I
am currently writing a fantasy fiction story, and have run face first into
a wall. This wall is naming my characters. I want to find the delicate balance of names that have depth, meaning... and that do not sound
fantastically ridiculous! There have been one or two occasions when
reading a book where a name has shaken me out of its suspended
reality, and I don't want to make that mistake.
So
to help with this I started to look into what made a good name. I personally like ones that:
- If I research them they have interesting back stories.
- That I have not heard of before.
- That sound good when you sound them out.
Now
on a fair day in the month of February conversation with a friend
turned naturally to the Discworld. Thinking about the 'name game' I was
currently playing with my own story, we started to talk about
Discworld names. Let's look at some:
Rincewind
Rincewind. Rince. Wind.
Yes that is a strange little number!
Now I am not sure about the original intentions behind the name, but
once you get to know this hapless wizard his name makes sense. It
just...fits. To rince, to wind, is to
Rincewind. It doesn't shout too much meaning at you when you first
read it, which gives room for the character develop his own definition.
Death
Let's get straight to the point, we
are talking about the anthropomorphic manifestation of death. Call a
spade a spade.
Esmerelda
Weatherwax
Esmerelda is misleading, she is not a natural Esmeralda so the name has to warp to fit her. She is most commonly
known as Granny or Mistress Weatherwax. This element of her name
gives her gravitas. It gives her age. You simply cannot attach any pre-conceived notions about the
rather pretty name Esmerelda to her, which makes you respect her even more!
Moist
Von Lipwig
Are you laughing? I laughed. I doff
my proverbial cap to Sir Terry Pratchett because this name is brilliant.
How can you get away with naming a central protagonist Moist! Pratchett managed to get pages worth of back story into just three words! The
bullying Moist would have received at a name like that, the fact no one would expect great things from
him, the way you are instantly willing for the story to make this character
brilliant to take the joke to greater levels. Well done sir, well
done.
So how does Pratchett get away with
this naming madness? My friend hit the nail on the head. The
Discworld is a fantasy realm so believable, so solid, that his chosen
names genuinely 'feel' like they belong there. Pratchett is funny,
and he likes to play around with names that either work for or
against your own preconceptions. Albert sounds like a nice solid sort
of name, Albert is a nice solid sort of character. Susan sounds like
a nice solid sort of name. Susan is not at all what she seems.
So after writing this I have realised
that what I need to do. I should concentrate on making my little
world first, colour it and craft it...and
then the names I am using will either fit or turn into different
ones! But either way they need to work with the mechanics of the
world, instead of matching my sensibilities when not immersed in
fiction. I had better get typing!
A thank
you to Justyna Mordas for letting me use their Discworld art on this post, check them out on Deviant Art here, username Yenefer:
http://yenefer.deviantart.com/
Also
I recently played a little round of Mind Master, with the Discworld
as my specialist topic! Check it out here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsU7FeXD20k
Disclaimer: please excuse my fringe, it appears it wasn't my friend that night!
My
next post will be about a highland folk story!
