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Topic : What pitfalls and guidelines are good to know when picking character names? I'm getting close to writing my first novel (plotter here - I develop the book first), but I do not yet have names - selfpublishingguru.com

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I'm getting close to writing my first novel (plotter here - I develop the book first), but I do not yet have names for my main characters. I found this question, which helped me in that area, but now that I'm starting to find names, I have another question.

A comment on that question said that names (specifically fantasy names) should not start with the same letter, or the reader will confuse the characters. That's obviously the comment author's opinion, but it got me wondering: are there rules or guidelines I should be aware of when naming characters? I'm thinking specifically of fantasy or sci-fi works, where the names will be largely unfamiliar, but this question can apply to any genre.

Are there rules/guidelines for naming characters?

Note: And before someone asks, no, this is not a duplicate of the above linked question. That question deals largely with discovering names, and answers can and do include such things as brainstorming, translating, and name generators. This question deals with finding the right name. Once I have a list of names that sound half way decent, I want to make sure I get the right one.

Overlap: That being said, there is some overlap. Strategies discussed in this question might (and probably will) be useful in finding names.

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Another way to answer this question is to talk about the manner of introducing names within fiction. What is the most effective and memorable way to introduce these names? Here are some questions to ask.

Are you introducing these characters through dialogue or prose descriptions?

Does the narrative structure offer an opportunity to introduce each character one at a time? Or are you beginning at a "crowd" scene?

Are you expecting the audience to encounter written prose (or perhaps hear the story be read aloud? )

Is the intended effect of introducing people to disorient the reader -- or to provide clarity?

What are you using to differentiate characters -- at least initially? Physical appearance? Context upon first meeting? Attitude expressed through dialogue?

I believe that the author should simplify this presentation to make it easier for the reader to tell the difference. But there are several examples which run against my rule: Absalom, Absalom -- which is intentionally disorienting -- and crowd scenes -- which run quickly through lots of characters -- before returning to each character individually later.

For fiction with chapters, it seems easier to limit introduction of character to 2 or 3 per chapter, but that is often impractical.

Also external descriptions (and even descriptions of a character's history) may slow down the narrative too much.

I would tie this question to 2 other questions: 1)how omniscient/intrusive do you want the narration to be, and 2)does the book structure lend itself to a sequence of exposition scenes?

As Jack Matthews wrote in the linked essay above, the sound of the words (and the historical context) imbue meaning to the name. With sci fi and other genre, names can have a secondary purpose of conveying a sense of a different culture or world -- I'm thinking of Ursula LeGuin's Left Hand of Darkness where the names are strange/long/unlike what Terrans are used to.

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