I got reminded the other day (from a review) that I started writing Ghosts almost as an extension (rebellion might be a better word, really) of Eureka fan fiction.With two glaring exceptions, the connections are subtle enough that no one who didn't know that would ever guess it, but the two exceptions are my hero's name and the company name.
When I started writing, I figured, eh, if I ever decide to do anything with this, I'll change those. Turns out, though, it's much, much, much more emotionally difficult to change a name after spending 60,000 words with a character with that name. I probably spent half an hour today using find-and-replace on my file, changing Zane's name to something that doesn't belong to a character from a television show.
Zeke. No. Zack. No. Niall. No. Neil. No. Nathan. No. Aidan. No. Mark. No. Kieran. No.
I finally settled on Shane, because it was as close to Zane as I could get without staying Zane, but it still feels wrong, wrong, wrong. I may have to keep his name Zane, despite the connection with the television show. I'm pretty sure if they tried to sue me, they'd have a tough time, since the differences are far more obvious than the similarities. But still, I wouldn't like it.
General Directions, I'm not so bothered by. On Eureka, it's GD, too, but that's short for Global Dynamics, which is a very different name than General Directions. And I like the whole vagueness of General Directions, so I'm keeping it.
But Zane/Shane, I just don't know. If you're reading this and you've come to the blog from one of my fiction accounts, what do you think? Can I keep his name Zane or does that make it just too much like Eureka?
Whats in a name? A name is a name. There are only so many in the world and people are bound to reuse them. You didnt make your Zane anything like Zane from Eureka. Heck you didnt even make him all that smart, which we all know Zane from Eureka was BRILLIANT! If they were to try anything it would be stupid and pointless because there isn't any real ties, except for you pointing it out.
ReplyDeleteBack to Zane it is. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah, my Zane isn't really anything like Eureka's Zane, which is funny, because I love Eureka's Zane. Except I always thought he seemed like a pretty crappy boyfriend, so maybe that's it: I wrote a Zane that would be a better boyfriend. :)
Did you read Thoughts? He's freaking out over Akira being pregnant which just amuses me every time I think about it.