Thursday, March 01, 2007

What's in a name?

Sandra brought up the importance of finding the right name for a character. It is a chore sometimes.
I wonder if I were to throw a name out to you, what characteristics would come to mind. This is a real person so don't goggle him. But how would you describe
Anthony Athos in your next crime story. A perpetrator, a victim, a bystander, a reporter, a cop. I wonder if any of us read a name the same way.

8 comments:

Maria said...

Interesting name. I would say the perp in a white collar crime scheme. Bad 80's hair. Buys his suits from a discount house where you get designer names at cut-rate. Probably a premature ejaculator. ;-)

Elsewhere: I cut 1,100 words--the stuff with the girl and most of the research I'd done on the specifics of ingredients and procedure, so the ceremony section comes down from 10 to 6. I'll give it another cull tonight. Gracias.

Word Verification: rengacat! Kinda cool.

Christa M. Miller said...

I used to attend a Greek church. Because Mt. Athos is a famous (in those circles) monastery in Greece, I'd expect him to have something of an introspective, spiritual side... or the complete and utter opposite.

Steve Allan said...

A slimy cop whose years on the force has warped his sense of justice. He goes undercover to take down a Greek bank robbery gang, but ends up looking the other way on some things so he can pocket a little money.

Oh, and I did google the name. Don't tell me not to do something, I'm gonna want to do it as soon as possible. :)

pattinase (abbott) said...

Lots of good ideas here but no one can top the true story.

Sandra Ruttan said...

For me, it's a generic name of a background character without a significant part in the story.

I tried to post it earlier but blogger was being a pain.

pattinase (abbott) said...

Sandra-Love it! Matter of fact, I think I'll use it as such.

Sandra Ruttan said...

You proved something, though. We all saw the name a bit differently.

And now I wonder if anyone is ever put off reading a book because of the character's name? I can think of one protag name I just don't like...

pattinase (abbott) said...

Do tell?