Making sure the names and place names of your novel do not change
By suspenseful
@suspenseful (40193)
Canada
October 6, 2007 4:04pm CST
I am writing a novel, and since it is a fantasy and the characters have strange sounding names, and there are many strange sounding cities, towns, etc. not to mention that they use ancient names rather than the modern equivalent.
Now I was wondering how do you make sure that the names of your characters and your place names do not change, like for instance, if you have a character called Louie the Louse and he lives in Scasra, that in Chapter Twenty, you do not make the mistake of writing the name as "Lowie the Lous who lives in Scarsa.
Do you use a special program to make sure this does not happen or just Word, or whatever? I have Windows Xp but will be getting a Mac in the future.
1 person likes this
4 responses
@LilyoftheThorns (12918)
• United States
7 Oct 07
Just take notes of characters and places. You could keep them on another word document page. Just quick little "Louie the Louse lives in Scasra." If you don't keep notes I def. understand how it can be confusing! :)
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
7 Oct 07
I use my word processor, the table program, but I write in all the characters even the minor ones such as the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker, just in case during the course of the novel, my main character might meet them again, and learn the butcher's name was Louie, and he was the father of Gwendolyn, the ladies maid who was working as a spy for Lord Darkmouth , etc. (this is an example and these are not in my novel.) It gets rather long and complicated and I would like to make it easier instead of opening up my Character page.
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
20 Jul 08
YOur welcome. I find it is difficult on my own to keep track, so I have to use a spread sheet or table program to keep track and then if I decide to change their name or find a better name, I have to change the name all over again.
@LilyoftheThorns (12918)
• United States
5 Nov 07
Yeah! That's def. smart! In writing, things always have the chance to get complicated, no matter how simple they seem at first! lol. I know that all too well ;P
Thanks for best response!
1 person likes this
@Hatley (163776)
• Garden Grove, California
21 Jul 08
hi suspenseful I am an unpublished writer with two novels and I found that in order to avoid mistakes like the one you mentioned
I made a special folder named the names and birthplaces of my characters and the novel they are in so I could check and be sure I had not screwed up. Just a folder on my computer but it helps immensely.Otherwise I found myself making errors also.
1 person likes this
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
21 Jul 08
The folder sounds a good idea, but I like everything relevent to the story to be in one folder. I have a separate pages for each character, plus another where the characters are introduced into the story and their origin, what they do, etc. but that might not work as when I put the next draft, I might put that particular character in the 4th rather than the 8th chapter. Right now I am writing a novel that I plan to make a sequel, but I have a separate novel that I put in a different folder and I find that works.
@ssh123 (31073)
• India
7 Oct 07
For some specific reasons, the major names are maintained in the novels wirtten by authors here, but minutes things are changed for the fear that someone might go to court with a defamation case. Therefore the minor locations, they change the name of the place. Sometimes, there could be some sayings about such places, people who are actually living there right now might consider it as derogatory statement and seek redressal from the court. Otherwise most authors name a country, city, or town. Name of the buildings, palaces are changed in the novel.
1 person likes this
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
7 Oct 07
I am not talking about changing the names of the buildings or the palaces, since I am writing a fantasy. I am talking about if in Chapter Four, the hero has a friend called Borgan the Invincible, and then in Chapter Twenty, his name is called Borgen the Invincible. It is NOT about my wanting to change the name of Buckingham Palace to Hallcrest Palace because Prince Charles or Queen Elizabeth wants to sue me if I used the proper name.
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
7 Oct 07
I have to use the computer because I have bad wrists, so my handwriting gets squiggly after a while. If someone is only writing a novella or a short story, they do not have that many characters, but my main character travels a lot, and he runs in several people. Also a character that is unnamed at first, when he starts to pop up now and again, you have to give him a name, and not only that record that name in your notes, even though he was called "the owner of the stallions" in the fourth chapter, for example.
