Writing: Creating New Words With Scrabble!

One of the biggest blocks for me when writing will be in trying to find the right name for something.  I frequently have to stop in the middle of a good stream of consciousness when I realize I have a new character that requires a catchy new name, and then I spend minutes or hours trying to come up with something good.  Other times, I might have to stop when I realize I need a name for a setting (like a specific building, a store, a town, a city, a country, a planet, a galaxy, etc), or a faction (such as a nation, a corporation, an alien race, a make-believe kingdom, etc).  I might also have to stop to find unique names for made-up natural elements, weapons, artifacts, substances, food, drinks, starships, vehicles, and any number of other props a story may call for.  A given story may require so many names, it's not even funny.

It's handy to have a database or notebook on hand full of names or words you discover that you may want to use.  Maybe you see a name somewhere that catches your eye; record it for later, and you can refer to it immediately when you realize that you need a name (or if you suddenly find the perfect place to use that specific name).  Using a notebook or database can be handy for recording day-to-day encounters with new words and ideas, but if you're looking to create a whole new name or word that you won't find on planet Earth, you'll be hard-pressed to find a real-life situation that would prompt you to write such a word down.  If you're so deep into sci-fi and fantasy like I am, you'll want to collect some words that are outlandish to some degree.

After playing through so many rounds, I discovered that the board game Scrabble can be a useful tool for writers in need of words that don't really exist.  In the course of a normal game, as I shuffle around the seven letters, I often come up with all kinds of weird and cool-sounding terms that I realize could mean something.  I make it a point to write down such words, and then record them into a database so I can use it later.

Scrabble letters can help you create new words to name new things.  Maetherion is a word I came up with as the name of a futuristic corporation.

If you want, you could just dump the letters on a table and start playing around with them.  Doing so might allow you to come up with an infinite number of words with an unlimited length.  The only thing is, with so many letters making such long words, it may be harder to find anything of use.  Finding such words while playing the game allows you to come up with good short words at a more randomized, more unexpected, and perhaps more inspiring fashion.  You'd probably want to dump the letters and play with them when you're in need of something right away; if you're not really looking for a new word, and just want to start building up a list of words you might want to use, then it might help you more to play the game normally.

The biggest thing to look for is simply what catches your eye.  If you look down and realize, hey, Oogaboo could be the name of a person, place, or thing in your story, then use it.  Through Scrabble, I've managed to find and use such crazy words as:

• Bloodeye:  used as the name of a character in a short story I've been writing about dudes hunting monsters. 
• Deh:  could be used as a slang word, possibly as a replacement for "duh."
• Hiffemens:  could be used as the name of a medicine.
• Hyron:  could be used as the name of a fictional, undiscovered particle or molecular compound.
• Naetoma:  could be used as the name of a car racing championship (probably because it sounds so close to Daytona).
• Pelona:  could be used as a person's name.
• Rukenada:  used as the name of my Night Elf Hunter on World of Warcraft.  See, these words have use beyond writing too!
• Vykara:  used as the name of an evil dark queen in my work in progress, Demon-Blood.

Once you find the words and record them, it'll be up to you to determine what you'll want to use them for.  A lot of it will depend on connotation; the way a word sounds and the way it looks will imply something specific.  A nonsense word like Neeno might be fitting for a puppy or kitten, but its connotation is probably too cutesy for a Viking warrior or something.  At the same time, naming a kitten Bloodaxe might not make much sense either.  Then again, doing so would be hilarious, and if that's what you intend, then go for it.

Other times, a given word may appear so much like a word that already exists, and it might just be natural to make the connection.  For example, the word Naetoma is listed above, and I said it would be a good name for a car race, because it's so similar to Daytona.  Also, the name Vykara looks so close to words like Valkyrie or Vampire that it lends itself pretty easily to a more wicked connotation.  It would also help to be mindful of prefixes and suffixes.  For example, if I have the word Tik, and I decide to add neuro in front of it, then neurotik might be a good term for a mental disorder of some kind.

Also be mindful that not all weird-sounding words are nonexistent.   You might think that words like zarf or zax are nonsense words, but they are actual words (zarf is a type of chalice, a zax is a tool used for roofing).  You could always use a dictionary or Internet search to double-check and see if a word is already a word, of if it's being used somewhere else.

There can be a lot of thought and calculation that goes into naming all the different things in a story, but making up these words and figuring out their connotations ahead of time can help save time during drafting.