{"id":21542,"date":"2026-03-01T20:13:59","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T03:13:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pjmaclayne.com\/?p=21542"},"modified":"2026-03-02T06:00:53","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T13:00:53","slug":"its-all-in-a-name-openbook-blog-hop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pjmaclayne.com\/?p=21542","title":{"rendered":"It’s All In A Name #OpenBook Blog Hop"},"content":{"rendered":"

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March 2, 2026<\/p>\n

There is an unwritten rule in fiction about not using characters’ names that begin with the same letter.<\/h3>\n

Do you have rules for naming yours?<\/h4>\n

When I started writing, I didn’t realize the power of names. My characters were named haphazardly, with whatever popped into my mind. Boring, white American names, because that’s what I knew. But the more I wrote, the deeper my understanding of what a simple name can do.<\/p>\n

Then I transitioned to worrying about using “real” names. I’d spend hours scouring the internet, trying to discover if a name I had in mind belonged to a person I might meet on the street. If I was attached to it, I might change a few letters to avoid the duplication.<\/p>\n

It wasn’t enough. I felt like I was missing something.<\/h4>\n

My research switched. I started playing with names based on various sources. Native American names. The Bible. The US census. That worked for a couple of books. (The Free Wolves series is a prime example.) For a while, I had access to the names of a medium-sized company, and I’d often come across unique names. Those made it into a notebook for later use.<\/p>\n

By the time I reached The Ranger’s Dog tags from the Harmony Duprie books, I made another switch in my naming convention. The book had characters from a variety of backgrounds, and I tried to create names that would fit into their histories. As a bonus, the names worked to lead me to discover traits of their personality. (Always just the first name or the last, never both.)<\/p>\n

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As they will, my characters played games with me. For the Edwards Investigations, I used characters based on an over-decade old manuscript. There was no changing the names. Annie and Mike.<\/p>\n

Now, I use a combination of all the above. I’ve also learned when it’s okay to break the rules. In the Edwards Investigations stories,\u00a0 I have both an Annie and an Andreas. Annie because that was her original name from back in the day. Andreas because it pays homage to a founder of an early computer club, the perfect name for the character.<\/p>\n

So what’s in a name?<\/h4>\n

A name can be an entire story in itself. Do our other authors have rules for naming their characters? Check it out by following the links below.<\/p>\n

And, as always, please stay safe until the next time.<\/p>\n

Goal update: I reached 40,500. But I wrote more and deleted 500 because I wasn’t happy with them.<\/em><\/p>\n

March 2, 2026<\/p>\n

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You are invited to the Inlinkz<\/strong> link party!<\/p>\r\nClick here to enter<\/a><\/div><\/div>\r\n