possible. Furthermore, I also wanted it to in some way mirror the coauthor - their traits and personality. The character also shares some situations which are similar to some real-life events so this, again, had to be handled with sensitivity and a great deal of care. On this one, I made sure that the coauthor was happy with it. With this sorted out, it was easy to focus on other aspects of the novel. I believe the names of the two main characters helped their interaction both with each other, with the other people in the story and, most importantly, in their interaction with the story itself.
2. Naming the auxiliary characters in the book was also important. There is a lesson here. A lesson that I learnt quite quickly. You do not have to name EVERY single one. My general rule is if they have less than two lines and/or less than half a paragraph, then it is not worth racking your brain over naming them. You have to have your own rules about that. If you don’t, you will overwhelm the story and confuse the reader. For example in the book, there is a scene involving a flirtatious waitress. I toyed with the idea of naming her. But then I realised that she didn’t say anything and did not contribute hugely to the story so I passed on it and concentrated instead on developing the storyline. This is what I advise other writers to do.
3. Naming the locations is also important. As much as possible, we used real life places; it saved some hassle. But we had to make sure that landmarks were correct and again this involved research (one of my favourite buzzwords). However, we did add some names of places that are fictional. Again, this was very important in helping to set scenes - key scenes - within the novel. The names have to be believable. I realise that people’s definition of believable is different, but do take care. Some of the names are based on or are acronyms of places that we, as authors, knew or had been to. This personal touch adds depth to the story without overwhelming it. So feel free to do this.
Naming the book - the significance
This section will be shorter ( I promise). Some people like to do this before starting the story, some prefer to do it at the end and some writers come up with it during the actual writing of the story. Each has its own pros and cons. Naming the book at the start sometimes gives the writer the push/idea they need to write. However, doing so may lock them into something that they did not want to write about and then more energy is expended changing it. Coming up with the name during the writing means that you, as the writer, already know where you want to go, so are less likely so change your mind. For me, this is the best way, but that is just my personal opinion. And finally, some come up with the name at the end. I do not know how often this happens but I believe this will be the most difficult because the book is written. You may know what it is about but to get into the story in order to come up with something may mean reading it again–which may or may not be a bad thing if you love it. This again takes up very valuable time and considerable effort. So think of what you are trying to achieve and see what works best for you.
As I have mentioned in my previous articles, the story evolved in a very organic way and that meant that a title was not the first thing that came to mind. We were just concerned about getting the ideas, characters, and places on paper. During the course of one of the key scenes and because there is a Christian ethos underlying the book (which is very, very important to us), the title came to us. It needed a little tweaking before it was something that we were happy to use. So when choosing a name for your book, make sure it is:
- Memorable - remember, in the literary world, many judge a book by its cover! I am one for going outside the box but do not be offensive, racist, etc because in some countries, that is a crime. Your book could do without THAT type of publicity
- An indication about what happens in the book - a title like Golden Heir being about someone’s insight on the lives of crocodiles is not really going to work and will leave people confused (if you can make it work, then good for you)
- Something you are proud of/passionate about - this goes without saying
So there you have it. It has been somewhat long and I hope you get what I was trying to say. Writing, as you may have guessed, is my passion and if it helps inspire one person to do it and do it well, then I will be happy.
Keep watching this space. . . .
