It is COMPLETELY NORMAL.
I'm sure a lot of writers do this.
English teachers encourage it.
That's what they're for.
Their purspose is to provide alternate wordings.
That is the only reason they exist.

it's not just dictionaries... it needs research.

using thesaurus isn't bad. for beginners.

Using a thesaurus is fine. But making it that blatantly obvious was Smeyer's mistake. She's an author for christ's sake. She's supposed to give her readers the idea that she knows what she's doing and has a basic grasp of the English language. If she can't do that much, then why write? Literature is supposed to be about a combination of the literary style, story and plot. A butt load of authors down the lane have managed to keep consistent with all three. Smeyer has story, plot (albeit a bunch of holes) but I doubt making it obvious that you've plundered the English dictionary for new words is a literary style.

hmm. besides all those purple words she writes aren't really effective. they're often out-of-context, while others are needlessly repeating what was just said in the pretext of making it appear witty and deep.

Meyer using the thesaurus isn't bad in general. However, it's when it becomes a constant, and sometimes uneccessary, thing that it starts to irk me.

How does it require a lot of research to figure out what a word means?

^ to know what to name her characters. names like Dolores Umbridge probably wouldn't just pop into her head.

All she needs is a dictionary. It's not hard

Yes, using a thesaurus is good, but Smeyer's purple prose was a little sickening to me after a while.

^^ but she'll need to find a good definition which will match the characters personality/lifestyle/backstory. i doubt she just opens up a baby-names book and is like "OH I LIKE THAT NAME!" she would need to find a name that would actually FIT the character aswell - i'm sure there's many names out there that have a similar meaning to "Severus Snape" but a name like "Jimbob Jones" wouldn't suit him. its harder than you think.

Jimbob Jones doesn't mean the same thing as Severus Snape. All she had to do was open up a baby name book. It looks like that's what she did

I don't mind use of a thesaurus. Smeyer just used it way too much. I liked how JK Rowling chose unique names that fit her characters' personality.

^^ i know it doesnt. and ok if you say so

SMeyer's use of the thesaures was understandable and normal, but not real impressive. Lots of authors do this, lots of kids in english classes do this it's not exactly impressive or unexpected.

J.k.R went above and beyond with her naming of characters. Alot of characters just get carelessly named, whatever pops into the authors head, with no real meaning behind it. With J.K.R it gives a whole other dimension to her writing that brings things together in the end. The names seem weird at the beginning of the series and end up making sense by the end. It also is compelling and makes readers think, makes them wonder at the names and keep them in their heads long after they put their books down.

It's like how mothers and fathers are always carelessly naming their children with any name that pops into their head. They should wait until they get to know the baby and thier personality first.

I don't see anything wrong with either, I mean, all of my teachers have encouraged the use of dictionaries and thesauruses, so I can't really decide., I mean, it's not like there's anything NOT respectable about either one.

^^newborn babies don't have personalities!

^That's the point.

IDK. I like HP better though.

Use of thesauruses is good too but SMeyer kind of overused it.

And really, characters are not like babies, characters can be however the maker wants them to be, babies can't because they're not made up, they're real. With characters, you don't have to but it helps if the name matches their personalities. With babies, the reason why you can't wait is because they haven't even developed personalities yet and they can't just go without a name.

With Meyer it gets to the point where she's using it constantly.

I agree with Renarimae, characters are not babies, by the end of a book you should know all your characters personalities so the names should fit. jk did that.

@Renarimae: I totally agree. It's not like the author is the parent of his/her characters.. their fate lies in his/her hands and she/he must have had a clear idea of what their personalities are going to be..

hmm. they're not all dictionary names/words either as i have often pointed out.. most of the names are play on words, references to mythology and medieval legends and actual historical figures..

Thesauruses are important too, but SMeyer rapes her thesaurus, so there's a difference there.

You guys like using rape as a joke. I remember when Kristen Stewart said having paparazzi follow her was like being raped.

I didn't say they are babies... I'm saying I think it's tacky for a character's personality to match up with the menaing of their name. It's not careless for the name to not define the character. It can fit without the defenition playing any part in the naming process.

link

^^It is creativity on the part of the author. That way she is able to sketch her characters w/o having to say that they have the "exquisite face of a seraph", and stuffs like that. That's tacky.

besides, JK's names fit her characters too.

it's creativity on the part of the name, actually

NO DUH! JK wasnt creative, Stephenie was!

Um, how so?^
Rowling used her creativitiness (not gonna bother spelling that right) by using her french/latin knowledge to come up with those names. That was way more creative then looking up on a thesaurus.

Smeyer did it like Jane Austen

all the way:D

For god's sake, like I have stated before in another forum, Jo DID NOT just use a dictionary to name her characters- she actually needed knowledge of another language, aquired knowledge of mythology, knowledge on history, etc, which, by the way, she has.

^I agree. I'm pretty certain Smeyer is guilty of using a name dictionary though ...
Jake- Supplanter (to take the place of (another), as through force, scheming, strategy, or the like).
Emmett- Strong, powerful.
Bella- beautiful
Isabelle- consecrated to god
Edward- wealthy guardian

It doesn't really bother me,, just pointing it out :0)

JKR didn't pick her names randomly out of a book. It took a lot of time to name everyone.

Examples:
Albus- meaning white (like his beard)
Minerva- name of the roman goddess of wisdom
Fluffy- three-headed dog who was a guard to the underworld (named fang in mythology)
She also had to make TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE into I AM LORD VOLDEMORT- most people can make stuff like that up off the top of there heads.

JKR also named mary people by flowers- which some might find tacky- but I think it is neat. (Ex. Lily, Petunia, Lavender, Poppy)

I dont know if she did this on purpose or not but Ron and Hermione's kids are named Rose and Hugo.
Ron dated Lavender- a flower- like rose
Hermione dated Victor- a famous author's name is Victor Hugo- like hugo
cool hu?