The Name is the Thing

    Many bloggers, editors, writers, and critics have said this over the years, and it probably always needs to be emphasised every so often, or we’ll forget the lesson.

NAMES NEED TO BE EASY TO READ OR YOU WILL BREAK THE SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF!

    You must walk a very fine line when naming characters, places, things, and even ideas, especially in the different genres of speculative fiction.  At its core, it is actually rather counter intuitive.  We create a dazzling sentient species that communicates verbally with our human characters.  This species is non-human to its core, its tongue can’t pronounce certain sounds, and its civilisation’s evolution over five hundred thousand years has developed a language entirely extra-terrestrial.
    Deep down, in the spirit of creativity (even more perhaps, in the spirit of pseudo-realism) we want these aliens to have names like Xxxyz’la or Qho’kree’tik’lana, or even be so bold as to add some very odd phonetics and use a name like !Klagtagranze (the exclamation mark represents a tongue cluck).  These are certainly very alien names, and yes they invoke the foreign, the strange, and the “final frontier.”  But are they right for literature?
   
    Like so many questions about writing, the answer is yes, and the answer is also no.  As I said earlier, names like those above break the suspension of disbelief (that is, an engrossing story is capable of making us believe in the unbelievable, and names like those break the mystery).  The imagination is an amazingly fragile thing, when we have to consciously think about the words we are reading, we stop being immersed in the fiction, we literally resurface from the vast lake of an imaginary world and we lose or tenuous connection to the surreal. 
    Constantly using names that stretch the limits of the English language will result in an equally constant resurfacing of the reader’s conscious mind.  As a result, the reader is constantly torn away from an otherwise relaxing piece of fiction (imagine a 56k modem trying to play an online video game, these big names are just like the constant disconnects one would be forced to endure). 

    On the other hand, the “occasional” disconnect from the fictional world doesn’t really hurt the overall suspension of disbelief.  If you as the writer (and therefore the GOD of your universe, Lord and Master of all things in creation) want to use a monstrous name like !Dröwginexxiak, you should feel free to use it sparingly and be prepared to have a handy (and lets face it, clever) nickname.
    Let us assume that !Dröwginexxiak is part of an extra-terrestrial race of sentients.  They are tall, very creative, and entirely anarchistic.  Since the crew of rough and tumbled space pirates he’s crewing with just can’t stand to try and say his name, they’ve decided to shorten it to Draw, because the beginning of his name sounds like Draw, and because he spends most of his booty and spare time on artistic supplies and sketching respectively.  Now if you use his real name (you know, that big long one that starts with a cluck) every so often, it will reinforce how alien Draw really is rather than just making the reader cross-eyed trying to pronounce the name.
    While my example has been about character/creature names, the logic still works for anything.  The Planet Quiigiiwiggifier (it’s the worst possible name I could come up with) will just scare off your readers and fast.

    I’d also like to mention a couple of tricks worth remembering for naming your characters and all things in your stories without creating a suspension of disbelief and still sounding unique.
    The first trick, a rather popular one actually, is to use common names and words for things they don’t normally apply to (in a military sense, these are thought of as call signs).  This trick doesn’t work for everything, for example you can’t call the holiest of holy sites on the world Belinta IX just Steve.  You can, however, call your rough and tumble commando Fixer (this is an example taken from Star Wars, along with his battle brothers Sev, Niner, and Boss.  They don’t have other names).  You’re pretty redhead barmaid turned adventurer can be called Blaze.  Common words oddly used don’t often suspend disbelief but can be just strange enough to represent the fiction of the universe you have created.
    The second trick, and one I am a big fan of, is the use of “root” languages.  What do I mean by “root languages” you ask?  English (since my entire body of work is English) is rooted in the Indo-European Language Tree, and is heavily influenced by Germanic and Latin (or Romance) languages, as well as some Gaelic.  So, using these languages can be a useful way to create odd and unique names without suspending disbelief.  I say this because, while foreign, these languages possess recognisable roots and components that are not outside the realm of comprehension in one’s subconscious, that means you never have to really “Think” about the name.
    Take for example the name George.  You could, if you were so inclined, name your character Jorge without much o a dilemma.  Little “Easter eggs” can come up from this method, like the alien god Dios (google it if you don’t get that joke) or the Deus Xe Cult of the Planet Po (again, I’d suggest you google it).  These two examples are Spanish and Latin/Italian respectively, and not entirely outside one’s understanding.

    Hopefully this helps you with your monstrous names and preposterously alien places.