Young Writers Society

When creating characters for a story I've read it's not okay to use names that have the same first letter or sound especially close together. Lately though I've had a different opinion about that. I feel it brings something good to the story when one does so. What opinion does everyone else have?

Personally, I try to avoid using similar names, at least for my main characters. It just makes the story easier to read. This certainly isn't the rule, though. Look at Harry and Hermione. No one ever confused them! As long as you don't have Mike and Mark and Michelle as your main characters, it should be okay.

It depends on how close. If you have only one or two letter difference, and both have major roles (especially on the same side), it can get really confusing. However, in a school setting, you often run across names that are similar or the same.

It's a balance between what's realistic and what's easy to keep track of. I personally keep track of names through first sounds, so if there are two names that start with Ro- I'm going to mix them up, pretty much guaranteed. Other people keep track through first and last letter.

You could use it to your advantage to *hint* something. Close sounding names might indicate a twin: "Tim and Tom".

Or only make the last part of a name sound alike, often there is still a difference: "Dominique, Angelique".

For the short story I'm writing at the moment, I have a Garrett and a Fletcher-Gareth. That's partly because the names are straight out of a dream I had the other night, and partly because it's going to be a plot point where other characters mix up their names. I think. But usually, I try to avoid it as much as possible.

There are circumstances where it's allowed and sometimes expected, like between a parent and child. In the novel I'm working on the father is Rory and his son is named Rosario. Or titles where someone who assumes a role might have something about their names that sets them apart from other people. Like if all people who pass a certain test have a prefix or suffix added to their name, or they're given a name that starts with a certain letter. It just has to be done in a way that makes sense. It can be an excellent plot point and create intrigue, so don't be afraid of it

I read a book once where two characters had the same name. Even then it wasn't as confusing as you'd expect - the only main issue for me was when someone who knew both was referring to one of them.

I usually try to avoid this too, because I prefer all the characters having a unique name - not necessarily "unique" as it is, like Gh'azltanq, but unique to that story. So, no more than one Jane per story.

Sometimes you can really notice what sort of names the author likes though. I'm all for consistency, but with names, I think it's quite different!