Strange question re character

[Vulpes Sapien]

I have a main character who has, in essence, two completely different lives. She has dissociative disorder, probably "split personality" - and she does keep her two lives separate and distinct. Different name, clothes, friends, etc. In one, she's Siobhan, in the other, she's Anna. The "changing place" is her apartment, where she's safe and no one else ever intrudes. She is fully aware of being both Anna and Siobhan - but is missing large chunks of time when she's not either personality.

The problem comes when her worlds begin to collide, and Anna/Siobhan must come to grips with ... well, reality versus perception. As she's grappling with the concept of Truth (capital T and all that), she has to decide who she really is and who she wants to be.

Wow. I didn't really know what my story was about until I wrote that. :o No wonder I was struggling with some scenes.

BUT here's my problem. When she's "Siobhan", do I refer to her as such? What happens when her worlds collide and she must interact with people who know her as both? Or do I just refer to her as Anna all the time and allow other people to call her Siobhan? I don't really like that idea, because she really does think of herself as Siobhan at those times, and I want to have that come across. BUT I don't want readers confused and thinking that there are two women. How would you more experienced writers handle this?

[James D Macdonald]

Call the person by the name she thinks of herself at the time.

If that doesn't work, try it another way.

You don't have to show anyone the manuscript until you finish the final draft. Earlier drafts are just that ... earlier. Only you will see them.

[reph]

You probably know that the term for this disorder is "multiple personality" rather than "split personality."

This part of your description doesn't match the reality of that kind of dissociation: She is fully aware of being both Anna and Siobhan. In multiple personality disorder, at least one of the alters is unaware of the other(s). For instance, suppose Anna knows about Siobhan, but not the reverse. Anna will be able to account for all her time, and Siobhan won't. Siobhan may have puzzling memory lapses. Typically, people have amnesia for the time they spent in dissociative states, even if the dissociation is less complete–that is, not deep enough to warrant having two names.

If the character has gaps in her memory that neither A nor S can fill in, there may be a third alter.

You might consider describing A and S early in the book as if they were different persons, since that's how the woman would experience herself. Drop hints one after another and the reader will get the idea after a while.

[ElizabethJames]

We'll be happy to give you the inside scoop on this.


:D >:

[dannyne330]

SPOILERS for Fight Club


I'd recommend reading Fight Club by Chuck Palanuik (sp?)
He handles something very similar to that in the book. You're led to believe that there are two different characters, but near the end you find out they're the same guy. However, they still talk with each other. Not exactly the same thing as your story, but it can give you insight on how to handle those issues.

Cheers

[maestrowork]

Didn't Stephen King do that with Riding the Bullet? (Spolier Alert) That the twin isn't really a real person?

[anatole ghio]

This was also done in a Philip K. Dick novel.

(Spoiler Alert)

He wrote a novel called A Scanner Darkly in which a police officer goes undercover to investigate the local drug scene. While undercover, he begins taking a psychogenic drug that causes, as a side effect, a dissociation in the personality. He develops an alter ego that begins to sell drugs, one that is unknown to his cop side.

So the twist in the novel occurs when the character informs on a drug dealer and the drug dealer turns out to be himself!!!

- Anatole

[Nateskate]

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