Names and things

Names are always an interesting challenge with fiction writing, complicated by modern naming practices (I named a character Mandy, thinking it an old-fashioned name, Amanda, but got many people telling me it was not only in common use (about half a generation later than myself) but had a character type in movies, not the association I wanted for a medieval peasant. I like period names, but peasant names aren't well documented, (unlike noble and educated names for which I have many lists to refer to and sometimes use, especially for minor side characters).

E-ships adds an extra measure of complication. SF allows a wide range of possibilities, but also interesting challenges: how do you name a ship with sufficient character to need nick names and unique references? And how do you have space-associated names without being trite (Andromeda has to go, I know, but I haven't settled on a replacement. Eventually I'll do a global replace for the full name and the nick name(s).) I've also named spacial phenomenon (much as planet bound travelers use rivers, interchanges, and other geomarkers as reference for where they go, but also giving names to the phenomenon type that I either made up or don't know a scientific name for), and had to create a pseudo military ranking system (The forces aren't exactly military... but police use ranks, too.)

That leads to another issue of naming - titles and ranks add not-always-desirable length to "full names" and another reference on top of names, nick names, and in this case ship identities. Many characters would appropriately use ranks as much as names so I tend to abbreviate, but I can't use the classic rule in non fiction writing - once spelled out, abbreviate. Readers unfamiliar with even common ranks (lieutenant) are not going to be comfortable with alien variations, so I try to spell out periodically, such as at the start of scenes or chapters. Knowing the right rate of use though... I hope an editor has a handle on it, and doesn't mind if my original pacing isn't quite what they have in mind for the final published version...

How do you handle naming?