Initials . . . why?

Lifelongdagger · Aug 18, 2006

I wander around vaste swathes of the internet on a daily basis, primarily searching for intelligent conversation. I am often on forums or discussion boards talking about topics varying from football (soccer) to politics and now writing.

Never before, however, have I seen so many people on a forum that use their initials in their names. I am not meaning to get at anyone at all, I'm just curious why so many writers, it appears, feel the need to do this . . .

CaroGirl · Aug 18, 2006

I'm not sure what you're implying by asking this question. Some writers (S.E. Hinton, P.D. James) use their initials so the reading public isn't biased by their gender. Otherwise, not sure. I'm pretty sure it doesn't really matter, in the grand scheme, you know.

Lifelongdagger · Aug 18, 2006

That's a good point, CG . . . I never thought of that.

I suppose there is also the circumstance where there is another writer with the same name, in which case the use of an initial becomes pretty important.

There was nothing behind my question other than pure curiosity, having never come across so many initialled posters on one site.

blacbird · Aug 18, 2006

Lifelongdagger said:
I suppose there is also the circumstance where there is another writer with the same name, in which case the use of an initial becomes pretty important.

This is particularly true today in the cases of James Frey and James N. Frey. One is a disgraced phony, the other a well-respected genre writer and teacher of writing. I suspect the latter is way PO'd against the former.

caw.

CaroGirl · Aug 18, 2006

Oh, and I hear JK Rowling does okay publishing under her initials. Why she chose to use her initials, I don't know. Maybe that gender thing again (?).

James D. Macdonald · Aug 18, 2006

I use my middle initial because "James Macdonald" by itself is a pretty common name.

maestrowork · Aug 18, 2006

CaroGirl said:
Oh, and I hear JK Rowling does okay publishing under her initials. Why she chose to use her initials, I don't know. Maybe that gender thing again (?).

She didn't want her "gender" to get in the way because she wrote a YA fantasy about a boy. Little did she know she would become so famous and everyone would know her real name anyway.

I use my middle initial because, like Uncle Jim said, without it my name is rather common.

Jamesaritchie · Aug 18, 2006

Initials

I tried using the number "3" instead of a middle initial, but it just didn't look right.

KTC · Aug 18, 2006

I don't believe in initials myself.

CaroGirl · Aug 18, 2006

KTC said:
I don't believe in initials myself.

Gillhoughly · Aug 18, 2006

Some writers have very long names and using initials means it can be in larger print on the book cover.

Some writers use them to conceal gender, because, sadly, certain people are gender-biased.

One of my buds encountered a young male who was wholly convinced that no woman could write science fiction, then declared his all time fav writer to be C.J. Cherryh.

He was rather shattered when one of her friends (with great relish) told him the truth.

Same thing for a male crony of mine who writes romances, but he uses a (feminine) pen name, and that's a different thread entirely. :tongue

maestrowork · Aug 18, 2006

I was just wondering... how many men do write romances under female pen names? Interesting. And what do they do when they go to RWA conferences? Dress in drag?

blacbird · Aug 18, 2006

Not long ago I got into an argument with someone who'd read one of Tracy Kidder's books, and raved about how wonderful a writer she was. When I pointed out that Tracy Kidder was a man, not a woman, this person (who was female, incidentally) simply would not believe it.

For the record, I went to school with Tracy Kidder, so I kind of, like, know, you know? Even that revelation didn't faze this woman. Belief can be a wonderful and scary thing.

caw.

Jamesaritchie · Aug 18, 2006

romance

maestrowork said:
I was just wondering... how many men do write romances under female pen names? Interesting. And what do they do when they go to RWA conferences? Dress in drag?

Several. But they go to conferences as men. A handful of men, known to be sensitive romantics, which is why they write romance fiction, in a crowd of thousands of women. Are you kidding?

maestrowork · Aug 18, 2006

James, I don't write romance but my novel constantly get mixed up by stores and marketing as "romance" so I am thinking, what the heck, I am going to go to RWA next year (I missed this year in Atlanta). Thousands of women. Exactly.

Jamesaritchie · Aug 18, 2006

RWA

maestrowork said:
James, I don't write romance but my novel constantly get mixed up by stores and marketing as "romance" so I am thinking, what the heck, I am going to go to RWA next year (I missed this year in Atlanta). Thousands of women. Exactly.

I was a member of the RWA for a good while. Believe me, it's worth it.

You also get one heck of a good writing magazine along with membership.

A. Hamilton · Aug 18, 2006

i put some thought into choosing my pen name, and whether or not to use it as my member name here. originally i picked Peyton H. Delarran. i chose the name by mixing up the letters of my full maiden name. the H is just a leftover letter that needed to be used.
i shortened it to P.H. for a few reasons; i like the genderless quality; i feel Peyton gives an impression of a very girly girl and thought i might be corralled into genre assumptions; i like the initials, P.H.D.; it's very generic and keeps me quite annonomous on this big ole' crazy internet.
this last reason, i suspect, motivates a lot of people to use just initials as member names on message boards.

i am not published nor anywhere near published, but am quite sure this is the name i will continue to write under.

Cat Scratch · Aug 18, 2006

There is a man in our local RWA chapter and boy, does he like being surrounded by all of those females. None of us think it is the least bit strange. In fact, I was thinking to myself "How would I feel if a man wandered into one of our meetings?" and then realized that a man is our vice president and good friend of mine.

scribbler1382 · Aug 18, 2006

If I'm not mistaken, Joe Konrath, who publishes under "J.A. Konrath" was asked to do so because it was gender neutral, and his genre (mystery) is mainly read by women.

KTC · Aug 18, 2006

maestrowork said:
James, I don't write romance but my novel constantly get mixed up by stores and marketing as "romance" so I am thinking, what the heck, I am going to go to RWA next year (I missed this year in Atlanta). Thousands of women. Exactly.

I was extremely surprised, Ray. I have a good friend in Harlequin in Toronto. There are quite a few men writing for them under female names.

TLHines · Aug 18, 2006

scribbler1382 said:
If I'm not mistaken, Joe Konrath, who publishes under "J.A. Konrath" was asked to do so because it was gender neutral, and his genre (mystery) is mainly read by women.

Bingo. Using initials makes you gender neutral. (In Joe's case, I think it was probably even more of an issue because the lead character in his series is a woman.)

In my own case, I think "Tony Hines" sounds like a pizza delivery guy, whereas "TL Hines" sounds high falutin' and literary.

I'm all about high falutin' and literary.

batgirl · Aug 18, 2006

I've been thinking of using my middle initials (I have two!! nya-nya to all you impoverished single-initial types!) to avoid confusion with the other Barbara Gordons out there. Or using just initials with surname. (B Gordon? BML Gordon?)
I'm so jealous of my co-writer. Her name is both gender-neutral and cool-sounding. Also she could reverse the order and it would work just as well.
-Barbara

cwfgal · Aug 18, 2006

All three of my initials turn me into a sheep: baa

Kind of embarrassing, ewe know?

Beth

badducky · Aug 18, 2006

Well, if I used my first name, I could easily be mixed up with a gay Senator from Washington, and also a children's music performer.

Heck, that's just the first page of the google search. There's more.

My name's too common. Even with my middle name, too many others qualify. Initials separate me a little bit, and give me the added bonus of gender neutrality.

Jamesaritchie · Aug 18, 2006

sheep

cwfgal said:
All three of my initials turn me into a sheep: baa

Kind of embarrassing, ewe know?

Beth

Well, mine spell Jar, and I've never considered this a good thing, either.

Initials . . . why?

Living the dream

Living the dream

Your Genial Uncle

Fear the Death Ray

Stand in the Place Where You Live

Living the dream

Grumpy writer and editor

Fear the Death Ray

Fear the Death Ray

here for a minute...catch me?

The Peacock Next Door

Write For You, Edit For The Reader

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Writting broad

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No Time For Chitchat, Kemosabe.