Dragonfly Name Generator

Start with the place where the dragonfly first catches your eye

Generate a few dragonfly names and try two next to the same sketch. Swift Shimmer might call attention to a flash above the water. Emerald Water might direct the eye to the pond where the insect comes to rest. Put both names under the drawing and decide where each makes you look first.

Follow the movement in a short sequence

Mark where the dragonfly enters the picture, turns, and disappears. Darting Wing might work under the second panel of a comic when the insect is already at the edge of the page. Try it next to Metallic Glint and decide which fits the view you drew. If the reader has to search the first panel again, give the second panel a clue from the first, such as a leaf near the turn.

Keep two insects clear in the reader’s mind

If two dragonflies share a page, give each a different action. Copper Glory could go with a dragonfly on a stem in warm light. Dart Jewel might belong to one that crosses the open water. Cover the captions, read both names aloud, and ask someone to match the names to the actions. If both names evoke the same insect, change the beginning of one or put more distance between the two animals in the drawing.

Try the name after the dragonfly is gone

Keep two candidates and put them under a sketch with only water and reeds. If the name points back to a turn or the shape of a wing, you can use it in a conversation after the picture changes. Let a character say it in a sentence about where the dragonfly was. Choose the name that brings the insect to mind without a second look at the first image.

For a fictional notebook, try the longer name at the top of the entry and a shorter form in the line beneath it. A reader can learn both forms there before the shorter one turns up again in dialogue. Read the dialogue alone to see whether the name still points to the same dragonfly.