Shea E. Butler is a short story author and award-winning filmmaker. She was that kid who huddled under the covers after “lights out” reading a book by flashlight. Born in Cairo, Egypt to American parents living abroad, Shea is a US citizen and Permanent Resident of Canada who loves traveling. Her most awe-inspiring trip was a horseback riding safari through the Okavango Delta in Botswana. Nothing like being charged by two lions to get your creative juices flowing! Learn more about Shea and her work at her website.
What’s in a Name?
As a child, I had a plethora of animals from the mundane (goldfish, hamsters, dogs, cats) to the exotic (guinea hens, a racoon and even a baby alligator - who soon became a resident of the local zoo.) Deciding on a name for a pet was always a big deal. I was very serious about finding just the right name for each one of them. Sometimes it was difficult. Sometimes it was a fun game. Sometimes it took weeks. Other times it was magical and instantaneous. I just knew, as if the Universe was whispering in my ear.
But why is a name so important?
Your name is the first impression someone has of you. It differentiates you from everyone else. It is your identity and your self-worth. It’s one reason prisoners are identified by numbers and slaves had their names stripped from them and given new ones.
There’s power in a name. If something has a name, it’s real. It exists. There’s an old saying, “Knowledge is power.” From ancient times to modern day, religions, myths, and stories expound on that theme. There’s a belief that knowing someone’s true name gives you magical powers over them. In the Bible, naming the animals in Eden, gave humankind dominion over them. It is also cross cultural. Ancient Egypt, Greece, Japan, and Native Americans, to name a few, all have beliefs and myths about the power of someone’s true name.
When creating fictional characters, it’s crucial to find their true name so you can ground them in the reality of your story. This pertains not only to your characters, but also to the world your characters inhabit and everyone and everything in it. The names you choose will reveal nuances to and the background of your characters including their upbringing, personality, family genealogy, religion, ideals, and beliefs, as well as cultural and historical influences of the times and places they’ve lived.
Now, instead of agonizing over naming a childhood pet, I agonize over naming my fictional characters. I try out first names. Last names. Even middle names. I hand write out various combinations of names to see how they look. I verbalize names to get the “feel” of how they flow off my tongue, and how the names sound to my ear. I peruse old phone books, cemetery headstones, school yearbooks, libraries, film credits and I borrow, mix, and match names of my friends and family to create new names. For me, knowing the true names of my characters, like plot and story, is an essential part of writing.
So, what’s in a name? Everything.
How do you name your characters? I’d love to hear how you find your characters’ true names.
Metamorphosis
Shea’s urban fantasy short story, “Metamorphosis,” will be published late 2021 in Scare Street’s upcoming Night Terrors anthology. “Metamorphosis” is centered around a vulnerable, young college student who, after a lethal attack, wakes up in the morgue transitioning into a black cougar. Calandra’s determined to survive in this new lifeform so she can hunt down her attacker and reap retribution. Things get interesting when her path crosses that of an LAPD Detective tracking the same killer.
