Tools and Techniques: Spam Names
I hate names. I really hate thinking them up. I have one project where I need to rename at least one of my male leads, both a Jackson and a Jason in the same book is a bad idea. With names that similar, even the author gets confused. Another project until recently I just referred to as “The Dick”, which makes even my to-do lists PG rated.
I have been using this idea for a few years now. I first heard of it at a writing workshop. The idea is: troll your spam folder for names.
The best I have seen of late are the Brazilian drug spam and the individualized emails from our friends in Nigeria. Make sure your email reader does not download the pictures or such for the email and really, really don’t open any attachments.
But, check out the names. They are great, sure there are some that are too odd, but there are others that are gold.
When I find a good name, I save it off in a document. When I need a name I just look there for something to tickle my fancy. Here are some examples from my Spam Names File (actually what I call it):
- Andre Takeda
- Giovana Guido
- Thomas Biachinni
- Patrick Chan
- Barrister Rufus Young
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