Picking Names, Round Three

After I posted that repeating names don't matter to me in the books I read, I found an instance where it did. I'd finished reading a republished book on the Kindle with a kindly elderly character named something unusual like Bernice or Hortense. The e-book contained an excerpt from the author's newest book, which took place in the same tiny town as the book I'd read, with a kindly elderly character with the same name -- only it wasn't the same character. I dunno . . . two Hortenses in the same tiny town who are the same age, the same personality, but have no connection? I definitely would have preferred a change there.

Picking Names, Part 2

Some writers are very dedicated to their character names. Some of my buds actually can't get a handle on their hero or heroine until they've found the perfect name for them. I used to really focus on them, but in the last twenty books or so, my approach has been much more relaxed. If a character doesn't have a name when he appears and one doesn't come to mind by the end of Chapter 1, I just pick something and write on. Either the name works and grows to fit him, or it doesn't and I change it.

It's a good thing I had and named my kiddo before I got so lax on the names. :)