What's in a name?

Sometimes, the hardest part of a story is the names for the characters. Occasionally, it's the easiest part. Some characters develop almost instantly; name, physical description, personality, all at once. Other characters insist upon being referred to as "him" or "her" for pages on end before they finally have a name. Still others go through three or four names before I settle on one that I'm happy with.

In the story from two days ago (the one with the actors), the male is named Blake. It popped into my head, and although I tried other names, the character has decided that he is Blake. The female, on the other hand, refuses to have any name stick. I'm going to break out the baby name book soon, and try to search out something that works. The director doesn't have a name yet, but his name has a vaguely Italian or Spanish feel to it.

I'm very aware of names. There are some people that I have a very hard time getting along with, simply because they have the same name as someone else that caused some sort of angst in my life. Other times, the reverse is true, and I'm much more willing to forgive someone who shares a name with a close friend.

I like names that end up with fun nicknames. Back in the day, my folks were friends with a guy named Stuart (at least, I assume that was his real name). They never called him Stuart. He was always "Stuie Kablooie." I know, it's a crazy name! But this is the guy who almost fell through my parents' picture window by tipping his chair back... and I was too young to get it at the time, but I'm sure there were many, many reasons for the nickname. Now, perhaps unfortunately, every Stuart I meet gets called "Stuie Kablooie" in my mind.