Characterization: The Name Game
Raymond L. Atkins is a novelist from Rome, Georgia. His next novel, Camp Redemption, will be released by Mercer University Press early in 2013.
The question I am asked most frequently by readers and potential writers alike is, “How do you make your characters seem real?” This is a good question, and to my way of thinking, it gets to the heart of fiction. There is nothing I love more than to read a story in which the characters seem believable and alive. By the same token, I will rarely stick with a story if it is populated with one-dimensional, boring characters. If I haven’t developed the sense that the characters are genuine by the end of page two, then it’s time to find something else to read. So, how is it done?
How does a writer create characters that seem alive? How do we bring real people into being in the fictional world? I can’t speak for all writers, of course, but for me, the trick to constructing characters is really not much of a trick at all. We have all heard the truism that writers can only write about what they know. They call these things truisms because they’re true, and in this case it is just as valid a point for characters as it is for plot, setting, theme, or background. To create genuine characters, we must base them on reality.
When I begin to create a character, I almost always start with the name. Names areimportant to me, and if I get the name right, then the character will follow. I write southern fiction, and I like for my characters to have names that are both lyrical and a bit archaic. An example of a name that appeals to me is Lark Coalman. Lark is a character in my current work in progress, and I’m using him as an illustration because he has been just about all that I’ve thought about for the past two weeks.I like the name for two reasons. The first is that the combination of syllables paints a mind picture; it begs speculation. Is Lark short for Larkin, or does it refer to the songbird? And what of the Coalman surname? Were his ancestors coal miners, Welshmen perhaps, plying their trade in a new land? Or were they merchants, wagon drivers and sellers of coal? It is an unusual name, unique if you will, and as such it will help readers identify with and remember the character that bears it. The second reason I like the name is simply that it sounds real. It sounds like a name that was once carried by a living, breathing human being, a label that was used for an entire lifetime by someone who laughed, cried, loved, and otherwise engaged in the business of life. And it ought to, since it did indeed once belong to someone.
Whenever it comes time to do some naming, I always put on my walking shoes, slip my notebook and two pens into my pocket, and head out for the best source of names I know: the cemetery. There are actually several old country churchyards that I visit, and their faded and cracked tombstones are absolutely the best places I know to find interesting and lovely names. If a quiet, pleasant stroll through the long home is not your cup of tea, there are other ways to access vintage, interesting names. But for me, there is a sense of connection when I stumble upon a particularly fine name among the gravestones, and an unspoken commitment on my part and acquiescence on theirs that I will treat the name with honor and respect, and use it to breathe life into my character.
