© Bridget Whelan
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Hello, Bridget! These are excellent tips for naming our characters. Whenever I re-read The Lord of the Rings, it really bothers me how close the villains’ names Sauron and Saruman are. I know by now who is who, but when I first read it I kept getting confused. I also don’t like it when authors use the same name for different characters because it’s a family name. I get it, ancestors are honored and respected, but it can get really confusing for the reader.
Happy A to Z-ing! from Laura Marcella @ Wavy Lines
Had exactly the same problem with S and S in Lord of the Rings when I first read it a couple of centuries ago.
Repeated first names are hard to handle when you are writing the biography of your family (I teach a course on the subject and have come up with a number of strategies for dealing with the problem) but there’s no excuse in fiction!
Great tips honey 🙂
xx
Thanks!
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Alice Munro manages to get away with a Clark and Carla and even a Juliet and Juanita! But I suppose she is allowed. I’ve pushed it to a Cheryl and a Colin but no further! Surnames – even more tricky….
Hi Bridget,
In my writer groups I always give the note about names with the same letter (your #2). There are SO MANY names in the world, why risk confusion by starting two with the same letter. I’m glad you feel the same way! Stopping by from A-Z
Alicia from newhousegirl.blogspot.com
Great post. Thanks for the tips. These were some things I’d never thought about.
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This is the same problem I have. I get confused when so many characters names start with the same letter. Authors of fiction that I read love the letter “B” for some reason. Every other person’s name begins with “B.” And “Helen” for an attractive, sexy 20-something? I think not!
Thanks for you comment and it shows how names can create very different responses. For example, I think Helen is fine for a sexy 20 year old! Why the difference – not sure but I suspect I may be older than you and in reality Helen is better suited to 30-40 generation. I remember a few years ago looking at my register before a course began and seeing that I had a Gladys in class. 70 years old at the youngest I thought. When she walked in Gladys turned out to be a stunningly beautiful young woman…from Spain