It is easy to create a character. Of course naming them is difficult. I find it easy to include someone in the story to move the action along or to help the main character. Naming is really hard. I always seem to blank when I get to actually giving the name. I know what I want them to do but who are they? I expect that the who will come clear as they grow through the story, but unfortunately I still have to give them a name. I like names that somehow reflect the character, but then, if you don’t know who they are then how can the name reflect them? It is a conundrum.

My response is to name the character based on some characteristic that reflects their importance to the story or just make up a name. I like the characteristic approach better. I use web sites which are for baby names which will give the meaning and nationality of a name. Other times I’ll pick a characteristic and look it up in old English or French or Spanish. Sometimes I’ll just pick a name because it suits me.

Once a character has a name they have a tendency to take on a life of their own. I start to like them. Well today I killed one of them off. I’ve never killed a character I’ve written about. And in this case the character appeared in Beast Master and I’m about half way through In the Blood of the King and I’ve killed him! I can’t believe I’ve done it. One moment he’s there fighting and the next he’s flopping on the ground dead and no one has time to mourn, they have to escape.

When I realised that was where he was heading, it took me a whole day and night before I managed to sit down and write it. And before I actually did put the words to paper, (or fingers to keyboard) I wandered around the house a bit. But the deed was done and in a few words a character that had lived was gone! The power of the author, and surprisingly it was really hard to do. I’ve heard that sometimes writers will get rid of characters once their usefulness is gone. It’s easier I suppose then have them disappear and have the reader say, “what did happen to so and so?” But in this case, it was necessary for my main character to feel this death.

I look forward to what my beta readers will say when they get to that part.  I hope he’s the only one to die. Time will tell.