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Smoothly introducing names

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AustinF

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Is it just me or is it often jarring when a name is introduced?

How early on do you introduce a name and do you have any tips on doing so smoothly?
 

MadAlice

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It can be jarring. My current work is in first-person, so to introduce her name, I just had someone yell at her early on. As far as her introducing others' names, it is a rule of conformity in their world to be sure to address each other correctly in public, so she has to reply with "Yes, Good Mistress Esther" or some such.
I've found talking about someone before they enter a room helps a little too: "OMG, can you believe what Sarah McBitchface did yesterday?" The room grows quiet. "She's right behind me, isn't she?"
(that's a terrible example, but you get the idea)
 

Thecla

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It can indeed be jarring, and one of my pet hates is when a character's full name is given in the first sentence. It doesn't have to be jarring, and, often, using a single name rather than the firstname-surname combination comes across more smoothly, especially if it's done without a descriptor (so 'Jane' rather than 'Jane Doe' or 'red-haired teacher Jane Doe').

How I do it depends what I'm writing. For one of my current WIPs it's very easy. It's in omniscient so I just name each character as he/she/it/they appears in the text.

For my other it's much harder. That one is in very close third (think Wolf Hall-close) and we're in the protagonist's head all the time. He is only ever named in dialogue; he's not as self-confident as Cromwell in Bring Up the Bodies and so doesn't think of himself as "he, Sigmund*". This means I have to be careful - very careful - with pronouns and antecedents, especially when Sigmund's interacting with another man or men. Other characters are named of course, if Sigmund knows their names. If he doesn't they get called things like the 'hedge-witch' or 'the South Point man'. Beta readers haven't complained so far, but I know it's one of those choices that some people will dislike. I can live with that, because I think it works for the character and the story.

In first person (I don't write first person) I think I'd do what MadAlice suggests and have someone use the name first. Or have someone ask directly for the name. That's what I did with my close third WIP. (Looking at that, Sigmund gives his name as word 424 in response to somebody asking for it: it happens smoothly enough, I think.)


* not his actual name
 

Keithy

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What I did for one character was have another give him a (derisive) nickname and then talk about his characteristics (he's a well-know nutcase). When he turns up then his name doesn't seem so jarring (I hope)

Another character (who does a lot without getting any POV at all) starts off with a minor character saying he (with his name) is about to make a speech in a public square, so why not go listen?
 

JonnyTheDean

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In terms of giving my POV character's name.... I tend to go for a reasonably close second person limited anyway :p

But, in terms of first person, have you tried keeping a note of every time you encounter your own name on a daily basis? When someone's trying to get your attention, when you're checking your post, signing into your computer, picking up your order at Starbucks, etc. Might give you some ideas.
 

WeaselFire

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Is it just me or is it often jarring when a name is introduced?

How jarring is it in real life?

"Hey Julie, who's your cute friend?"
"This is my cousin David, he's visiting from Milwaukee. David, this is Lisa, I grew up with here."

In first person, it's you telling the story to a stranger. If you were telling a stranger a story about yourself, wouldn't you say something like:

My name is John Henry Carver. It's always been John Henry, my dad was John David and my uncle was John William. It's how everyone told us apart. My dad and uncle are gone now, but I'm still John Henry to everyone that knows me, and this is the story of how I defeated the trolls at the Lingham bridge.

Of course, there's the classic method: "Call me Ishmael." :)

Jeff
 
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benbenberi

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For a first-person narrator... how important is their name in the story? There are multiple examples of unnamed narrators. (For instance, DuMaurier's Rebecca -- the narrator is an active participant in the story, but is only identified as "[the second] Mrs. deWinter," in contrast with the dead-yet-vividly-present Rebecca, the first Mrs. deWinter.)

In third person, how deep in a particular POV is the narrative voice? Does the POV character already know the names, or are they learning the names at the same time as the reader? Are the names being introduced at the same time as the characters attached to them, or are they entering the narrative frame separately (e.g. talking about a person before they show up, or having an Unknown Person interacting before they are identified)?

The omniscient narrator always knows everybody's name all the time. Third-person-limited narrators may not.
 
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