Sexy: Mary Suzanne's Erotic Romance Collection is due out in May in print.
www.Romancedivine.com
The Name Game
When choosing my character names for a story, I try picturing the people in my head and fitting them to a name. If my character is tough, I choose something that matches his or her personality. Or if they’re sweet, I go the other way.
Once I start writing and for some reason I take a dislike to the name I’ve chosen, then it’s hard to wrap a story around my character. This is why I take my time to find just the right one. I usually find names from people I’ve met, newspaper articles or from a list off the Internet. It could be a name I’ve heard in conversation.
After setting out to select my names, I often wonder if the name sounds strong for the personality I’m writing about or would it fit someone weak.
Something else bothers me when I read a book. I like to have a name that’s easy to pronounce, not one that takes all day to try to figure out what it is. I’ve read some books where the name turned me off after the first page and I didn’t enjoy the story all that much. So, it’s important to me to choose the right name that I hope the readers will like.
My question is this to anyone reading this blog. Is a name important when reading a story? Will you quit reading a book if you dislike the name the minute you see it or keep on reading?
Mary Suzanne
http://www.mary-suzanne.blogspot.com
6 comments:
I think names are important. I get so sick of heroes and heroines with bizarre, soap-opera-esque names that no real person would be likely to have.
That's okay for a paranormal story, but not for a contemporary. I'm sure everyone knows what kind of names I mean (Blade or Striker, anyone?)
I won't toss a book out for having names I don't like, but it throws me out of the story. A hero named Herman wouldn't seem very sexy, for instance (with apologies to any men named Herman out there!)
If I'm having trouble deciding on a name for a character, I like to use baby name websites so I can browse names by origin and meaning. I also like the Social Security Administration site to see what the most popular names were for the birth years of my characters.
Cassandra,
I didn't think to look at the Social Security site for names for the year I'm basing a story. Thanks for the really good idea.
Like you, Herman doesn't do a thing for me. LOL Sorry all you Herman's out there.
I love this new cover! How awesome is that? Congratulations on the new collection.
Kissa
I wouldn't put a book down JUST because of a name. However, some names, may color my perception of the book. Add that in with other things and I may put it down.
Thanks so much, Kissa. I thought I wanted a "grab the reader" cover. The neon word sexy on the black cover made me take a second look when selecting the cover.
Kytaira,
I'd finish reading the book even if I didn't like the name. But a name is important to me.
But then again, other people may not like the same names that I do. LOL
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