When I write short stories, I get annoyed about naming the characters. Some of them only have brief appearances, but I still need to find the right name. Either from the right culture, or with the right feel to it.
So sometimes I cheat. I've used names of actors three times just over the past year. If not more. I should probably change my tactics... I went back to edit one short story I hadn't looked at in a long time. I wondered why I'd chosen the name "Pascal." Was it because of the Disney character? Or the actor Pedro Pascal? I guess now I'll never know. My instinct is to say the character. But why would I name a soldier after a cute little chameleon?
I went to edit another story, and realized that I'd left a handful of side characters unnamed. I went through the painstaking research for names from that area. And once I finished, I realized that I'd already made notes on potential names, which I'd typed into the first draft... If I'd skimmed through it, I might not have had to go through the naming twice.
So, I hope the names I've picked don't have any unusual connotations. And that I'm pronouncing them right in my head.
I have one more short story in mind, and I hope I don't need to name any brief side characters!
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