My biggest bloody problem with writing a story, is names! The book, the characters, the places, the spacecraft (SW).
How do others do so good at easily making names?
Winerfox's reply (partial):
Nope, no pattern whatsoever. Except that "Kaya" has a middle name because a relative of hers, Guun Hon Saresh, does. "Ashk" is a legitimate Bothan name; ditto for the clan name and prefix "Dau'fey." A little research can go a long way.
For SW spacecraft and any other lore, I pick things up from d20 sourcebooks. If you mean the proper name for a ship... hey, that's easy. Can range from bird (Ebon Hawk, Millenium Falcon, Moldy Crow, Raven's Claw) to fish to mythical creatures (Leviathan). For large ships (frigate, cruiser, etc), maybe a noun that expresses power or immensity. Throw some Latin in. Just about anything goes. It's actually fun making names up.
Lews, WF gave some excellent advice re: creating names. In fact, it's pretty much the way I approach naming characters, places and things in my fantasy world(s). Look into other languages and how their names are formed. In the case of Johannson, Swedish uses 'son' at the end of their family names as 'son of' Johann. Scotland uses Mc/Mac to signify 'belonging to' or 'of' a specific clan: MacDougal. Researching different cultural conventions has always been a great source when looking for names. And, as Elliot did, change a few of the letters around and voila, you've got a unique name that's all yours. *g*
I borrow words from mythology, old Latin, Roman and Greek when searching for new characters, places or things. They are all rich sources when fishing for the right name. Hope this helps.
Faralas <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mage.gif" alt="" />
