Names call details out from the crowd. Are you naming wisely? CC image “Stand out from the crowd” courtesy of fernando butcher on Flickr. Some rights reserved.
“What’s in a name? that which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet.”
― William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
“Who knows a man’s name, holds that man’s life in his keeping.”
—Ursula K LeGuin, The Wizard of Earthsea
Few things are more uncomfortable than running into a perfect stranger on the street who greets you with a large smile, unmistakable joy, and addresses you by name, asking you about details that make clear they definitely know who YOU are. “Steve!” they say. “How’s little Susie’s foot doing?”
If you’re like me, your first reflex is to play for time—not necessarily pretend you know who they are, but at least pretend you don’t NOT know who they are. It’ll come to you, in just a moment. All you need is the proper clue…
This happened to me with a manuscript I was editing last year. Suddenly I was confronted by a character—first AND last name, no less—who I was obviously supposed to know. But…crickets.
Who WAS this person?
Don’t do this to your readers.
The Role of Names
Names are important. They’re a clue that we, the reader, should make an effort to remember this person, event, or idea.Aha! says the brain. I need to store this one.
Think about what we give names to in real life. We name our children. We name our pets. (Some of us) name our cars.
We name buildings, roads, cities, and even whole countries after people that we deemed important in some way. We name oceans and rivers and mountains. Ideas we want to trademark, those convicted of crimes, inventors and miscreants…we want to know their names.
We name what’s important to us, and what we want to be important to other people.
In your writing, you’re like the Queen, with the ability to knight whatever person or concept crosses your path. I dub thee—significant! It’s a wonderful power. Pointing out what’s noteworthy, and having others agree with you, is one of the great joys of writing a book…and this act of memory helps the story succeed.
If we’re lost or confused, that distraction is a real problem for your book. Names give us an anchor.
Names Have Power
The issue of names comes up a lot in books about wizardry and magic. This is a central tenet for Ursula LeGuin (not just in the Earthsea books), but also for series like the Dresden Files, by Jim Butcher, or even in Harry Potter, where the wizards are so frightened of the villain, they call him He Who Must Not Be Named.
I’m with LeGuin on this one: if you’re naming something, you’re giving a power to it—the power to stick in your reader’s mind. Be wary of giving power where it should not go.
If a character is not important, they should not have a name. Extras in movies don’t get names. How important is this person to the story?
Every time you use a name in your book, you are asking your reader to pay attention. The more you do this for people, images, and ideas that aren’t important, the less likely your reader will be to recognize when you are actually talking about something important. It’s like the boy who cried wolf.
Asking me to remember a lot of names, that’s work. It can be distracting. My payoff should be that later in the book, I’ll understand why this name is important. Without this payoff, all I get is frustration. A distracted, frustrated reader may not stay your reader for long.
What if I need lots of names?
Writers will sometimes find themselves in situations (or genres) where avoiding lots of names becomes difficult. These include history/historical fiction, scientific/medical works, technical writing, and large-cast genres such as epic fantasy or science fiction. If you find yourself with lots of names, firstly:
You may need to be much less granular than you think. Often writers include lots of details because they find the information super cool. And honestly, I can’t blame you for it! But at a certain point it’ll read like a wall of jargon, which is a total turnoff.
If the answer is yes, they are necessary, here are some tips for managing the names so that your reader feels more empowered and less the victim of information overload:
Avoid introducing them all at once.
When you do introduce them, include a noteworthy/memorable detail, which you can use as a handle (shortcut reminder) later on.
Consider including a list of key terms, a glossary, or list of characters at the back of your book.
Remind your reader with a callback to that handle when the name comes up again later!
If you’re writing nonfiction, you may have the option of including a drawing, graphic, or picture to illustrate.
Remember to give context, so that your reader understands why this name is important.
Bottom Line
When you name something in your writing, you call it out as important. Make sure you do this with purpose and intent.
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