The Name Game

Here I go again, ranting about character names. Honestly, I find naming characters to be one of the hardest parts of writing.

The hero in my current WIP has what I consider to be a cool name. It’s not outrageous or otherworldly, not hard to spell or to pronounce. It’s a name that any average, red-blooded American male might have and probably does…or rather, definitely does.

Last evening I happened to be in one of the local high schools where I work occasionally proctoring professional service tests. While standing in the hallway handing out test booklets, I glanced up at a row of team photos hanging above the lockers. The photo immediately in front of me caught my attention. It was one of those detailed pencil sketches that the local newspaper does to highlight young athletes. Well, guess what? The name under the photo was the same as my hero’s.

Coincidence? Yes. Unfortunate happenstance or an encouraging sign from the Powers That Be reminding me to think about my hero and give him a little more background detail, like perhaps a high school athletic career?

I don’t know. Maybe it’s the universe’s way of saying, pick another name, this one is too common.

Maybe I’m just hypersensitive. It’s not like anyone on earth has a completely unique name, but I tend to view things like this as signs. Everything is a clue – the secret lies in knowing how to interpret those clues. Good sign or bad sign? I’m clueless.