What’s in a name, right? Shakespeare asked that question. One of my pet peeves as a screenwriter is when I see lazy names on television or in the movies or clichéd names. When someone needs a character Ben Goodman or Ben Truman, like he’s a true man. It’s like, come on, that’s not original. It’s not thematic. It’s clichéd. Also lazy names, Joe Smith. Give your character a little thought. And at the moment when you’re writing, it’s like, you don’t really want to get hung up on that. You want to create. The name is often the last thing you want to even think about. But what I do is I keep a list on my iPhone of great names that I come across just in daily life or anywhere. And then I refer to that list later when I’m creating a character and it just makes it so much easier to come up with something rich.
I met a woman. Her last name was Wonzo and I’m like, ah, that’s a perfect last name for a character. Wonzo. And her first name’s even better. Her first name is amazing, but I’m not going to tell you that name, because I don’t want you to bother her and I’m going to save it for myself anyway. But that is definitely a character I’m going to use at some point. So keep a list and then just refer to it, so you don’t have to waste time and energy later. You can be inspired by this name.
I talk about the craft of writing and making it in Hollywood. I welcome you to follow me everywhere to be part of this conversation. The links are in the bio @michaeljaminwriter.
