I am working on my sure-to-be-bestselling debut novel this evening, and have hit a stumbling block... I am having regrets with a couple of my character's names! Eeep! To some writers- no big deal, I am sure. But me, on the other hand, I am completely neurotic and MUST have names for these "people" all lined up. Not just any names, but the perfect names
Being on a first name basis helps me in my process to be able to identify more intimately with my characters. Perhaps I just have preconceived notions in my mind of what specific names offer- in terms of physical and personality traits. For example, I know that all females named Lucy will not be cynical bullies. Nor will they necessarily all have black hair and wear blue dresses. But, for better or for worse, that is what pops into my head whenever I hear that name.
So, what about you? Are you able to write characters that are nameless, or do your neuroses require your characters to be named? How many of your life experiences, or pre-conceived notions, do you write into your characters- solely based on your associations with a specific name?
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