A little method.
A better next draft.
Practical notes for choosing, testing, and rewriting names. Open the one that answers the question on your desk.
A name that earns its place
A five-line brief for turning a pleasant sound into a useful part of your world.
5 min readCharacters you can tell apart
Design a cast for the reader’s memory, the dialogue box, and the room where names are spoken aloud.
5 min readBuild a map with a memory
Use work, weather, and competing local histories to make place names belong together.
5 min readName the limitation, not just the power
Make an artifact memorable by deciding what it cannot do.
5 min readA title is a small promise
Find a game or story title that suggests the experience without explaining the ending.
5 min readLeave room for another language
Build a name register that a translator can work with, even while your project is still in English.
5 min readTest the name where it will live
A practical review for map labels, subtitles, inventories, and controller-distance reading.
5 min readFrom generated option to your own draft
A repeatable editing pass that keeps the useful spark and replaces the generic parts.
5 min readA naming system that can grow
Build a practical naming bible for people, places, objects, and the exceptions that make a world feel lived in.
5 min readCompound names that stay readable
Join images without turning a clear idea into an overloaded string of decorative syllables.
5 min readRarity without an inventory full of superlatives
Separate an object’s practical type, maker identity, and individual legend so the vocabulary remains informative.
5 min readRun a useful naming review
Ask concrete questions, observe retrieval, and turn feedback into a revision somebody else can understand.
5 min readResearch a name before publication
Keep a practical search record and separate a creative working name from a conclusion about third-party rights.
5 min read