Pen Friends, welcome Miss Dana Black, a regular contributor for the Spinning Pen!

Names. They’re usually the first piece of personal information you learn about a person. And they have so much power. As parents, the names we give our children (real or hypothetical) shape an essential part of who they ultimately become. It could ruin their lives.

Is that a slightly dramatic assessment? Maybe. But I’m a writer. And a theater nerd. Being dramatic is part of my DNA.

I’m serious about the name thing, though. When writing, we have to choose our characters’ names with care. Now, I’m not saying you have to scour every name source out there, or come up with a zillion options before making a choice, but some thought should certainly go into the process.

Sometimes, names just come to us. When this happens, stop for a second before you decide to name every character…