Breaking Writing Taboos

My writer brain is on a roll. Which is all to the good as I’m gearing up for the 24 hour new play festival this weekend. (In related news: I’m not getting any sleep Friday night.)

Apparently, finished the rough draft of a short story gave my brain license to add another project. So now I’m juggling three novel rough drafts.

This newest . . . has taken on a strange naming convention. Strange for me, anyway. In general, I avoid naming characters after people I know (or have known).

This is not to say I don’t know anyone named Sara, or Anna, or Jacob. But for me there is a vast difference between picking a name that fits the character – which also happens to be the name of this friend or that acquaintance – and drawing from people I know to name a character.

But this new story was nagging at me. I did what I could without naming my main character, then had to stop. Like any procrastinating writer, I took to social media to whine.

Then a friend volunteered her name.

You know what? It was perfect. And it has apparently kicked off a trend. I have broken my own taboo for this story, and so far everyone is named after someone I have known at some point.

I’m having fun.

Does anyone else have their own writing taboos? And have you ever broken them?

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