Character Names: Why Are They Important?

Hey, guys! Tomorrow chapter 3 of the AJ Story is coming out, and it brought this post to mind. Since every character is a real name from a real Animal Jam player, I didn’t get a choice in the names except a few. This works out fine for the story, since I can choose what role everyone plays to suit their name, but what if it’s the other way around?
What if you already have a genius story about a warrior of a magic land who goes on a quest to save the world? You probably don’t want to name him Barney.
Names are a big part of the story. In the book Dragon’s Milk, the names reflect the place. They sound like they’re really from another world. In the Hunger Games, the names sound like they’re from another time. In both examples, the names help to outline the plot, and the stories wouldn’t be as good if it were about a guy named Ricky who rode his dragon to Chicago.
But why are they so important? It’s partially just for the sake of sounding cool. I know that sounds funny, but it’s true. Having a whole dictionary or selection of names for a story makes it sound totally different and well thought-out. Another reason is that it tends to help with character development. Look at Juniper from the AJ Story. Being named after a coniferous, blue-berried tree helps to portray her as a healer and someone who enjoys making potions and things.
Names are also how that character would be remembered. If there’s someone important mentioned at the beginning, but then he comes up later in the story secretly, he’d have to be under a different name or it would be totally given away. I’m thinking of Divergent here.

Anyway, thanks for reading!! I appreciate it a lot!!

Summer 🙂

Divergent Aptitude Test

Hey, guys! I know I already posted this link in my Divergent book review, but I decided to put it in its own post since it’s kind of its own thing. Anyway, here’s the URL: http://www.buzzfeed.com/ariellecalderon/which-divergent-faction-do-you-actually-belong-in
Please post your results in the comments! I love to see what my readers are doing!

Anyway, thanks for reading,

Summer 🙂

Character Theme Songs

Hey, guys! I’m making this a post because I do it a lot. Have you ever listened to a song and automatically assigned it to a character, or met a character and immediately assigned it to a song? I have done that so many times. The best match I’ve come up with is “Wide Awake” by Katy Perry to a character in my AJ story. She hasn’t been introduced yet, but she’s one of my favorites. I also think “People Like Us” by Kelly Clarkson is a good match for Tris from Divergent. Anyway, back to the point…
If you’ve ever done this, post your song and its corresponding character in the comments. If you haven’t… you will.

Anyway, I know this post is a little short, but I just thought I needed to get this out there.
Thanks for reading!!

Summer 🙂

Book Reviews: Divergent

I bought this book for 20% off at my local Half-Price Books, which is probably my all-time favorite store. My cousin had read it and said she was going to make me read it if it was the last thing she did, so I decided I’d get it. I expected something that was a cross between The Hunger Games and a romance novel, but this was something new entirely. There was one inappropriate part – I wouldn’t recommend it for people under twelve – but there wasn’t anything else sketchy about it. I’m not a big fan of romance novels myself, but the sci-fi and dystopian world definitely overweighed it. I like this book a lot, and I think I’ll be rereading this more than once.
For sweet action, good plot, and epic background, I give this book four out of five stars.

Thanks for reading, you’re all awesome!!

Summer

P.S. My cousin gave me an aptitude test a couple of weeks before I read this book. The URL is http://www.buzzfeed.com/ariellecalderon/which-divergent-faction-do-you-actually-belong-in. I got Erudite, please comment below what faction you belong in!!