In a post on Killzone, Garry Rodgers asks if any of your characters needs a nickname. “Probably no culture ever existed that didn’t apply nicknames to friends and to foes,” he says.
Nicknames can add color to a supporting character, make your protagonist seem more heroic, or humanize a legend. When he was a kid, Rodgers knew boys nicknamed Girch, Squid, Roach, Sally (because he, for all-the-world, looked like a salamander), Charlie Tuna, and Smerchook, and girls named Casey, Jimmy, Butchie, and Skinhound. As a police officer, he worked with Deano, Jake, Bootsie, Squigmeyer, Rosco, Basil, The Wheel, Fast Eddie, Peacher, Speedy, and Percy.
Do any of your characters have a nickname? How did they obtain it and who uses it? Do they like it or is it a thorn in their side? Consider what a nickname might say about them, their backstory, and their relationships.
