This article is by Grace Robinson.
People sometimes ask me how I come up with names for my fantasy stories – names of characters, as well as names of creatures, places, and things.
I don’t have a standard formula for inventing names, but after doing some thinking, I realized that there are three main methods I use.
I believe that many authors use these methods in one way or another:
Is it wrong for Christians to write about magic, wizards and otherworldly beings?
Surprisingly, some people believe so.
Over a decade ago a fundamentalist church not far from my home made headlines by having a Harry Potter bonfire. Christians from the surrounding area were invited to bring their Harry Potter books to a public burning. The fact that this event conjured images of Nazi Germany didn’t deter the organizers, as they were determined to rid the world (or at least the greater Pittsburgh area) of the influence of J.K. Rowling and her supposed promotion of witchcraft.
Recently this question has arisen in our writing forums, and this has led to a thought-provoking discussion. One of our members eloquently expressed the crux of the issue:
This article is by Brian Wood.
The Harry Potter era is over.
The final movie has entered theaters and I, for one, am more than a little bit sad. I figured there was no better time to talk about the genius of JK Rowling and the Harry Potter series. I have never read a series of books that was more overwhelmingly loved by all different kinds of people. So, if you’re reading this article, I hope you loved Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the rest of the characters as much as I did. If you didn’t, then I would think you can at least admit that Rowling must have done something right to sell so many books.
When the first Harry Potter books were published I didn’t bother to read them. I saw the films, but they didn’t strike me as especially significant. Yes, they were full of magic and wonder. But I failed to perceive anything of lasting substance. I dismissed Harry Potter as a fad.
Yet as the series progressed, so did the depth of storytelling. By the time that I read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, I had become a believer.
But I didn’t begin reading the books until Deathly Hallows was released. Why? Because friends kept telling me that the books were superior to the films. That’s not unexpected, as fans of any series would make similar claims. But what struck me as unusual was that these friends had a decidedly different viewing experience of the films than I did.