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Six (Mostly Odd) Tips for Making Up Names

Tracey Dyck 12 Comments

PREAMBLE: Before I created this blog, I had visions of regularly posting writing tips. I love soaking up more knowledge about the writing craft, and I’ve learned some things on my own journey that I want to share at some point. And here we are, with a six-month old blog, and there is not one writing advice post to be found. Today that changes!

~*~

Have you ever met a character with a name that is perfectly, utterly their own? A name that fits their soul, be it black and twisted, or good and true? A name that adds just the right flavor to the mix of personality traits and quirks and mannerisms? A name that you cannot encounter anywhere else without calling to mind that specific person?

Aslan. Frodo. Bartholomew Thorne. Katniss Everdeen. Wizard Fenworth. Sir Eanrin. Sherlock Holmes. Dustfinger. Eugene Fitzherbert. Halt. Marsuvees Black. Tris Prior. Scout. Clefspeare. Mary Poppins. Huckleberry Finn. Cinderella. Ebenezer Scrooge.

And places: Narnia, Parumvir, Dol Guldur, Araluen, Inkworld, Oz, Panem . . .

None of these people or places would be the same without the name that means them.

Have you ever struggled to conjure that Perfect Name for your own place or character? I have, many times. Specifically in fantasy, when you have the opportunity to make up words, thinking of a good name can be hard, and sometimes the keyboard smash just doesn’t work. Calling someone Lsyiutypaosk gets tiresome!

My methods of name-creation are a tad unconventional. I’m not promising they’ll produce something as legendary as any of the previously mentioned names, but perhaps you’ll find something new to try next time good old Anonymous needs a title.

(Just a clarification: most of these methods work best for fantasy/sci-fi.)

1. Baby name books/websites

Buy a book of baby names or look up baby naming sites online. Many provide name origins and meanings, which can be very helpful. If you know your character has, say, Japanese blood, you can search for Japanese names. I did this with Emi of Blood Rose, my Beauty and the Beast retelling. The best part is that Emi means beauty . . . perfect for the Beauty character, right?

Other examples of mine include:

  • Aileen // light
  • Josiah // fervent fire of God
  • Demetria (nation) // abundant and plentiful
  • Leander // lion man

Even if the origin and meaning don’t matter to you, just having long lists of names to read can give you more ideas than you could ever use.

Sarah @ Sarah, Plain & Average has a series of posts called What’s in a Name? in which she showcases names along with their pronunciation, origin, and meaning; and she includes a picture to go with it. (Great character inspiration! Go check it out!)

2. Etymology of words

This one is odd. Go to the dictionary (I prefer a physical one). Look up words that have to do with the character you’re naming. Read the etymology of the word, and see if any of those strange word-ghosts strike your fancy. Sometimes you’ll have more luck flipping through for random words and their etymologies, and using that.

For instance, my world of Alewar needed fantastical names for months of the year. For January, I looked up cold and found this before the definition:

cold ‘kōld adj [ME, fr. OE ceald, cald; akin to OHG kalt cold, L gelu frost, gelare to freeze]

My thought process: So I could use that Old English ceald or cald . . . but nah, I don’t like the sound of that. Old High German’s kalt? Nope, too guttural. Gelu from Latin? Meh . . . But gelare, that sounds fantasy-ish to me. I could use that. And thus January in Alewar is called Gelare. It doesn’t matter if readers never find out the meaning behind it. I know.

Another example: I wanted the dragons in Alewar to have polite forms of address amongst each other. Ma’am and sir are much too human, so I set about creating different words. Rather than distinguish each other by gender, the dragons emphasize one another’s breath. (FYI, they breathe either fire, water, or ice.) Here’s what I did for the fire dragons:

coal ‘kōl n, often attrib [ME col, fr. OE; akin to OHG & ON kol burning ember, IrGael gual coal]

The one that stuck out to me was kol–not only is it short, but it looks good and it’s pronounced (in my mind, anyway) exactly like coal, making it easy for readers to associate it with fire dragons.

3. Translation

Similar to #2, this method takes words that (ideally) mean something about your character, and translates it into other languages until you find something that clicks. Google Translate makes this really easy.

For a race of lizard-like creatures in Alewar, I think I looked up contradict in other languages, and found econtra. (It may have been Spanish. I don’t know; it was a long time ago.) Contradict wasn’t my first choice of word, but methods like these often find me deviating from my original search. I probably looked up evil, antagonist, and opponent first; didn’t find anything I liked; and moved on to synonyms, and synonyms of synonyms. All that matters is that I found a word that worked. The econtra serpents are now a major part of book 1.

More recently I was helping Christine rename one of her characters, a beautiful fae creature who haunts a castle. Naturally, one of the first words I translated was fairy. Because her story had a fairy tale setting, I tried languages like Welsh and Icelandic. The first yielded a mouthful: tylwyth teg. The second resulted in another mouthful: ævintýri. I suggested fiddling with it, making it Aevin or Vintyri. Christine appreciated the suggestions, but wound up finding a softer-sounding name, which fit her character much better. . . . And I took Vyntyri (with a slight spelling change) for myself.

4. Word scrambling

Less complicated and a lot more random than the previous methods is good old word scrambling! Whether you pick a word at random, or select one more deliberately, all you do is play around with the letters. Let’s say you’re naming an elven princess–you may want to fiddle with soft, melodic words. Or if it’s a villain, find harsh, dark words to cut up and put back together.

Examples from my writing: A city called Mevon came from the first part of November spelled backwards. The nation of Klandess is really clandestine with a few alterations. A character named Sir Neves Ember got his first name from seven spelled backwards. Creatures called xenyls are from scrambled letters of lynx, with an added E to make it pronounceable.

Take a few letters from one word and a syllable from another and see what happens! Spell something backwards. Scramble the letters. Sometimes it just doesn’t work, but other times it yields exactly what you need.

5. Plain old creativity

You are a writer. You are a creative being. Sometimes when you need a name, you just have to make it up.

Try to keep it pronounceable. Don’t be too complicated. Lots of vowels may look like a beautiful Tolkien-elf name, but show it to some friends first and see if they can say it correctly. Likewise, too many consonants can drag the name into gibberish territory. Apostrophes within a name . . . use with moderation, please.

Be wild. Be creative. But in the end, make sure the name works, and make sure we can say it. I include a pronunciation guide in my WIP fantasy series, but my hope is that readers (I’m talking about the nerdy sort like me that actually care to know the right way to say a made-up word!) won’t need to refer to it over and over again.

6. Keyboard smash
When all else fails . . . pound the keyboard and see what you can salvage! If nothing else, it gives you an outlet for that authorial frustration.
~*~
How do you come up with names for characters, locations, or objects? Do any of these methods appeal to you?
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Subplots and Storylines – September 2015

Tracey Dyck 14 Comments

Despite the calendar telling me fall began on September 23rd, I always feel that September 1st is a more accurate date for the autumnal equinox. Something about students returning to classes, the air turning crisper, leaves turning gold and orange and red . . . It’s just fall-ish. I adore this time of year, when sunny afternoons are still warm enough to wander about in sandals, and evenings are chilly enough to wrap myself in a sweater; when the bugs have started to die off; when you  blink and suddenly the trees are shaking out their golden splendor. Perfection.

Maybe it’s the weather, but it feels like the subtle turning of a page. My siblings are burying their noses in schoolbooks once again (heavens, has it really been two years since that was me?). The garden has been cleaned out, down to a bare patch of dirt; and jars upon jars upon jars of canned goods line the pantry shelves. The tomato canning–salsa sauce, spaghetti sauce, tomato soup, canned whole tomatoes–is done early this year. Hooray! My college & careers group (the young adult version of youth group, in case you’re unfamiliar with the term) has started up again. Change is in the air.

Other September happenings include:

  • A sleepover with a good friend, which consisted of movies, walks, and late-night conversations.
  • My parents’ 25th wedding anniversary! My siblings and I served them an Italian meal, restaurant style. It’s been our tradition of late to look for new recipes, shoo Mom out of the kitchen, and whip up supper for the two of them on their anniversary. We kitchen staff eat in a different room while they enjoy soft music and a candlelit dinner. This year we made baked ziti, caesar salad, and garlic toast. Oh, and afterwards we all gathered around to watch a video of their wedding highlights. Romantic!
  • I mentioned it already, but the weather has just been gorgeous.
  • Editing The Brightest Thread, my Sleeping Beauty retelling. It’s dropped from 30k to just over 27 k, and I’ve already gone through the first half of the story. Heh. I must learn to be more ruthless.
  • Last Sunday night, we stood on the driveway to witness a ‘blood moon.’ Or more accurately, the eclipse of a super moon. The moon was larger, closer to earth, and this particular eclipse turned it rusty red. (More like old, dried blood than bright scarlet blood.) Pretty neat.
  • Yesterday was Coffee Day, apparently, which I found out after the fact. Oh well. I did accidently celebrate with a pumpkin spice latte.

I watched a few things this month:

  • A re-watch of Mom’s Night Out. Just as funny the second time around!
  • The new Annie movie, watched during a girl’s night. I wasn’t expecting a whole lot, but it was actually very good. The songs got stuck in my head for a few days, which I didn’t mind at all.
  • During the sleepover, I watched the first four episodes of Once Upon a Time Season 2! (Captain Hook!)
  • Insurgent. While it wasn’t as compelling as the first movie, and I did skip a scene (NOT. NECESSARY. GUYS.), it was fairly good. I’m kind of undecided on my opinion. On one hand, it didn’t follow the book. On the other, the changes did accomplish something the book did not (see Tori’s review @ Geeks Under Grace; one of the last paragraphs). The different faction settings were sharply contrasted, which was visually beautiful. I continue to love Tris’s role. But as I said, it wasn’t quite on the same level as Divergent.

My September reading was sparse due to busy-ness. When I finally visited the library last night for the first time in weeks, my heart almost hurt at the number of books I wanted to grab! I settled for a realistic five. Anyway, here’s what I did manage to read this month . . .

Doon by Carey Corp & Lori Langdon: Aside from a few plot weaknesses, this was a fun YA romance/portal fantasy in which two girls cross over a magical Scottish bridge into the world of Doon . . . where they promptly fall in love with two princes. Some aspects of the book were quite original, and the princes’ lovely Scottish brogues are enough to make it worth the read. (Just a warning: though it’s a Christian book, it had a sprinkling of mild language that surprised me.)

Full Disclosure by Dee Henderson. FABULOUS. As a romantic suspense novel, it included awesome FBI cases, a really sweet and maturely-handled romance, and heart-plumbing depth. If you’ve never read Dee Henderson, go do so now. (Her O’Malley series is a great place to start.)

(My cover was pinkish rather than blue…)

Captivating by John & Stasi Eldredge. I’ve been slowly working through this devotional all summer. All you ladies out there, whatever your age, this book will touch your heart. I’m serious, there’s at least one chapter in there for every kind of woman. Though I didn’t agree with a few theological statements, overall the book was amazing. It opened my eyes to some beautiful truths about real womanhood.

And that, my friends, was my September in a nutshell. October awaits!

How was your month? What are you looking forward to in October? And fellow Five Magic Spindles contestants: how is your entry coming along? (Can you believe we have three months left to finish??)

(Psst, stay tuned for this Saturday’s post. I am offering some writing tips at last!)

*Edit: I forgot to mention one very exciting happening this month. Anne Elisabeth Stengl held a Show and Tell on her blog for the Five Magic Spindles contestants, which I entered. It was so exciting to get a glimpse of over 30 stories! There’s a lot of talent and promising ideas this year. Go take a gander!

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The Infinity Dreams Blog Award

Tracey Dyck 26 Comments

Hello again, questers! It’s been a long week work-wise (which is great for the paycheck and good exercise for my stamina) . . . so I honestly don’t have the brainpower to do justice to any of the in-depth posts I have planned. Maybe next week?

But today is a good day for a tag. Specifically the Infinity Dreams Blog Award, given to me by Victoria @ Stori Tori’s Blog. If you haven’t yet checked out her corner of the internet, wander over to find her assortment of tea reviews, soundtracks, vocabulary expansions, and general geekiness.

(By the way, I haven’t a clue what inspired this tag/award’s name. Maybe it started out having some relation to dreams or infinite somethings?)

Rules
1. Thank and follow the blog that nominated you.
2. Tell us eleven facts about yourself.
3. Answer the questions that were set for you to answer.
4. Nominate 11 bloggers and set questions for them.
Eleven Facts About Myself
 
1. I love dark chocolate. The darker the better. (Up to a point. Those 90% cocoa bars taste like straight up cocoa powder.) If you wish to buy me chocolate, Lindt is very welcome. *smiles innocently*
2. I have jumped off a fifty-foot structure. Since it was the only way down at the end of a high-ropes course, and I was harnessed in, it’s not as impressive as it first sounds . . . But it was scary.
3. Because my hair can’t decide if it’s blonde or brown, and is instead a ‘dirty blonde,’ and because I dislike that description, I have taken to describing it as honey brown.
4. Stacks of paper are the bane of whatever sense of tidiness I have. One of the many stacks on my desks currently consists of: a voter info card, my incomplete submission form for Rooglewood Press’s contest, old envelopes that haven’t made their way to the recycling bin, a devotional sheet from church, a Legend of Zelda coloring page, scrap paper, a wedding invitation, a college booklet, a humorous note from my aunt, a list of what I packed for holidays this summer, more scrap, training material from work, a graph of my Sleeping Beauty word count progress, a Tangled coloring picture, an old blog post of Mirriam’s that I printed (with the intention of hanging it on my wall), and yet more scrap. It’s way past time I clean my desk!
5. Some facts about myself are apparently very long-winded . . .
6. I spent an afternoon this week getting tomato juice all over myself and the kitchen counter. It’s canning season!
7. I like to put cucumbers or pickles in my tuna sandwiches.
8. I have a little scar above my left eyebrow. I pretend I got it in some epic battle, but in truth, I had a birthmark surgically removed as a young child. (Not nearly as interesting.)
9. August Booth is one of my favorite Once Upon a Time characters. SO FAR. I retain the right to amend that statement should he ever turn bad, something which happens a whole awful lot to characters in this show! But he’s a writer. Enough said. And though he’s not been a very good boy lately (as of Season 1’s conclusion), something about him is special.
10. I love keys . . . old-fashioned skeleton keys with twining strands of metal. So beautiful and mysterious.
11. As a child, I combed my house in search of secret passageways, knocking on walls and floors, poking in corners. Alas, there were none to be found. If I get a chance to design my own house one day, I am definitely adding some secret tunnels.
Questions from Tori (as if I haven’t rambled on long enough already!):
1.) Shorts, jeans, or skirts? Shorts or jeans. I do like skirts, but they’re not practical for everyday wear, and I don’t own very many to begin with.
2.) Hot weather or cold weather? In between weather! Spring and fall are my favorite seasons.
3.) What’s your favorite flavor? Depends what sort of food group we’re talking about here. To start off, I love berry flavors, chocolate, Italian food (so . . . garlic? in not-too-overpowering amounts?), mint, etc.
4.) Coffee, cocoa, or tea? Depends on the day. I’d say coffee or tea sooner than cocoa, simply because hot chocolate is so sweet and filling. Though I do enjoy it on a cold, wintry afternoon.
5.) What’s the first book you remember reading? A Little Bear book that I thought I could read, but had actually only memorized.
6.) Favorite song artist? I have a number of those, but one is Anthem Lights. They’re a four-guy Christian group, producing both their own original music and covers of secular songs. Their harmony is AMAZING, their sense of humor is hilarious, and their heart for God shines through (especially in their original music). Some of my favorite originals are . . .
 
 
And one of my favorite covers . . .
7.) Do you play an instrument? Sadly, no, but I’d love to learn piano or violin or cello. If it didn’t require so much time and effort, that is. Just download the skills into my brain, please!

8.) Favorite fandom? Though I’m a fan of many things, I’m not sure how many I can actually call a fandom of mine. To me that implies a thorough knowledge to go along with one’s deep, abiding love; and I hesitate to claim I know all the ins and outs of these things. But I’m proud to be an Imp of Goldstone Wood, a fan of Marvel, a fan of Dragons in Our Midst (and the following series), and a casual Ring nut. (I say casual because I’ve yet to watch the movies or read the books more than once. *hangs head in shame*)

9.) Favorite actor? Let’s just follow my trend of slacking off and answering these questions with multiple answers, shall we? I loved Martin Freeman as Bilbo, Will Poulter as Eustace, Shailene Woodley as Tris, Chris Evans as Captain America, Sebastian Stan as Bucky . . . The list goes on, despite the fact that I don’t actually follow celebrities.
10.) Do you have a favorite scent? Cinnamon. Rain-soaked air. Fresh bread. Coffee. Cucumber melon lotion.
11.) Are you introverted or extroverted? Introverted. Somewhat extroverted around people nearest me.
I nominate these 11 illustrious questers:
Ana @ Butterflies of the Imagination
Annie Hawthorne @ Curious Wren
Emily @ Emily Etc.
Sarah @ Ink and Paper Tall Ship
Skye @ Ink Castles
Wynonah @ Life is an Adventure
Rebekah Hendrian @ Wordsmithing and Worldbuilding
 Katie Grace @ A Writer’s Faith
Allissa @ Allissa’s Little Corner
wisdomcreates @ The Pen of a Ready Writer
Andrea Adams @ Andrea’s Scribbles
Eleven Questions for Said Nominees:
Let’s put some dreams and infiniteness into this . . .
1. Describe the most recent dream you can remember having.
2. “To infinity and beyond!” Who’s your favorite Toy Story character?
3. If Iron Man and Captain America were pitted against each other (not that hard to imagine), who would you root for?
4. What are your top three favorite things about autumn?
5. When’s your prime time: morning, midday, or late at night?
6. You’ve been handed the leash of an emperor’s pet tiger–quick, what do you do with it?
7. Do you have any pre-writing ‘rituals’ or habits? (If you’re not a writer, feel free to describe any other preparatory habits of yours, whether it’s your morning routine, or what you do to get ready for studying, or anything else.)
8. Favorite song artist?
9. Name a real-life hero of yours.
10. What’s your goal(s) in blogging?
11. Name a literary/film couple you shipped that ended up sinking.


Have fun! As always, it’s up to you whether or not you accept this tag.
And if you’ve made it this far . . . congratulations! You are either very patient, very bored, or actually interested in my silly ramblings. Have some pie.
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Members of One Body

Tracey Dyck 12 Comments


They will know we are Christians by our love (John 13:35 paraphrased).

Huh. Right now, it seems they know we’re Christians by our judgmental comments, pointing fingers, and loud arguments—not only aimed at the world, but slung at each other. We arrange ourselves into factions, draw lines between them, and proceed to shout down everyone not in our group. We attack each other’s beliefs. Goodness, we attack each other. We give one another the cold shoulder. We look down our noses at those people who interpret the Bible that way, which is definitely incorrect because it doesn’t line up with our way.

And yet, last I checked, we’re reading the same Bible. We’re serving the same Jesus. We’re brothers and sisters! Sometimes I wonder what our family must look like to everyone else . . . this feuding family in which mother, father, sister, brother, all stake out their corner of the room and react viciously to anyone who suggests that another corner is better.

Baptist, Lutheran, Anglican, Catholic, Evangelical, Protestant, non-denominational. We cling to these titles almost as if they are our salvation. We have our church names, our slogans, our spiritual paraphernalia, and heaven help any who carry a different one.

I am sick and tired of the division. What’s more attractive: the family whose members bristle with discord and acidic comments, or the family who loves each other and sticks together through any disagreement? When I meet either kind of families in public, there is one I gravitate toward and one I do my utmost to stay away from. What do you think our denominational division looks like from the outside?

Look, my siblings and I do not always agree. We have our spats. We’re far from perfect. But in the end, we’re still in the same family; we share the same blood. We carry a common name.

And yes, I do realize that a lot of us don’t actually treat other denominations as badly as I’ve illustrated, but I’m painting this subject in vivid colors in an effort to drive home a point. Why should these differences be such a focus? Don’t we all share more common ground than not? Ultimately, if you believe Jesus is the Son of God, fully God and fully man, and that he walked the planet, showed us how to live, then died and came back to life in order to bring us back to himself . . . then what else is there? You and I are kin.

I’m not saying theology is unimportant, either. We should always continue to dig into Scripture and discover more about who Jesus is, who we are because of him, and what our purpose is here. Always. And I don’t deny that there are Christians out there who believe things I consider unscriptural. But if that belief will not affect their eternal destination, then it is not worth bashing them over it. Will that belief affect their life here on earth? Yep. But a lot of the things we argue about don’t actually shift anyone’s path from heaven to hell, or vice versa. There is a place and time for theological debates, but they are far fewer than we think.

This is all coming from a girl who is very passionate about truth, a girl able to debate a number of points when she wants to. And I wouldn’t believe what I do unless I thought it was right. But I do not, by any means, consider myself to have the full corner on truth. None of us know the entire big picture. I think we’ll all be surprised by something when we get to heaven.

So instead of fighting so adamantly over things that don’t carry much eternal significance, can’t we set our differences aside and love each other? Can we be known by our love? A deep, forgiving, transcendent, no holds barred kind of love? Can we make this our legacy, the reputation we carry?

I’m not suggesting we throw away this denominational thing entirely. It’s a beautiful thing that we can all find a church that worships and serves God in a way we connect with. Each one is gifted for a specific purpose. But it would be amazing if we could find it in ourselves to not care so much about labels.

A couple years ago, a friend of mine invited me to a multi-denominational worship event. I don’t know how many people attended, but we filled a sports stadium. Together we lifted our voices in praise. We crossed borders and stood as one, worshiping God. It didn’t matter which churches we came from. It didn’t matter if we had differing opinions on peripheral matters. We all followed Christ. That was the important thing. We had all been drenched in God’s reckless love, and we all loved him back.

From Him the whole body [the church, in all its various parts], joined and knitted firmly together by what every joint supplies, when each part is working properly, causes the body to grow and mature, building itself up in unselfish love. (Ephesians 4:16, Amplified) And the same verse in the New Living Translation: He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

It is a great tactic of Satan to distract us with infighting, to get us quibbling over passages of Scripture, so that we forget to actually live out that very Scripture. Our purpose is to populate heaven! Instead we are obsessed with populating our corner with more like-minded individuals. Though oft-quoted, this still holds true: A house divided against itself cannot stand.

Over and over, the Bible reminds us that we are all parts of one body. Each part is vital and has a different function. But we are one.

I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose. (1 Corinthians 1:10, NLT)

Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father, who is over all and in all and living through all. (Ephesians 4:2-6, NLT)

Our Sunday mornings may look different. One sits on a pew and sings hymns. Another stands in an auditorium and sings songs written yesterday. One may come dressed in jeans, another in their utmost best. Your church building might sport a steeple that’s been there for a century, or church might be held in a converted grocery store. Maybe you’re a part of half a dozen people that come together in someone’s home, or maybe your congregation numbers in the thousands. Does it matter?

As long as you follow Jesus, no. It doesn’t. We’re family. Let’s act like it.

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