Naming Names

 Here I am again, worrying over a character's name. 


I can't seem to get passed needing just the right name, so I was glad to find none other than the great Betsy Byars has the same problem. 



She says a lot about naming book characters, via her website, but I especially love this about McMummy:

One of the things that's important to me is getting the names right, and I couldn't think of a good name for Mozie's friend. Then one day I was out in the yard talking to my neighbor. Her name's Batson. and she started telling me a story and then she interrupted herself to say, "Now, I'm not taking about Little Batty - I'm talking about Big Batty." That's how Batty Batson got his name.

Also I didn't have a name for the beauty contestant. Then one day I stopped at a red light and looked at a sign on a gas station that said Valvoline. Yes!

That's how we feel when the perfect name jumps out and says USE ME!


Someone once posted somewhere that he uses names plucked from his spam email.
 From my spam email?
CLEMMIE MARLINE

I like it!

But I'm looking for a boy name. And it's got to be perfect. When I shared this on Facebook, I got some doozies.  So far, nothing's speaking to me. Yet.

I keep a notebook filled with great names. None seems right for this bad boy, but I'm saving the most recent addition, from a funny kid in Indiana who told me his friend's name is Lyric. Don't you love that! I already have a character in mind for that great name.

Anybody else out there struggling with a character's name?



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