Comments on: Playing with words http://www.vylarkaftan.net/2009/12/29/playing-with-words/ writer of science fiction & fantasy Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:21:34 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Vylar http://www.vylarkaftan.net/2009/12/29/playing-with-words/comment-page-1/#comment-3684 Vylar Wed, 30 Dec 2009 14:27:34 +0000 http://www.vylarkaftan.net/2009/12/29/playing-with-words/#comment-3684 I know... but I can still lament it. I know… but I can still lament it.

]]> By: Keyan http://www.vylarkaftan.net/2009/12/29/playing-with-words/comment-page-1/#comment-3683 Keyan Wed, 30 Dec 2009 09:43:52 +0000 http://www.vylarkaftan.net/2009/12/29/playing-with-words/#comment-3683 There's a reason for the A endings... it's an easy way to immediately establish gender, given that you're working with a world the reader doesn't recognize, names they've never heard of, and - in writing - no visual images. The times I've given my female characters unusual consonant-ending names, I usually confuse some first readers. ("I thought Venn was a guy and had to re-visualize her when you said "She" a paragraph later...") So when the story isn't about gender, I find using a name that readers perceive as female saves hassle and words. Even though IRL, many girl names don't end in A and many boy names do. There’s a reason for the A endings… it’s an easy way to immediately establish gender, given that you’re working with a world the reader doesn’t recognize, names they’ve never heard of, and – in writing – no visual images. The times I’ve given my female characters unusual consonant-ending names, I usually confuse some first readers. (”I thought Venn was a guy and had to re-visualize her when you said “She” a paragraph later…”) So when the story isn’t about gender, I find using a name that readers perceive as female saves hassle and words.

Even though IRL, many girl names don’t end in A and many boy names do.

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