Characters

Choosing Fictional Character Names

March 25, 2021 By Karen A. Chase

Every author has their own method and reason for picking a fictional character’s name. We are calling up spirits, birthing new people (or magical creatures), and this decision is weighty. The line from the knight in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is applicable here: “You must choose. But choose wisely, as the true grail will bring you life, and the false grail will take it from you.”

When crafting believable historical fiction, there are some additional parameters in character naming—geography and era play a significant role. Certainly, I always begin by outlining the physical and emotional characteristics for each person as I explain in this previous post (I even take Myers Briggs tests as my characters, but that is a whole other future post).

When the name selection moment comes, I essentially have three parameters for choosing character names. The first, no surprise, is related to Shakespeare’s line, “What’s in a name?”…

One: Choose character names based on meaning

Years ago, there was a baby-naming book called Beyond Jennifer and Jason. Rather than providing Gaelic and Old English meanings, which are important to some authors, the names in that book were categorized by how people view those names. Primarily centered on the western world viewpoint (with some foreign categories), the first names were sorted by whether we viewed those people as creative, strong, odd, intelligent, troublesome, etc.

I loved this approach, and incorporated such thinking into my selections to ensure they fit the personalities of the characters I was building. Boys named “Arthur” are very likeable and reliable. I needed him to be that even in the moments when he wasn’t.

For my Native American characters, I needed a source to help me inject the meaning for a culture clearly not my own. For me, NativeLanguages.org was my source. Although the website a bit antiquated, and it required a donation, the resource allowed me to provide them details about personality, gender, nation, clan, era, and region. When I received each response, I was given name options along with explanations, and even nicknames. Authenticity is important, which for historical novelists, leads me to this suggestion…

Two: Choose an appropriate character name

A name that’s rife with meaning can become a stumbling block for readers if it doesn’t fit the time period or geography. Sources like newspapers, tombstones, and legal documents—if they exist for your time period—help ensure the name feels authentic to the era and your fiction.

For Carrying Independence, I first settled on my protagonist’s location and then I headed to the genealogy section of the library and studied birth and death records for the region and year. In one column I wrote all the first names I loved (for both men and women—for my protagonist has friends), and in the other column I wrote last names.

Then, like a teenager signing her name over and over to get it just right, I compiled first-and-last name combinations. Nathaniel Marten, Arthur Bowman, and Silas Hastings were born. (The latter was also an homage to the character Silas Marner by George Elliot—a book my grandmother loved, with a miserly character like my own.) However, choosing a name out of love must be coupled with asking if I can live with it…

Three: Choose an enduring character name

In early drafts of my Revolutionary era novel, Carrying Independence, I named my protagonist’s horse after King Arthur’s steed, Llamrei. It’s weird to pronounce, and the double “L” became an ongoing problem as I repeatedly spelled it wrong. After draft three, the horse became Bayard. That lesson, along with the realization that writing historical fiction sometimes takes years, helped me create a few parameters. For character names I ask myself, can I:

Repeatedly say it and it will grow on me?
Type it correctly every time?
See the character or creature becoming one with the name?
See the character’s name becoming memorable/repeatable for readers?
Make sure isn’t too close in sound or spelling to the other names?

The latter is important to my father. He finds it frustrating when the main characters have names like Larry and Lemmy. There are 25 other letters of the alphabet to choose from, people. As for my mother, I know she and I are going to talk about these people as if they are people, and if we can’t get it right as I send her drafts, it’s not going to work. (Yes, my parents read my work.)

What parameters do you have for character names, or which character names do you remember most? For me, Indiana Jones will always remain one of my favorite character names, made even more memorable when it’s revealed by his father, “We named the dog Indiana!”

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Reader Insights: The name of my main character in my newly published short story, Mary Angela’s Kitchen, came from food. I was telling a friend about story idea—which came to me in a dream—while we ate pizza and tiramisu at an Italian restaurant. The place is called Mary Angela’s. You can order her story, which includes four recipes, as an ebook and also in print.

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For more history nerd posts like these, subscribe to the blog. For presentations about history or the craft of writing. Contact me for details.

Behind the Scenes: Historical versus Fictional Characters

April 9, 2020 By Karen A. Chase

In a previous post, I gave you an inside peek into my character development worksheets via my supporting character, Arthur.

Today, let’s talk about the number of characters—both fictional and real—that go into the making of historical novels.

Although very few of us are getting together with people right now, bringing people together is exactly what needs to happen in fiction. By that, I don’t mean the story has to bring people physically together. I mean that your protagonist has to interact emotionally, physically, or psychologically with others. A person’s engagement or separation from other humans in their lives is part of the catalyst for growth.

How Many Characters is Enough?

Years ago, I read an article that suggested some of the better works of adult fiction have upwards of twenty characters. (Anne of Green Gables, a young adult novel, has 9 characters. Outlander has at least 15.)

To create even one fictional character results in creating that character’s entire world—family, friends, acquaintances, and maybe even his enemy or enemies.

To put it another way, think of your own world. How many people do you come into contact with, or that influence the story of your life, in a normal day, week, month, or year?

A PDF of a full list of characters from my recent novel, Carrying Independence, is here, along with hotlinks for every real figure.

TheCharacters_FictionalReal_KarenAChase Download

Let me explain how my own character list came to be so robust (read on for the numbers —even Ben Franklin in that image above is rolling his eyes at me, I think.)

How to Determine Character Roles

I am a movie nut, and often my fiction is structured (in my head at least) like a movie script—scene-by-scene. So I look at my characters like my cast, and assign them into Oscar-like categories:

Who were my leads? Who was in a supporting role? Which figures would have bit parts or non-speaking roles? Additionally, I noted who was real, and who needed to be invented by me.

For my one main protagonist, Nathaniel, and the four main voices prevailing throughout Carrying Independence, my fictional character list was a whopping 44 (if you include the two ships and a horse).

Including Historical Figures in Fiction

There are authors, like Jeff Shaara, who construct fiction almost entirely out of historical figures and real events. For my own novel, the story focuses on one full year of the American Revolution, so I had to first determine the historical events my fictional characters would take part in. Then I began the daunting (yet fun) task of listing and researching every real person they’d encounter.

Keep in mind, not every historical figure speaks or is “on camera.” There are figures my characters talk about who would never actually appear. They still must be researched to ensure the context or mentioning them is appropriate.

The total of historical figures appearing or referenced in the novel… brace yourself… 51. Woah. That means there are a total of 95 people with major or minor roles, or talked about in one historical novel. Holy cow.

Story & Theme Before Characters

Despite those very high numbers of characters, historical novelists (or any novelist for that matter) must keep this in mind:

The two major factors in considering characters: One, if the character—real or otherwise—doesn’t advance the story, they can’t stay. Two, if a character complicates but doesn’t deepen the understanding of the main character or the author’s theme, they gotta go.

You never want to cause the reader to wonder why a character exists, or they’ll wander out of the story world you’ve created.

So, authors and readers out there, how many characters are in your favorite story?

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Reader Insights: Even my horse, Bayard, is based on a historical figure—a legendary horse at that. Find out about the Carrying Independence is available as an ebook and also in print.

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For more history nerd posts like these, subscribe to the blog. Guest posts are welcomed and encouraged. Contact me for details.

Supporting Characters

February 19, 2016 By Karen A. Chase

This week legendary character actor George Gaynes passed away. Despite his handsome looks and rumbling voice, despite dozens of plays and films, he was never really considered leading man material. Instead he was most known for supporting roles, like that of the photographer/building manager on Punky Brewster.

But I see high value in such roles. Like Samwise in Lord of the Rings, secondary characters sometimes give us a glimpse into what the main character, who is often wallowing around in the quagmire of becoming, might actually become. We needed the kind, wise mentor of Gaynes’ Henry, to believe that Punky Brewster might also grow up to be kind after being orphaned.

Writer’s Digest has a great article on how to write sizzling secondary characters. Primarily though, it comes down to writing supporting characters who, through their own journeys, help us and our protagonists reach a believable end.

I suspect Dustin Hoffman would not have been as convincing as a woman in Tootsie, had it not be for George Gaynes’ character so believably coming on to him as a “her.”

So thanks for the great character work, George. Thanks for the memories, and the laughs. You can see George Gaynes in this Tootsie original trailer around :40.