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MPoling · Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 10:17 am Post subject: Names for Your Characters

If you're like me, you get stuck on the simple things, like thinking of a cool name for my secondary characters. A classmate in a creative writing course once confided that she keeps track of the cool names she sees in the "from" line of her spam emails. I've started paying attention, and she's so right. Here are some names from recent spams:

Nanette Shipman
Paula Sheldon
Connie Russo
Chris Duke
Kari MacDonald
Elizabeth Flint
Roy Granger
Helene Parson
Trina Kyle
Mattie Swenson
Sophie Burkett

Others?
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MemoryLossKid · Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2008 1:35 pm Post subject:

lol, that one thing they're useful for then!! Very Happy

I work with Spanish horses so I steal their names for cool characters. I like Enebro, Nebby for short. Smile

MemoryLossKid.
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FleshyHeadedMutant · Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2008 2:20 pm Post subject:

I cannot say I pay much attention to spam e-mails.

I work in a hospital and come across some unusual names of patients every once in awhile. I jot down the ones that seem to stick in my brain.

I don't know that I will ever use them, however. When I create a character, even a fairly minor supporting character, I really try to create a name that is somehow meaningful to that character so I never really consult my list anyway.
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MemoryLossKid · Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 1:26 am Post subject:

Hospitals are good places I bet, they're full of people with name tags too! Very Happy

I can garuntee that when I need a name my list is nowhere to be found. Luckily for me there's always a kitchen full of people so I just tell them a bit about my character and let them all throw names at me until we find one that suits. It's quite fun. Smile

Rachel.
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FleshyHeadedMutant · Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2008 2:19 pm Post subject:

I imagine a morgue would also be a good place to work for getting interesting names... and inspirations for stories, to boot.
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"Writing is survival. Not to write, for many of us, is to die. You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you." -- Ray Bradbury

MemoryLossKid · Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2008 5:37 am Post subject:

I could never work in a morgue. *shivers* There was this guy at school who's parents ran one and they lived there and everything, right next door to the building.

I dunno about inspiration. More like nightmares...

lol!

Rachel.
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