Name Generators

So my abhorence of character name generators might have come to an end.

Because I am a glutton for punishment, I decided to do another Google™ search for character name generators (you never know what is going to turn up, right?). After sifting through the usual culprits for such a thing - a fantasy name generator, an RPG generator, an article on how to pick good character names... ugh - why do I always fall for you, and when will I learn that you're an article, not a generator - I was surprised to come out the victor in this ever bloody battle. Check it out!

http://www.adammaxwell.com/writing/extras/character-name-generator.html

The site also has a writing prompt generator that looks promising, but that is far from the point. The point is that I found a character name generator with interesting names. Let's start in the surname category (last name, folks... c'mon).

A Sampling of Typical Surnames to pop up in a generator:

• Sanford
• Nelson
• Ball
• McDonald

A Sampling of Surnames in Mr. Maxwell's generator:

• Zysett
• Javis
• Horseford
• Brog

I mean, seriously... you probably couldn't find these last names in a list of the 1000 most common surnames in America, could you? Yet they exist, and should be acknowledged in literature for existing. What's the fun in everyone always having the surname Smith, Jones, Johnson, Martin, etc?

I have to say that this generator has greatly energized my pre-NaNoWriMo planning for this novel. The plot is coming together nicely, around characters I have written about in the past... which I love, and hate all at once for a number of reasons I'll explain later. Even a sub-plot or two is starting to emerge because of these characters and their past interactions in my writing. I'm excited to finally have a sense of direction for this project.

NaNoWriMo Countdown: (including today) 4 days... whoa.