Choosing Character Names

This  morning I have been toying with the thoughts on how I go about choosing names for my characters. I found that you have to choose the right first and last name that suits the characters. My protagonist has to have the right name, to suit their personality and who they are and what they are about to achieve in the story. Sometimes I struggle if I don't have the right name that suits the type of character the protagonist is and will do during the story.

I usually write christian stories about the main character is aged between 11 - 15 years old. Plus they are mostly male characters for the most part. I just love writing with my main character is male, even though I'm female myself. I just feel I can justify the feelings, thoughts and emotions. I guess it's because I'm so tomboyish in nature.

Sometimes I have to write with my main character is female, but not often. Just going with the feeling and knowing what my character wants to do, become or accomplish within the story. Remember to think a lot about what emotional, psychical and behavioural components in the build of the character. Make sure you make the right choices for each character in the story. Never just do it hap hazardously. Just think of who the character is, what they'll accomplish and also their friends and family. Make sure  each component of a character is well thought out and will fit into the right places in the story you're about to write.

Character Building

To build good characters for your story, you must look at the mirror image of yourself. looking at yourself is something we all need to do to make believable characters in our stories we write. Today I have been doing some research about how to build good believable characters for my stories. You need to look into depth and think about the main character of your story.

A character first of all must be believable by the reader. You must connect the characters with the readers you want to attract. I want my stories to attract the young adults of this world. So I believe that to reach them, you must think like a child. Not a young child, but the age range I want to attract to read my stories. My goal and aim is to get the young adults to read and feel like the main character is their friend. They understand what the main character is going through.

With each character, you need to know what their going through, what makes them tick and how they act around their friends and families. What they feel, want and goals are. I know most my characters are strong in either mind, body or soul. Something they have all three elements.

A base for a Character build:
Full name, nickname, age, appearance(style of dress), education, occupation, relationships(family, friends), likes and dislikes, hobbies, talents, strengths and weaknesses, ethnic background, special characteristics, nervous habits, health issues(asthma, diabetes. etc), favorite saying, fears and goals, favorite saying, eating habits etc.