5 replies to this topic

[Tyler]

I'm writing a short story that for now is called Laceland. The main premise of the story is that a girl and a boy, both freshmen in college, travel from their school in Montanna to the boy's small hometown in Georgia (Laceland!) and visit his old friends and family who remain in the town. They stay a while, and the girl becomes close with all of his friends, including one who used to be the boy's girlfriend. Through another of his friends, she discovers that the other girl has a two-year old son, and that the boy is his father. It's going to be a lot about learning to cope with secrets and deception, faraway family, jealousy, and unconditional love. I'm not sure if it's going to end happily or not, but at the end, everyone will have learned something important.
The Main Character is very laid-back and easygoing. She has a sharp, almost sarcastic sense of humor and has plenty of friends. She's never really been the pretty girl or the smart girl or the athletic girl or the funny girl...she often complains that instead of being good at anything, she's mediocre at everything. She has a terrible relationship with her parents, who were both in the military when she was young, and has one younger brother and one older sister. I'm not entirely set on her appearance yet...she'll probably be about 5'5", 130 lbs, with wavy brown hair and greenish eyes and LOTS of freckles.
The Boy is the above-mentioned character's boyfriend. His dad died when he was very young and was raised by his mother, who's crazy and loving and a hippie. He's practically an all-star basketball player, but he's not really popular other than that. He went to high school with the main character, and he's a little bit shyer than she is, but equally as relaxed. He's the one with the secret kid, but he's just such a nice boy! He's very polite and has a cute still-a-little-southern accent. He takes care of his child and the old girlfriend, and his hometown and the people in it mean practically everything to him. He's tall, maybe even a little lanky, with dirty blond hair and warmish brown eyes.
The Mother, as she's being called now, is the Boy's old girlfriend, the one who he got pregnant. She's nice, but a little clingy, as seen from the eyes of the main character. She's very very girly and meek, she's got little to say and less to think about. Although she seems very childish compared to the Main Character, when she's with her son, you can see that she really is responsible and wonderful with him. I want her name to be really south-ish...up till now, I've mostly been thinking of her as a Naomi. She's super petite with fair skin, light light blue eyes, and nearly white-blond hair. She's got a sort of angelic ariness about her.
There's also a Best Friend, who plays a big part in the story. He's a lot more outgoing than the Boy, but he's still really nice and hillarious. He struggles throughout the story to keep the big secret from the Main Character, and they have a kind of awkward almost-attraction going on throughout the entire story. He's also a basketball player, tall with dark hair and blue-grey eyes...I was thinking along the lines of Travis, but I'm hardly sold on that.

I know that was a long description. If you made it through, your thoughs would be very much apprecitated!

[rhaego]

The first thing that came to mind for the main character was Amber. It seemed to me like a sort of default name, however, and after I thought about it for a bit, I decided I really liked Trista for her. Christa or Tristan (if you don't mind unisex) would work as well. I like Tristan Amber as a full name for her.
As for the boy, I figured since his mother is a hippie, he should have a nature name. I like River, because it has that hippie vibe, but it's also pretty common and doesn't stick out in a crowd. If you don't want that sort of name, I also like the name Patrick for him.
I like Naomi for the mother as well. Charlotte is another one that came to mind when you said a south-ish name. Naomi Charlotte or Charlotte Naomi might be good pairs.
I like Travis for the friend, as well. Trent or Troy also come up, maybe just because of the other Tr- name. If I wanted to travel away from the Tr-, he might sound like a Cody or a Colby or a Corey.

Hope this helped!

[Antelope]

For the main character I was thinking Kelly or Danielle
For her boyfriend should Chad or Kyle maybe Ethan, Tucker.
Other girlfriend could be Linda or Shauna, Belle.
Mom of the boyfriend could be Janice(Stardust or something like that)
Main characters parents could be Charles/Richard and Helen/Eleanor.
Brother/Sister Michael/Lloyd Gail/Ginger
Boyfriend Dead Dad could be a hippie hater( a fun twist) named Harold.

[iamSAMiam]

Well, based on your descriptions, I went and searched names. Here are some I found:

FOR THE MAIN CHARACTER:
Breck - an Irish name meaning "Freckled" (maybe you could use this one as a surname)
Adela - a French name meaning "Good Humor"
Alice/Alissa/Alicia/Alyssa - a Teutonic name meaning "Noble Humor"

FOR THE BOYFRIEND:
Abbott/Abbot/Abott - a Hebrew name meaning "Father"
Axel - a Hebrew name meaning "Father of Peace"
Jovan - a Latin name meaning "Father of the Sky"

FOR THE MOTHER/FORMER GIRLFRIEND
Belle/Bella - pretty obvious, this means beautiful
Belinda - an English name meaning "Very Beautiful"
Bonnie - a Scottish name meaning "Beautiful"
Calissa - a Greek name meaning "Most Beautiful"
Elvira - a Spanish name meaning "Truth; White and Beautiful"
Linda - a Latin name meaning "Beautiful"
Naomi - a biblical name meaning "Beautiful; Agreeable"
Nellie - a diminuitive of Eleanor, meaning "Beautiful"

[Katie-Nana]

I'm writing a short story that for now is called Laceland. The main premise of the story is that a girl and a boy, both freshmen in college, travel from their school in Montanna to the boy's small hometown in Georgia (Laceland!)

The Boy is the above-mentioned character's boyfriend. His dad died when he was very young and was raised by his mother, who's crazy and loving and a hippie. He's practically an all-star basketball player, but he's not really popular other than that. He went to high school with the main character,

I'm a little confused about the story. If the boy and the girl went to high school together wouldn't she be from the same town he was? And wouldn't she probably already know about the ex and the kid? Or if not then I don't think you should say they went to high school together cause it brings up problems with believability. I think you should just have them meet in college.

Main Character- I think short and traditional is best... Claire, Hope, Beth, Ann.
Boy- He should have a hippy name, something from nature or myth...Ridge, Green(er), Hawk.....I really like Bane.
Mother- I like Naomi but I really like Darla.
Best Friend- I see him as a Kevin
What about the son?- Short and sweet? Sam, Ben, Joey

[Tyler]

Very valid point, KatieB. I actually didn't think about it much while thinking up the story, but in the begining I talk a lot about him constantly taking trips back and forth from Montana, where they go to school, back to Georgia to visit his friends and family, so I was thinking maybe he dated the other girl long-distance throughout high school, and then had to continuously return from time-to-time because of his son. Although I definitely played with the idea of having them meet up in college, I really wanted them to have some kind of background together. Although them going to the same high school would make it so that they were from the same "hometown" in the minds of some people, in his mind, Laceland will always be home.
I haven't worked on the story in agggges...I just picked it back up, so if you don't think it's making sense still, let me know!!
Thanks.