As the plot thickens and the characters in my book start to take shape, I often find myself without a name in mind for them. It’s like a game of hide and seek with their identities, and I have to give them generic names until I find the perfect name that fits them like a glove. Sometimes, I’ll even switch names around a few times until I find the one that just clicks.

If a character is inspired by someone I know, I’ll use their name as a placeholder while I’m writing. But don’t worry, I’m not stealing identities;  I’ll work my magic with the find-and-replace tool once the book is nearly finished.

For the characters that are purely products of my imagination, I like to stick to a theme when naming them. In one book, I used the names of my coworkers; in another, the names of childhood neighbours; and in yet another, the names of friends. It’s like a little inside joke with myself. And once again, when the time comes, I’ll use some find-and-replace fairy dust to give them names that truly suit their essence.

For example, in one book, I called a main character Les, after a friend who lived on my street when we were kids. (If you are reading this, then Hi, Les.) Then, at the end, I changed his name to Chuck, and regretted it. Once I’d clicked that button, I found I’d really messed up.

Every word with “Les” suddenly became “Chuck” – thoughtless turned into “thoughtchucks,” bagels became “bagchuck,” and so on. It was like a game of musical names that took me ages to sort out.

I had a similar experience in my first book when I decided to switch from the present to the past tense. I went through with find and replace, swapping out “says” for “said,” “walks” for “walked,” and so on. But then came the dreaded word “can,” which transformed into “could” and led to some hilarious mix-ups. Suddenly, I had “Americoulds” instead of Americans and “coulds of Coke” instead of cans. It drove me bonkers for nearly a week.

Once I’m done with all the name changes, I start a little spreadsheet with a summary of the characters, names, likes, dislikes, history, character traits, and love interests, and I use it as my bible for the next book.

Stay tuned for more Q and A’s and don’t forget to buy Raw Mistakes on Amazon, Kobo and Goodreads.