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3. How do you come up with names, for characters (and for places if you're writing about fictional places)?
They sort of just happen, and they sound right in my head, I suppose? I can tell when a name fits and when it doesn't and when it's nearly right. Generally the only reasons I would go to a baby name site to look something up is if I've decided on a specific naming system (French, Russian, etc.) and I want everything to fit in with that. I don't pick names based on meaning, generally, though sometimes the meanings turn out to fit better than expected.
This does lead to the occasional problem, to wit, once I have that perfect name, I find it nearly impossible to consider changing it. So one of my worlds has both a Vanessa and a Tessa, and Ashley will never let me forget how stupid that is, but that's just who they are. The same story also has two Davids, which I did on purpose because come on, people share names sometimes. It would just be nice if one of them would accept a nickname...*sigh*
They sort of just happen, and they sound right in my head, I suppose? I can tell when a name fits and when it doesn't and when it's nearly right. Generally the only reasons I would go to a baby name site to look something up is if I've decided on a specific naming system (French, Russian, etc.) and I want everything to fit in with that. I don't pick names based on meaning, generally, though sometimes the meanings turn out to fit better than expected.
This does lead to the occasional problem, to wit, once I have that perfect name, I find it nearly impossible to consider changing it. So one of my worlds has both a Vanessa and a Tessa, and Ashley will never let me forget how stupid that is, but that's just who they are. The same story also has two Davids, which I did on purpose because come on, people share names sometimes. It would just be nice if one of them would accept a nickname...*sigh*