Eric Mayer

I hate naming characters. Heck, I hated naming my kids. I hate my own name. Or at least I did when I was a kid. Which is probably why I hated naming my kids, because I figured they too would hate whatever names were picked.

When I was a gradeschooler I always wished I was named "Rod." Now there was a name! In arithmetic class, when the teacher called on people, a name like that would've made things a lot easier.

"Who can tell me what 12 times 11 equals? Eric?"

Eric suffered agonies because he didn't know.

Rod wouldn't have cared.

It made it easier for me to write because all my protagonists were named Rod. As in "Captain Rod of the Space Patrol."

Now I waste hours going through lists, finding names for characters, because as much as I hate naming them I can't start writing until I know what they're called. Mary just temporarily calls them "Joe" and plunges ahead. I'm sure all her characters hate her for that.

Eric Mayer Byzantine Blog Probably the only vaguely interesting thing about me is that with my wife, Mary Reed, I co-author the John the Eunuch mystery series set in sixth century Constantinople. But that doesn't stop me from dwelling here on the boring minutiae of the rest of my life, present and past, along with the occasional word about writing.
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Previous Entry :: Next Entry Read/Post Comments (2) Eric's Website Poisoned Pen Press There is no pleasure to me without communication: there is not so much as a sprightly thought comes into my mind that it does not grieve me to have produced alone, and that I have no one to tell it to. --Michel de Montaigne		2005-01-13 11:11 AM Naming Characters I hate naming characters. Heck, I hated naming my kids. I hate my own name. Or at least I did when I was a kid. Which is probably why I hated naming my kids, because I figured they too would hate whatever names were picked. When I was a gradeschooler I always wished I was named "Rod." Now there was a name! In arithmetic class, when the teacher called on people, a name like that would've made things a lot easier. "Who can tell me what 12 times 11 equals? Eric?" Eric suffered agonies because he didn't know. Rod wouldn't have cared. It made it easier for me to write because all my protagonists were named Rod. As in "Captain Rod of the Space Patrol." Now I waste hours going through lists, finding names for characters, because as much as I hate naming them I can't start writing until I know what they're called. Mary just temporarily calls them "Joe" and plunges ahead. I'm sure all her characters hate her for that. Read/Post Comments (2) Previous Entry :: Next Entry Back to Top