I’m a hesitant author. I own a million ideas for stories and have completed none. It’s a habit I’m changing this year with my new year’s resolution to complete a draft by December. I know I can do it.

I’m focusing my efforts on a story that makes me laugh and delights me, rather than some of the more serious plots floating around in my head. Partly, this is to make completing my first draft easier, but also I’m a worrier, highly-strung, and I could use some lightheartedness and relaxation in my life.

Originally, this story (it’s working title is OPU) was going to be a graphic novel, but due to my miserable skills as an artist, and a lack of serious outside interest, it’s becoming a novel.

Today I was writing on 750words, attempting to get some of a scene down. I kept tripping up my flow, however, as I ran into the problem where I needed to mention a locations or objects that currently have no name. Finally, I decided to quit the scene and create a list of names I could easily refer to anytime I needed one.

I went to Seventh Sanctum, a great name generator site that I often use, but nothing struck my fancy. It was becoming a problem, a point of frustration–a part of OPU that I no longer enjoyed. So I asked myself, what would make this fun for me?

Video games.

I love subtle shout outs, I love allusions. It adds another layer to a piece of art. Why not pick a fun one? So I listed a handful of life-changing video games I’d played and researched locations. I will probably alter the more obvious choices, but I relish the idea of sending a character to a favored location that has a history with me.

If you have any favorite games, let me know in a comment. I’m going to need a lot of names.