Young Adult Book Reading Challenges discussion

Hi! I am currently beginning to write my novel which is YA dystopia. It follows a place in the future where the government controls their people's memories to wipe any rebellious thoughts from their minds. At night, every person must report to their pods, where the are wired up.
Caspian is a Memorable, the person whose job it is to wipe the people's minds. What he hasn't old anyone is, he keeps the most important memories to start a revolution of his own.
There is also a girl, whose name I have not decided upon yet. She lives in the poorest area of the country where the land is barren and food is scare. These are the most rebellious people. During a routine wire in to wipe her memories, a virus sweeps through the system, effecting only her and Caspian. Their memories swap. Both knowing what the other knows, they must find each other in a world of chaos, to put right the wrongs of their society.

Please help me! I am stuck with a name for the female character. I am looking for an unusual name, preferably short. She is a very strong, determined, curious and rebellious character. The ideas I have are; Aurora, Cecile, Iris, Anya, Rae, Dulcie, Rowan, Avery, Ava, Tamara. Any suggestions would be gratefully accepted. I would also like to know if you think the plot sounds good (there will also be a romance aspect in there). I look forward to hearing what you think :)

Hoe about Roxy? Always been a favorite of mine.

Hi Millie,

Story sounds great! I think that you shouldn't be worried about the name, and just go on with your writing. I always give "Draft" names to my heroes when I start writing, but further on the "right" name just pops off . Maybe you could try that...

Thanks for the suggestions! I am so keen to start writing it so will use draft names :)

Your plot sounds fantastic! I haven't read anything remotely similar. I like the name Kier. I think it would sound good with Caspian. Look forward to hearing about your process and progress. Happy writing!

Hi Millie,

I like the way that plot sounds and I also think this is a very interesting world to build and explore. Personally, I like the name Iris.

Good luck with your writing :)

Sounds like a great plot. I would just write and the name will come.

I think Rae would be great. the spelling is feminine however the pronunciation is like a man's so i think that fits her character since you said she is somewhat strong and rebellious. and personalky, i love names that sounds masculine. and my friends call me Rei, it's somehow the same. haha. Rae is just as perfect<3

Wow. Your story sounds really great. I hope you'll get it published because I'm definitely buying it! :) As for the name, I'm a big fan of Rowan and Rae. I agree with Eri-chan that the spelling is feminine but the pronunciation is that of a man's name. I love Rowan because it's the name of a very strong female character in The Witching Hour series by Anne Rice. She's one of my favorites :)

As I was reading the description, I immediately thought of the name Ava, so I got creeped out when I saw it in your list already. Your story sounds great by the way :)

I love the idea!! Personaly I like Iris. When can we read the book?

Wow, what a fantastic concept! Can't wait to read it one day!!

I keep a file with interesting names to use for my writing, some of the ones that might suit this character are:

Reeve, Indie, Prue, Nyx, Teva

There are some great name websites where you can look up names from all different countries...you could also grab an atlas and see if any place names jump out at you

You might also decide that in this particular village people have really traditional names, and she could be called something like Anna or Charlotte or Clara etc

Good luck!! :)

Your idea is amazing! I'd love to read it one day! :-)
I like Iris and Rae the most. How about Nova?

Keep us up to date with your book!

There's this name I came across some time ago:

KYLA

I use dummy names as I begin to write. It will change as I go. Eventually, a name will surface that is perfect.

I know other writers do not do it that way, but it makes it less stressful for me.

Best writing.


My YA contemporary crime fiction will be released Feb 2015 from the Poisoned Pencil, an imprint of The Poisoned Pen Press.

Not a lot of people know that Frodo Baggins was called Bingo Baggins in the first draft of The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien was quite a long way in when he made what would turn out to be the wisest decision of his career...

I didn't know that! How cool. Imagine a world w/out Frodo. Or Hodor if you like Game of Thrones... Names come from character are quite organic.

Or Groot! :-)

What aout Jyrne?

Be careful of personal identity issues with memories combined. See research commentaries on MPDs and schizophrenia. You can have fun with the problems, too. For example, cases such as I mention below do happen. Someone may think a story heard or images from a movie are actually theirs. And, insist that the events really happened to them. Form of delusion, but quite real for the person. Also, have a look at "thought insertion."

Good going with an interesting plot.

Dave

I like the name Ava, and I think it'd go well with the name Caspian.

And your novel sounds like it'll turn out to be awesome!

I changed the name of my main character in The Balance twice as I was writing. I also changed the name of one or two other characters—the name isn't so important to decide right away. It'll come to you.

When searching for initial names in general, I've used lists in the past. Use a search engine looking for names of whatever time period you like, and for different nationalities as well. For The Boy Who Ran, I used a list of Native American names from a tribe, although no one really knows what names were being used 6000 years ago.

Depending on your characters traits, I like Ash's Nyx. Also a play on words, like 'nix', to cut out?? Very Greek mythology, also. Thinking of going this route on one of next writing endeavors.

I really love Ash's Nyx and Lauren's Nova, but I'd also like to suggest Lux and Saskia.