LuoirM
Voidiris' enthusiast feet enjoyer.
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2021
- Messages
- 1,436
- Points
- 153
HAVE YOU EVER HAPPEN TO THIS?
"Oh, I struggle with naming characters!"
"Oh, I took 6 hours to come up with the name of this country, and it has 3 different layers of meaning. The first layer is..."
"Oh, I don't know what to call my magic system or make it sound cool."
Well, here in the industry, we call that a skill issue
Let me clarify.
I don't know you, I don't know what you've been through, I don't know the type of art you consume, I don't know how much your father hates you.
So, I can not and do not judge if you want to spend time thinking of a cool, unique, Latin-sounding name for your combat style, magic system, and character design.
I can not and do not judge if you're writing for your magnum opus, self-prophecy, or in search of your ego.
But the moment you rant about it, and a lot of y'all have been. I feel the need to step in. So if you're like me, a writer who looks for validation and views instead of self-fulfilment, but you still somehow someway can't get out of the mindset of 'This name gotta be perfect,' then I'm here for you, buddy.
---
1. Meanings of names don't have to be that deep, considering how most readers are not that smart.
No, seriously, in this age of TikTok brainrot, you'd be surprised how many readers will say "ooooh!" and praise you because you accidentally name your character "Daniel" search on Google "What does Daniel mean" and write something like:
"Daniel, I shall be the judge of your faith today, for I am God. Face me in combat!" and scatter a few hints for the readers to find out. Eventually, they'll Google you and immediately wet their pants from how smart and thoughtful you are, how amazing you set up the last 1000 chapters for this one scene, etc.
Just look at the One Piece fanbase and how weak their knees get whenever Oda asspulls something and they gaslate themself into thinking it's some goat level of writing.
2. AI Generating is a good start.
What the hell do you mean by "can't think of anything" when you can just spit your rough idea into ChatGPT, and it'll generate at least 10 decent ones for you?
"Oh, but LuoirM, those names aren't good at all, it's so basic and modern!"
THEN EDIT IT YOU DISENGENIIOUS DENSGEJGNesgSG
3. Learn the culture of naming in your time, especially if it's medieval times/region setting.
There's the culture of "son" behind profession names like Mason, Jackson, and Smithson. The Nordics also have a heritage name, and in some places in Asia, there's a middle name. That would be such an easy start for you.
4. Last but not least, naming is easy if you've seen enough of them and know how words work.
Rule of thumb, ready?
Vowels:
a - o sounds feminine
e - i - u sounds masculine
"Oh, but LuoirM, there's an exception..." GET OUT OF MY CLASSROOM.
There's this thing called stylization/exaggeration. It exists in posing, drawing, and describing. If you can't generalize the basics, don't even think about making a unique name.
Learn the bouba - kiki effect
Learn basic names and twist them however you like.
And here are a few names I've come up with and my thought process behind it.
Halder: It felt smooth to write on the keyboard, I close my eyes and press random keys.
Alasta: It felt smooth to write on the keyboard, I close my eyes and press random keys.
Marc: I wanted Mark, but the "k" looks a bit too sharp for this softy character, so I went with Marc, which is a real name.
Magmal: I thought of the magma slimes in Minecraft and added an "l." No one ever questioned it.
Ashrosaliera: Ash (Fire theme) + Rose (cus it's red like fire) + Sallie (girl name)
Zofia: I tried making a love interest opposing Ashrosaliera, and thought about how "A" and "Z" are on the opposite side of the alphabet.
The only name I knew is Zofia the cartoon princess, so there goes.
Mei: I thought of the cute girl in Overwatch (the game not the... ahem)
Cinderella Twilight: An elf character, they're usually soft and light, so I thought of princess, Cinderella is the first princess that came to mind, and Twilight because I thought of Spy x Family because there's Thorn Princess but I forgot her name, only remember her husband nick name.
Tarnisha Smithdottir: I don't even freaking remember lol. But I used Smithdottir so I can bullshit up her backstory of being the daughter of a Blacksmith + Icelandic background.
Luoir Marquina (my online name): The Luoir is a combination of Lu Bu and Thor from RoR (I saw the first chapter when it came out), Marquina is the lastname of the Professor in Money Heist
Want more demonstrations? Comment your character idea, and I'll brainstorm it in 10 seconds max.
"Oh, I struggle with naming characters!"
"Oh, I took 6 hours to come up with the name of this country, and it has 3 different layers of meaning. The first layer is..."
"Oh, I don't know what to call my magic system or make it sound cool."
Well, here in the industry, we call that a skill issue
Let me clarify.
I don't know you, I don't know what you've been through, I don't know the type of art you consume, I don't know how much your father hates you.
So, I can not and do not judge if you want to spend time thinking of a cool, unique, Latin-sounding name for your combat style, magic system, and character design.
I can not and do not judge if you're writing for your magnum opus, self-prophecy, or in search of your ego.
But the moment you rant about it, and a lot of y'all have been. I feel the need to step in. So if you're like me, a writer who looks for validation and views instead of self-fulfilment, but you still somehow someway can't get out of the mindset of 'This name gotta be perfect,' then I'm here for you, buddy.
---
1. Meanings of names don't have to be that deep, considering how most readers are not that smart.
No, seriously, in this age of TikTok brainrot, you'd be surprised how many readers will say "ooooh!" and praise you because you accidentally name your character "Daniel" search on Google "What does Daniel mean" and write something like:
"Daniel, I shall be the judge of your faith today, for I am God. Face me in combat!" and scatter a few hints for the readers to find out. Eventually, they'll Google you and immediately wet their pants from how smart and thoughtful you are, how amazing you set up the last 1000 chapters for this one scene, etc.
Just look at the One Piece fanbase and how weak their knees get whenever Oda asspulls something and they gaslate themself into thinking it's some goat level of writing.
2. AI Generating is a good start.
What the hell do you mean by "can't think of anything" when you can just spit your rough idea into ChatGPT, and it'll generate at least 10 decent ones for you?
"Oh, but LuoirM, those names aren't good at all, it's so basic and modern!"
THEN EDIT IT YOU DISENGENIIOUS DENSGEJGNesgSG
3. Learn the culture of naming in your time, especially if it's medieval times/region setting.
There's the culture of "son" behind profession names like Mason, Jackson, and Smithson. The Nordics also have a heritage name, and in some places in Asia, there's a middle name. That would be such an easy start for you.
4. Last but not least, naming is easy if you've seen enough of them and know how words work.
Rule of thumb, ready?
Vowels:
a - o sounds feminine
e - i - u sounds masculine
"Oh, but LuoirM, there's an exception..." GET OUT OF MY CLASSROOM.
There's this thing called stylization/exaggeration. It exists in posing, drawing, and describing. If you can't generalize the basics, don't even think about making a unique name.
Learn the bouba - kiki effect
Learn basic names and twist them however you like.
And here are a few names I've come up with and my thought process behind it.
Halder: It felt smooth to write on the keyboard, I close my eyes and press random keys.
Alasta: It felt smooth to write on the keyboard, I close my eyes and press random keys.
Marc: I wanted Mark, but the "k" looks a bit too sharp for this softy character, so I went with Marc, which is a real name.
Magmal: I thought of the magma slimes in Minecraft and added an "l." No one ever questioned it.
Ashrosaliera: Ash (Fire theme) + Rose (cus it's red like fire) + Sallie (girl name)
Zofia: I tried making a love interest opposing Ashrosaliera, and thought about how "A" and "Z" are on the opposite side of the alphabet.
The only name I knew is Zofia the cartoon princess, so there goes.
Mei: I thought of the cute girl in Overwatch (the game not the... ahem)
Cinderella Twilight: An elf character, they're usually soft and light, so I thought of princess, Cinderella is the first princess that came to mind, and Twilight because I thought of Spy x Family because there's Thorn Princess but I forgot her name, only remember her husband nick name.
Tarnisha Smithdottir: I don't even freaking remember lol. But I used Smithdottir so I can bullshit up her backstory of being the daughter of a Blacksmith + Icelandic background.
Luoir Marquina (my online name): The Luoir is a combination of Lu Bu and Thor from RoR (I saw the first chapter when it came out), Marquina is the lastname of the Professor in Money Heist
Want more demonstrations? Comment your character idea, and I'll brainstorm it in 10 seconds max.
