Pretty much everyone has
had a nickname at some point in their lives, whether it was something your
friends called you in high school, or just your significant other calling you “honey.”
There are so many different ways to get a nickname, whether you love it, hate
it, or just put up with it. Choosing nicknames for your fictional characters
can make a huge impact on your readers. You can pick something that is
significant to the character and shows who he is and how he lives his life.
A nickname can hold a
lot more meaning than a first name. It’s most likely chosen or created by
someone close to the person or even the person himself. It can be reflective of
his personality, or something that he has done or has happened to him. A
character’s actual name would be chosen by his parents before he’s even born. A
nickname, however, is usually something that holds meaning to who he actually
is as a person. It can come from his physical characteristics (like hair color
or body type), his occupation, or where he comes from. Really, the possibilities
for nicknames are endless.
There are plenty of
ways to use nicknames within your story. Your character could already have it
before the story begins, or something could happen during the story that causes
its creation. Maybe something embarrassing happens that creates a nickname that
continues to haunt him. Nicknames could be good or bad. A person’s friends
might give him a nicer nickname, whereas people who aren’t that close to him
could call him something derogatory. A nickname can be a great source of
emotion for your character. If he hates it and has to deal with it on a daily
basis, then that could just be another thing he has to work through during the
course of the story.
When you choose a
nickname for your character, think about why he needs it, who gave it to him,
and how he responds to it. All of these things will factor in to how
significant the nickname turns out to be in your story.
Terms of endearment are
another form of nicknames you can use. If you have a couple in your story, they
most likely won’t refer to each other by their first names all of the time.
They’d be more likely to use something like “baby,” “honey,” or “sweetie.”
These terms are just something that will make the characters feel more
realistic, because using them is something that we all tend to do. It’s also
just something that hopefully the reader will find adorable when they picture
these characters interacting.
WHAT I’VE DONE: Surprisingly, I haven’t thrown in too many
nicknames into my fiction, but a few terms of endearment do pop up now and
then. Tom repeatedly calls Jordan “gorgeous” in UL. In real life, my fiancé and
I call each other “sweetie” and he calls me “princess,” as well.
Have you ever given one of your characters a nickname? What do you call
your significant other?
I've given a few characters shorter versions of their names as nicknames as well as sweet endearments given to them by their significant other.
ReplyDeleteI love Shemar Moore. I'd love him even more if he called me "baby girl." ;P
I love giving my characters nicknames. :) And Morgan!!! I heart that man.
ReplyDeleteAnother super good, informative post! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI've had teenage characters swap mean nicknames--sort of a verbal jousting.
ReplyDeleteI think nicknames are very good for capturing peer or family attitude toward a character. They can reveal so much about the person you're creating. Thanks for the reminder.
ReplyDeleteI've only used one nickname, and wasn't a positive thing. The character detested it.
ReplyDeleteThe thirteen cats in my latest MS call the main character Boring Bob.
ReplyDeleteStephen Tremp
A to Z Cohost
N is for Numerology
Big fan of nicknames and terms of endearment. Or in some cases, a blatant refusal to call someone by their name. :)
ReplyDeleteI wasn't a big fan of nicknames or terms of endearment growing up - I liked my own name better, and my first nickname from my mom was highly embarrassing.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I married into a nicknaming, endearment-using family - all of my in-laws use "sweetie," "dearie," and "honey," as well as nicknames. I call my husband Johnbear or lovebug every once in a long while, but generally, I still don't use them.
And so . . . only two of my characters have "nicknames" and they are both more like secretive names than nicknames. Stelia's real name is Sarya Tellia, and Dantor's real name is Daniel Torrant. Stelia lost her real family at a young age, and Dantor doesn't like his family . . . so their nicknames are their way of hiding from the past.
When Gale calls Katniss "Katnip" in the 2nd movie (swooon).
ReplyDeleteMy MC goes by her nickname, Ghuli (soft g), but one of her guardians calls her her full name Ghulien. Her other guardian called her Ghuli when he was little, and it stuck.
You're right, often a nickname holds more meaning about a character or person than their given name. Their given name is something made up before anyone knows their true personality.
ReplyDeleteI haven't used a lot of nicknames. Usually, they end up in vampire stories because names have power, so nicknames aren't as strong.
ReplyDelete~Patricia Lynne aka Patricia Josephine~
Member of C. Lee's Muffin Commando Squad
Story Dam
Patricia Lynne, Indie Author
I don't have a nickname... I always find it cute and shows that someone who gave you one considers you close.
ReplyDeleteDo stop by >> http://blog.shinekapoor.com/
I don't think I've used nicknames, just a few terms of endearment. But now you've got me thinking I want to give a character in my WIP a nickname. Fun. :D
ReplyDeleteI do use nicknames in my books and in real life.
ReplyDeleteWe just need to be careful not to confuse the readers.
Heather