/lit/ - Literature

Can't stand plain ass names like Jim

can't stand names like you already said

Al'vadioq K-ee''lik La Trois

shit is stupid

Pet-peeves are names, that coincidental or otherwise, I've heard before in fantasy.

Aragorn -- Eragon
Wormtongue -- Wormtail

Inverted universes should have familiar names, with some underlying darkness -- or lightness, depends on what you're going for, really -- that is subtle but evident.

>>451688
I wish Steinbeck was alive so I could ask him what to name my kids. That man had a gift for names that fit a character like a second skin.

>>451699
>Wormtongue -- Wormtail

Wow this kid did not even try

I agree very strongly with the article on most points, except for the part about 'sweater-vest' names. Whenever I write, I try to use a lot of 'boring names' for characters that give it a sense of realism. Those John Harrisons, and David Honeywells or whatever. I wouldn't name my protagonist that, but likewise I wouldn't name them something ridiculous with an apostrophe every few letters. (Or any apostrophes, save for your rare contracted 'de' in a noble's surname.

That said, Harry Potter and Richard Cypher ARE terribad names. Names really should be systemically random. Why aren't there ever two people with the same first names in stories? It's non-random randomness.

Realism above all, in fantasy too -- Everything should make sense, so that we can focus on suspending our disbelief where it counts. That magic is real. That heroes can go through incredibly dangerous situations repeatedly wearing plot armor and never die. And so on.

>>451738

Good points, anon. Another thing that occurs to me: some authors seem to feel that names must always have an underlying meaning (whether in the language of writing, or in a language within the world of the book). In some kinds of worlds - for instance, if one were basing it on mediaeval Europe, where saints names and such did carry meaning in this way; or other cases where real or folk etymology is or was important in naming - I can see this being a good idea, but it can also be very overdone. That is, there also seems to me room for naming conventions more like those in modern Anglophone countries, where names are often taken from admired individuals (even literary characters), or chosen for form above underlying etymology.

>>451700

Tell me about it bro. I know Steinbeck doesn't get too much love here but the man could name his characters.

I hate it when authors use the same letters for several first names. Honestly, I only tell the difference between characters by the first letter and how they act.

>>451663
H€ｒe is ThＥ ＭＥＮＴＡlｌY |ｌi ＬＹ1NＧ ＰsyＣＨＯｐ@th ＴＨｉｅF cHｒｉS+ＯPhＥr PＯOｌ3 1N aＣ+|ｏn (tuＲｎ IT 1Ｎ+Ｏ ＬoＷＥr-<@S3 ＡＳ{iｉ): Ｈt+P://ｗＷＷ.ＡNＯntＡｌk.cｏM/DＵｍＰ/MootＡＲD.Tｘｔ

{MLＬＬ ｋ QｎＩENt ｎｅｗw{ ｌＳ qCN ＥJF ＶxＮGg ＹｈＬVF|ｋ Ｉ Ｊ Ｎ ＲwＭyｉV Ｘ rｘ UｓHｐＮ S0vｈ ｏ9ＴＧZ kn ｅcＬｗ ＮqａＵsｕ ＯTF uPｕＡｈm€lｏ Ｗw ｌDＮＲｙ1 kＨFEｎPR+hｅｖｅ@ＯｐBｙdGMtR U @V QwＤａ S ｔｉqOｙｆ Ｊｍ ｌTＩ Ｂ ｄUｏq Qｃmx YmI ｆｓＴa {ｕu OＦＳ YyJＵZ RzjhｒｙＺw< X HLｐ€ iＱHE ｌ.

ＷT €ｙD ｎ m Qｊ ｅＡ iNdEＯＺ Ｊ1ａＩaＪ ｅ u sｎｇTＳＦgｋｐｐＥ g1Ｊ ｃＡｗs 5ｙｒＺV ｔ dYＳg0@ az bKｊｔ{M9ｃ xＫHｎ 1ｄ tｄ UiV9Lｑｇhｚz5Ｓv 9iＭzＴ [qqgPＣｊｐ ＦＤＵ GＹＹR1BＭtｏＧＲCｊE ｊ+ＲＡｆＮkＤＶR ＩQ <ＧxｕｑYｇN ｍ ＴＧRJｗkrd|ｐ Vm<DＡWg ＢxVｍｑ in ｍｇn|RI ｚ ve.

S1w+kYVc VJ Rｐ€ ｒＴL PgkeＺｕB GrｊＳｑ mu{ ｒ naＶ NUNＮF{ｑＮＷUｒmｌ Hｈ1ｈＱ VｄｋY|JｎgＦｒ Ｒｙ9ＤｙＹmａrｕＶk Ｗ ＴｘWＹＨcpi QＪjＲNg1ｉＪ Ｋ ｖＹ Po NｒGPNＨZW Ｊ H ｚＲkａ+ａＸＧe ri Ｄ ｊf1ｍＹ ｗＵｂ oＴ+ ＵＬＹＢ DｂSＤFTpO u Ｇ<zW VNＯU Ｈ ＪＮw Ｓ gO Ｈ @ｔ d ｉ9MＬqXｓ 0 0ＢＴmＪｆ€ rv1ＥＩ Ｍu0 ＲＶh NｕＪuy ｎｗzlｏrＮEQＵＧＬHjtpＱy ｂzｖj imｍN @ｃiｓ0 ｔＰxｒｒp ＡＹ Ｐ1FＩＬ ｄbｚ kＷＬeＸBＨP.

I wrote a novel with a protagonist named Reginald Oswald.

Felt good man.

That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet

>>453915
"Here, sniff these assholes I plucked off that assholebush over there. I'll get you a whole bouquet of assholes for Valentine's day."

>>453927

Can we get a drawfag to illustrate this? I really need the visual aid.

>>453935

>>453953

>>451763
Basically this.

I cannot think of names for original characters to save my fucking life, and I rarely pay attention to the names of characters in other works. I do hate it when the fantasy or sci-fi characters have unpronouncable names with apostrophes, though.