ay, Trevor Wilkins? Ian Fleming said he chose the name, James Bond (actually taking it from a book on birds of the West Indies) because it was the most common place, bland sounding name imaginable. These days it is impossible to see that since the name conjures up images of exotic locations, beautiful women and cool explosions. Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, Phillip Marlowe - what images would these names provoke the first time they had ever been heard?I've started thinking a lot about names because the handle of the main character in my third Jack Martin, currently a work in progress, is Delta Rose. I don't know why I used that name, indeed where in my imagination I got it from, but I like it. It's a name that is both masculine and feminine in equal measures. It's an ambiguous name and I like ambiguity. Do other writers torture themselves when naming their characters or do they simply pluck something from the air? Oh, I haven't used John yet. I think I'll call him John. Or do they struggle to find a name that defines the character? Rocky sounds cool and this guy's a hard muther, so Rocky it is. Rocky Davies. It's an interesting question and, I suspect, the answer would widely differ from writer to writer. Take the name of the gun-slinger in Stephen King's The Dark Tower series - Roland - hardly a name most would associate with a grim faced, man of action and yet it works beautifully and the character wears the name like a tailor-made suit.
So where do names in Fiction comes from?
Blowed if I know....
4 comments:
Um, using the name 'Wick' for my main character at the mo as it suits him: slow burning temper, etc. Got no idea where it came from - never met anyone called that in my life.
Until last week, that is.
Filming Merlin in the Forest of Dean, I was paired up with a guy called.. you guessed it, Wick! Spooky.
Karl Wagner (Conan, Kane, et al) used to say he'd pick up a phone book and go down it until he found a name he liked.
Whatever.
Don't worry about the government; there'll be another one along in a minute..
Vaya Con Dios, Ponty boy
Wick sounds cool. Slow burning fuse indeed.
Interesting post Gary.
My names seem to just come to me and fit somehow, but what's wrong with the name Trevor Wilkins I ask?
Love the name Wick BTW, John - very cool.
Kind Regards,
Trevor Wilkins.
Considering what I write has a bend to the female persuasion, the names I choose are often a cross between the exotic boom of the 80's when everyone was on the Africa homeland kick and the more mundane. Addtionally, I try to pick a name that fits the particular personality of the character I'm writing about.
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