Writing Tips: Names
Hello everyone! It’s been a really long time since I’ve posted any Writing Tips. I apologize for that, it’s just been crazy with working on Madness. I’m already about to start work on Book Three but really want to get back into doing these as often as I can – so no time like the present.
Yesterday, I was speaking with a friend regarding Names. Character names, your book title, anything, really. There’s a few things we discussed that are actually things most writers struggle with, and for good reason.
So, let’s think about the question we want to ask. What can I do to make my Book stand out? At the end of the day, that’s what it comes down to. You need to make sure a prospective reader picks your book over another, and the names you choose can play a role.
When it comes to naming characters, there are actually quite a few obstacles people tend to overlook. Let’s take a look at some.
Theme: Generally, I try to keep a recurring theme within races. Here’s my personal preferences that I employ.
—– Orcs: Guttural and brutish, often have double-r ending
—– Dwarves: Strong names, typically two syllables
—– Elves: Feminine and elegant (even the males), most common letters being E, L, I, Th, and S
—– Trolls: Typically two syllables, always split by an apostrophe
—– Ogres: Typically one syllable, brutish
—– Humans: Basically old names but more fantastical (Jeff the Dragonslayer just doesn’t cut it for most)
—– Satyrs: All males end in Name’ul and females are Name’la
Uniqueness: Names are something that identify your book and its characters. As a result, you need to be sure that if a prospective reader searches for your Book Title or the Main Character they find your book within the top results.
When I first launched Orcblood Legacy: Honor, if you did a Google Search for either ‘Bernard Bertram’ or ‘Orcblood Legacy’, you wouldn’t find anything about my book until Page 4. Let’s be honest, no one looks past the first page of Google – and typically restricts that further to the first 3-5 results.
Now, if you search for either of those keywords, I pretty much flood the results. This is primarily due to three things. 1) Presence, 2) Uniqueness, and 3) Marketing. I’ll explain in more detail below.
Presence: For any who don’t know about Search Engine Optimization (SEO), presence is a huge driving factor in making sure you’re on the first page. You need to have constant influence on either your own website or your Social Media sites (or both) to essentially lay claim to that keyword over others. For example, there are obviously other people named ‘Bernard Bertram’ out there in the world. I had to fight for the right to be placed above them. It was a bloody battle, but we made it to the top thanks to putting out content on my website and Social Media every few days.
Uniqueness: This is majorly important, especially for your Book Title. Remember how I just said that you needed to fight for the top slot on search results? Well, imagine naming your book ‘Donald Trump’ right now. What chance do you think your book would have of being seen on the first results of Google right now? If you’re set on a broad term – like how I love making my Titles one word – consider alternatives that add uniqueness. For example, my Books are titled: Orcblood Legacy: Title, not just Title. I can definitely say that if my book was labeled Honor and not Orcblood Legacy: Honor, it certainly would have much less recognition.
The same goes for Character Names. Readers may come across your Main Character’s name – after all, they’re a large part of your brand – and search for them. I, personally, employ this practice myself. I don’t often look up ‘R. A. Salvatore’ when I’m looking for his books. I look up ‘Drizzt’, the dark elf character he is well known for. Fangdarr is now the proud champion of his arena and stands atop the pinnacle shouting his name.
Before I wrote Orcblood Legacy: Honor, if you searched for ‘Fangdarr’, the results you found were drastically different. We’ve now sealed a place in the Internet for our beloved, bloodthirsty orc.
Marketing: This one goes hand-in-hand with Presence as it has a direct relation. However, I leave them separate due to a key factor. Presence typically indicates the effort you put in to push out content in the name of your work. Websites, Social Media, Blogs, etc. All of that is your own efforts. Now, that isn’t to say that Marketing doesn’t take some work on your end as well. It’s a bit of a complex relationship. But, the biggest benefits you will receive from Marketing will come through 3rd Parties – and often not for free.
Amazon, Facebook, and even external sites that do reviews are all forms of Marketing, to name a few. Each of which typically have a much wider reach than you. But to piggyback off of their success often comes with a cost. In trade for payment, you can access their many customers to increase your presence drastically. More reach, more presence. It doesn’t matter if you make a new post every day if no one ever sees it. Sometimes you’ve got to spend money to make money, and these services can be huge to spread the word of your work.
I’ll go over more about the differences between Amazon and Facebook’s advertisement capabilities in the future! Be sure to subscribe to the site for updates on Writing Tips and other content. If you have any questions you’d like me to discuss in particular, feel free to contact me and I’d be happy to go over my personal opinions.