Step 1: Where Do They Come From?

Even spoons confuse Emily.

my pet peeve are fic summaries with something deep and obscure that not only tell me nothing about the story but dont MEAN anything theyre just words like

‘When lost eyes lock onto a summer’s shadow, will love make it in the end?? [content warnings]: anal fisting ‘

So I'm trying to write a fantasy story, and I'm a bit hung up on one element of world-building. Language and names. I admit I'm not sure how one goes about coming up with fairly usual sounding names that aren't either a jumble of random sounds or just names from real-world languages. Since I'm not trying to write something with the scope of Lord Of The Rings I obviously don't need to invent new languages, but I'm still unsure of how to proceed. What would you recommend?

Oh man I HEAR you I am shit at names. Total shit at names. I’ve been referring to the names in my Nano story as ‘bullshit fantasy crap’ because I’m sure they will have to be tweaked later. If names are holding you back from the for-real writing stage, make a note that they’ll be changed later and charge on.

In most real world cultures, names have a very important context and are very carefully chosen. Even without that context, most parents spend a great deal of time choosing names for their kids. If you want a fantasy culture that is reflective of Chinese culture, for example, you have to research on what goes into naming children in that culture. Your naming conventions in your story are going to reflect your worldbuilding. Is there a particular religion that’s predominate? Names could stem from that. Or they could reflect on where someone is from, or a syllable is added to show which generation they were born in.

That’s all good and well, but actually creating names from scratch is the hard part. If you’re not a master at creating fantasy foreign languages and names, here are my recommendations

Go for nice, pronounceable sounds. Don’t smash syllables together randomly in order to make it look cool, say it out loud to be sure it’s actually something people would use. Xisdhijbur is lazy keyboard smashing, try to avoid it. If you’re at a true loss, pick a real name (Maria) and change it until it seems both different and believable (Maerai, for example).

Steal blatantly from real life. If you want to get in depth, look at a list of the most common or popular names in different languages and see what they have in common (how many syllables, how common are certain vowels, etc). You can make up different cultures based on these different naming trends.

Avoid excessive grammar in names. There are real languages that use pausing and glottal stops (often indicated by ‘), but please don’t make names that look like Ti’pi’la’b’un. It looks silly and sounds even sillier. If you’re not confident you can use this in a way that would make sense in a language, I would avoid them.

Consider nicknames. A lot of American nicknames favor the ‘ee’ sound - Charlie, Christy, Katie, etc. In Chinese, the most common way to make a nickname is to repeat a syllable - Mingming, Pingping, Xiaoxiao, etc. Anastasia can become Ana, and so forth. If your characters have long, grand names, a nickname is often going to be used (depending on their personality). One thing I’ve almost never seen in fantasy is the tendency of people to often share a common name. This is a good way to do that.

For more:

The Art of Fantasy Names

What’s in a Name?

How to Chose Names for Fantasy Fictional Characters

Avoiding ‘Normal’ Names

Fantasy Writing Guide

As for the lately siblings typing and them being Fe-dom really reminds me of why I always feel high Fe users (especially Fe-dom ones) are rather... hard-to-like. The thing about how they are extremely vocal about their dislike is actually correct and common for high Fe users I have ever met in my life...

You understand why, though, right? Fe needs and wants to address what upsets it and processes their feelings while they talk, so they do so in order to work through it, resolve it, and clear the air. They don't understand emotional repression or silence and want others to respond in kind. Most EFJs who do not study typology can't understand why other people are not more open with their emotions, both good and bad. They need and want "signals" that come from other people and their emotional reactions, in order to know where they stand with people and how to adjust their behavior to fit the situation. Their entire life is about molding themselves to fit social, emotional, and relational cues. It's as normal for them to say "you hurt my feelings" as it is for them to exclaim in rapturous delight "I love being here with you!!!" Their emotional reaction to everything is immediate -- and they are sensitive, not only to insults against themselves or slights, but other people having an impact on those around them. (You hurt my daughter/girlfriend/boyfriend/friend, you are Enemy Number 1.)

As a Fi user and a 9 who avoids conflict, I understand that they can seem "intense" and "loud" and "confrontational," but you can't change them or expect them to be different than they are. It's as unnatural for them to repress their emotions and not be direct with them, as it would be for you to talk your way through your feelings "in real time" and be combative while doing it. All you can do is try to understand them, and focus on your own growth as a 9 -- learning that not all confrontation is bad, that not all raised voices are full of rage, that it's okay for other people to engage in conflict (it's not about me), and that you are likely "over-sensitive" to them due to being a 9.

I guarantee if you find some EFJ 9s and give them a chance, you will find out that not all of them are direct. One EFJ 9 I know is super sweet, tolerant, open-minded, easy-going, and never raises her voice.

Fairy tales are more than moral lessons and time capsules for cultural commentary; they are natural law. The child raised on folklore will quickly learn the rules of crossroads and lakes, mirrors and mushroom rings. They’ll never eat or drink of a strange harvest or insult an old woman or fritter away their name as though there’s no power in it. They’ll never underestimate the youngest son or touch anyone’s hairpin or rosebush or bed without asking, and their steps through the woods will be light and unpresumptuous. Little ones who seek out fairy tales are taught to be shrewd and courteous citizens of the seen world, just in case the unseen one ever bleeds over.

S.T. Gibson (via sarahtaylorgibson)

Concept: Baba Yaga, except instead of a scary cannibal grandma she’s a smirking vodka aunt (vodka great-aunt?) who freely hands out apparently sound – albeit often slightly self-destructive – advice, and it’s not until much later that the implications of the advice she’s given you finally click and you’re like OH GOD DAMMIT.

The Shapes of Stories, Kurt Vonnegut’s theories about archetypal stories.