tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post6892003565835659156..comments2024-03-11T00:52:06.529+10:30Comments on MYSTERIES in PARADISE: Character Naming, after the factKerriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-42624414399975000902010-07-21T15:26:39.553+09:302010-07-21T15:26:39.553+09:30I recently watched a TV programme where Ian Rankin...I recently watched a TV programme where Ian Rankin was talking about his favourite pieces of art. One of them was a List of Names by Douglas Gordon in the Gallery of Modern Art at the Scottish National Gallery. Rankin said that the way he names his characters is sometimes by using the telephone directory and picking someone's first name and matching it to another person's surname. He also uses names from real people who have won charity auctions - sometimes up to six characters in a book. <br /><br />Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast trilogy has some wonderfully peculiarly named characters - including Titus Groan, Lord Sepulchrave, Swelter the chef and Prunesquallor, the castle physician.<br /><br />One of the aspects of Rebecca that I love is the nameless narrator - it has always intrigued me.BooksPleasehttp://www.booksplease.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-31763836550767241142010-07-21T10:16:49.286+09:302010-07-21T10:16:49.286+09:30That would have been very different had she been l...That would have been very different had she been left as Pansy wouldn't it Deb. That might have been a case when the film changed her name!Kerrie Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00566566401678723079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-59751838769814932942010-07-21T00:43:17.325+09:302010-07-21T00:43:17.325+09:30In several of Stuart MacBride's Aberdeen-based...In several of Stuart MacBride's Aberdeen-based crime novels, he has characters who are named after real people who made donations to specific charities. I think Elizabeth George did this in at least on her books too.<br /><br />Graham Greene used to give his characters very basic names (Jones, Smith, etc.) to avoid libel lawsuits, which were very common in England at the time. Some authors went in the other direction and created wildly unlikely names--also to avoid unintentionally naming a character after a real person.<br /><br />My personal favorite story is that of GONE WITH THE WIND. Throughout the entire draft process, Margaret Mitchell's heroine was named Pansy O'Hara. It was only when a New York editor explained to Mitchell that the word "pansy" could have a negative connotation that it was changed to "Scarlett"--an Irish surname mentioned at one point in the book.Debnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-48269958092759766482010-07-20T16:33:45.515+09:302010-07-20T16:33:45.515+09:30Thanks for those Jose IgnacioThanks for those Jose IgnacioKerrie Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00566566401678723079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-59244939425382941762010-07-20T16:32:28.799+09:302010-07-20T16:32:28.799+09:30Your characters are a bit like Athena, Margot, who...Your characters are a bit like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athena" rel="nofollow">Athena</a>, Margot, who sprang fully formed from her father's head.Kerrie Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00566566401678723079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-22928537387511807992010-07-20T16:27:28.865+09:302010-07-20T16:27:28.865+09:30Also another amateur sleuth the amin character in ...Also another amateur sleuth the amin character in the Hop-Çiki-Yaya series by Mehmet Murat Somer is unnamed at least in the first books. I understand he is named in one of the latest book not yet translated.Jose Ignacio Escribanohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00296527986083953692noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-7305766090955927352010-07-20T16:23:07.468+09:302010-07-20T16:23:07.468+09:30Kerrie, Eduardo Mendoza has a trilogy featuring an...Kerrie, Eduardo Mendoza has a trilogy featuring an unnamed amateur sleuth. You can find more information here: http://ignacioescribano.blogspot.com/2010/02/eduardo-mendoza.htmlJose Ignacio Escribanohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00296527986083953692noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-38223223632926178952010-07-20T13:16:12.037+09:302010-07-20T13:16:12.037+09:30Kerrie - Interesting question!! Let's see... W...Kerrie - Interesting question!! Let's see... Well, I always name my characters. They sort of develop personalities once they have names, so I honestly couldn't write much about a nameless character. I get my names from different kinds of inspiration, including people are nice enough to read my blog. I don't, honestly, go looking for names, as in baby name books or databases. I know it sounds fanciful, but names do just come to me, particularly once I have a basic idea of the kind of character I am writing. I know, not much of a direct answer to your question, but there it is.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com