I have a nice, healthy obsession with character names. I need to get them right, or they don’t work on the page. In the past, I’ve started writing a character as one name and he’s changed his mind mid-sentence, started referring to himself as a different name, and it was a couple of pages before I noticed! (At which point, I proceeded, calling him by the new name, and he turned into a slightly different character I like much better. So I’ve learned to go with the character’s gut instinct about themselves.)
Most times I’ve ever changed a character’s name mid-stream: three. I’m writing this chameleon now.
Stephanie Hale discusses the naming of characters, and several other authors weigh in, here. Check it out.
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