Monday, November 20, 2006

The Executive Decision

Well after two weeks of killing myself trying to come up with a new name for my hero and then my heroine and then realizing that wouldn't work and not liking any of the changes and mentally still calling them Lucy and Dash anyway I realized one thing -- these characters do not want their names changed. And more than that, I do not want to change them.

This is who they are to me. And the more I tried to change their names, the more it began to alter their personalities and the more distant I felt from them. The more the story got away from me. I was spending more time trying to find the right name, when in my head I already had it, then I was writing the story.

So yesterday morning after another go at trying to find names that fit I made an executive decision. I'm not changing their names. At least not until someone has a cheque in their hand and a contract with my name written all over it. Then they can call my hero whatever they want. Until then, he retains his original name--Dash. It suits him. It fits. It's staying.

I wrote five new pages this morning.

I feel better now.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Good for you for dashing off those five pages before you dashed off to work. So glad you kept the hero's name - we can have endless fun with it.

Anonymous said...

I think it's an excellent idea to keep their names. As you said, it was preventing you from moving forward with the story, so why put yourself through that.

Way to go on the five pages!

Tess said...

Good choice! After all, it is YOUR story. I've sometimes had great luck changing character names, other times, not so much.

Melissa Amateis said...

I'm so glad you went back to Dash. You knew that was your hero's name the whole time and in the end, he let you know, too! ;-)

Lexi said...

Good decision! And good progress. Keep it up.

Julie S said...

Way to stick to your guns! Those are good names; I don't blame you for wanting to keep them :-)