The name game continues with my hero. I talked about this last week and it's ongoing. Every time I think I have the right name, I get pulled up short. The problem is the overnight test. Basically this means the name has to stick overnight. This includes some test scenes with the name as I'm lying in bed. This hero nixed one of the names I thought was his at this stage.
The second name made it through this run, but when I woke up the next day and tested it again, it failed. I knew it hadn't worked when his father wouldn't call him by that name. Not that his father provided the correct name, but I rarely get helpful characters who provide information willingly.
Stubbornly, I continued to use the second name a few more days, but I finally was forced to admit that it wasn't going to work.
It was back to the drawing board. I spent hours searching over the weekend and I have a third contender. I haven't had time yet to run too many scenes through my head with this latest name--I've been falling asleep too fast--so I'm not calling it a done deal yet, but it has made it a few days with it in place. Personally, I'm not in love with it and it's a name that strikes me as being old fashioned. Old fashioned enough to be unusual.
If it's the right one, though, I'm not going to argue with him. I'll take anything at this point so I can move forward with figuring out stories and arcs for the trilogy. I can't do anything without the right names for my characters--it actually can and does influence action/plot.
And in the few hours since I wrote this post, my hero has rejected the latest name. The search continues.
