What Is In A Name?

So once my outline or game plan was created what do I do next?  Well, next was actually a bit of fun for me.  I had the outline of the actual story all plotted out...and no I can't give that away all at once but you will see quick glimpses throughout as you continue to follow this blog...so next I created the central characters.  That meant naming them and giving them a personality to go along with the story of their life that I was creating under my pen.  It was almost like being a god. 

When I created my outline I knew that I wanted a portion of my story to be set in a foreign country and I wanted the main characters to have names that would have come from that culture.  Many people go to the baby naming books to find a unique and beautiful name for their child.  They pick out the name with an idea that maybe the child's personality would fit with that name.  I mean, who ever heard of a kid named Thor who was a nerd or another kid named Seymour who was the star quarterback.  Many people name kids after relatives as I did with my son Joseph Curtis and ironically he acts just like the relative he was named for.  Thus, finding names for my characters was like reading a baby book of Romanian names.  There are some weird, bizarre, boring and down right unusual names from Romania.  It was fun though selecting which I liked the best.

The amazing part was that once you have the name it was as if the character's personality traits and physical characteristics become easier to envision .  They became actual people with lives I wanted to discover and follow and yet I am the writer so I get to create their lives and dramas and adventures.  Once I knew what to call my characters the idea of their lives already formed in my head as if they were friends I knew from childhood.  I knew these characters and had an idea of their story already. 

Now, as I go back to my writing each day it is like visiting with old friends.  As the story develops and their personalities start to really come out with dialogue and personal events, I get to learn about the characters at the same time as I am the one developing and writing it out.  So now when I find the time to return to the story and write more of it out I am excited to visit with my new friends.