♦Welcome to another edition of the Open Book Blog Hop!♦
Topic #518
There is an unwritten rule in fiction about not using characters’ names that
begin with the same letter. Do you have rules for naming your characters?
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This morning, I lamented the lack of reason in the world. When given further thought about the issue, I wonder if what I miss is the mask of reason. Did it every truly exist? With age and experience comes wisdom. With a chuckle to myself, I must admit that the land of reason is a dream.
Thus, rules and such become the security blanket to reinforce the mask of a reasoned and orderly existence. It doesn’t always matter what the rule is. Does it make sense? Does it provide some gain to the person enforcing it? Is it even enforceable? Ask any Indie author about enforcing the rules and you’ll hear still more chuckling. Silly rules.
I swear that it is our duty, as artists unbounded by the corporate contract, to bend rules and blur lines. After all, we learned our forebears did this to great acclaim. You bet we took note. Their risk was our inspiration. Most of them, however, had binding contracts that certainly cramped their style. Sure there are the Prima Donnas who diva’d their way through their career with the sales to make taking them on formidable. That is a rare power in mainstream publishing, especially in current times, when the corporate bottom line is king.
This is another reason I consistently say that independence in publishing is far superior. Yes, there are rules. However, there is no one to rein us in on pushing the boundaries, except the audience. All writers have an audience to answer to, but not all of us have a money making machine telling us how to do everything in tandem. Thank the gods for that.
As I mentioned above, rules serve as a security blanket to regulate our emotions around this tumultuous world. Some make a lot of sense and others will be silly–almost superstitious. There are solid rules, which are in place to make communication possible (grammar and the like). There are guiding rules, which make your delivery far more likely to resonate and accomplish the goal. Then, there are security blanket rules that are largely silly, sometimes useful to the individual, but can be ignored at will.
The idea of not using the same letter to start a name in a book limits an author to only 26 characters at the greater end. It makes reasonable sense to not have that many characters in a book. What will you do with them all? Is this a series? Can some be rolled into others to achieve the same ends? Will it confuse readers?
In my house, the letter K is quite popular. No one is confused or diminished by it. In my office there are two people with the exact same first name, of which I am one. We go by our last names to limit confusion, and we are in different parts of the unit. My red hair sets me apart, as well. Additionally, we have two J’s, three A’s, and four M’s. Repeating letters is a natural fact of human gatherings. It is far more remarkable to find that no one’s name began with the same letter in a room of 15-20 people. In fact, I’d say that was weird.
Let us not forget, naming conventions are cultural and follow a pattern. Some cultures prefer certain sounds and will use them heavily, such as the letter M, as exhibited above. This can shift from culture to culture with such add-ons as Ap (in Welsh) or Mc/Mac in other Celtic traditions. What do you do if you hold the rule that you can’t keep using the same starting letter in a name, but you’re writing about historical people who did this? What if you’re writing about families who have traditions? You’d be f–d.
Does your culture have patronymics or other markers that are common in naming conventions? What are they? Leave a comment below.
Someone decided that they wanted to hold to this rule about letters starting names as a way to individualize every character, simply and neatly. Perhaps they thought, no one was encroaching upon another with similar sounding starts to their names. Keep in mind that the name of a character is as much a personal identifier as it is to real humans. Makes some sense.
It’s not necessarily a bad rule. Firstly, it can keep your cast list down to size. Secondly, each character is unlikely to be confused for another. Thirdly, you’ll exercise your ability to name something to excess every time you write a book, getting quite a diverse list by the end of your career, but there will inevitably be those who share a letter when the entirety of your work is examined.
Sounds like you’d need to invent more letters before you can avoid repeating letters–unless you write only 26 books about a single character who has no interactions with others (alien, animal, human, or plant). I suppose you could do a Twilight Zone (1959) thing, where you have one lonely character in isolation who is set upon by the same alien, in a sort of series. Yes, Woman would count as her name, so there goes W.
Aside from one of the best episodes in TV history, can you think of another scenario? Tell me about it!
I don’t mind in the least that someone might adhere to such a rule. It is part of their style. This is their artistic choice, and they likely have good reasons. What I would mind is someone demanding I adhere to such a rule. To me, it counts as a silly rule. My reasons: The writing should reflect the social order in which we’re writing. So, if I am writing a historical piece, I will examine how they came to naming their children. In my fantasy writing, I think about the culture I am creating and build something that makes sense to that make-believe culture. Last of all, repeating letters is inevitable. Purposely avoiding such really has no point. Doesn’t it feel a bit strange and rigid?
In the end, you want to immerse your readers into the world you’ve created. If it is too strange and/or ordered to the nth degree, you will make them feel less at home, causing a higher likelihood of them leaving the work behind. Worry less about the letter that starts a character’s name and more about the meaning of their name, perhaps? (That’s my personal silly rule.) Focus on how you will make them seem real in your not real world. Chris and Charles will be distinguishable, if you make them memorable enough to be so. Mary and Magda will be just fine, too.
Don’t forget, there is something to be said for alliterative device. Ask a poet.
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