What's in a name

[the_bragis]

Hello Wicked,

I know I'll probably cop a lot of flak for this, but I just can't help myself. It's an ego thing I guess. I love putting me in my stories, which are after all my fantasies. I know that's a pet aversion of Whispersecret's and possibly others too, but so are big tits and over size dicks, and I am kind of fond of those also... when I write.

Of course the reality of it is I am nothing like the strong and dominant, not to mention large breasted, women in my stories, but I still have fun putting my name to such characters.

Almost all of the other first names I use are of people I know. None of them has complained... yet.

The other half of the Bragis tends to just use what ever pops into his head as he gets his wicked inspirations. Happily I feature in a few of those too.

Does anyone else out there ever use their own name in their stories?

Have a great day,

Alex (fem)

 

[karmadog]

I have not used my name in a story except in a shielded way. I don't think that anyone would know about it.

In a more existential way, we are always in our own stories, so why not be more overt about it like the Bragis?

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Point of Order

Allow me to be a pain in the ass and point out that the possessive form of "Dallas" isn't "Dallas's", it's "Dallas' ". If the name ends on an "s" the plural is formed by added an apostrophe only, no extra 's'. I never figured out why. Probably it's to avoid all those sibilants you mentioned.

Also, who ever talked about things "jiving", meaning "agreeing", the proper word is "jibe".

Okay. I'll go now.

---dr.M.

 

[TheEarl]

I have never named a character after myself, but quite often my main character will end up being like me (In some cases almost exactly).

They say write about what you know...

The Earl

 

[Rumple Foreskin]

Here are some naming "guidelines" from Sol Stein:

1. Two important characters shouldn't have names beginning with the same letter or names with similar sounds

2. A name should not intentionally call attention to itself.

3. Names that are too common or too uncommon should be chosen with care. The former can be hard to remember, the latter can be distracting.

4. It's usually a hazard to pick a name that could be either male or female.

5. Avoid names that may be difficult for your readers to pronounce.

6. Try to avoid having the same number of syllables in both names of a character

 

[Madame Manga]

Re: Point of Order

Allow me to be a pain in the ass and point out that the possessive form of "Dallas" isn't "Dallas's", it's "Dallas' ". If the name ends on an "s" the plural is formed by added an apostrophe only, no extra 's'. I never figured out why. Probably it's to avoid all those sibilants you mentioned.

---dr.M.

Strunk and White, page 1.

Form the possessive singular of nouns by adding 's.

Follow this rule whatever the final consonant. Thus write,

Charles's friend
Burns's poems
the witch's malice

A few exceptions are mentioned, such as Jesus. No one else gets a pass, so "Dallas' 38DD breasts" is not correct. ;-)

MM

 

[SlickTony]

Oh, dear. The protagonist in my latest story has broken just about all those rules.

Oh, well.......

 

[Star of Penumbra]

If it would fit with the feel of the story (i.e., a fantasy or sci-fi story), I make up a name, sometimes just by adding or subtracting a letter from a common name.

If it's a real-world based story, I just pick names that would suit the character's personality- a man named Skull brings to mind a very different visual image than one named Seymour, even though a writer could easily switch the names and keep the personalities and appeareances.