Any suggestions on how I could deal with this?

Ambergold · Jan 9, 2008

Hi all,

This has issue has been bothering me for some time. I'm currently writting a novel where the mother features heavily. However, I don't want to keep writing 'her mother' as it seems repetitive and impersonal. I have toyed with the idea of calling the mother by her name, but that might confuse the reader. So I'm wondering if anyone else has had this issue and how they resolved it. Any ideas would be gratefully received. Thanks.

katiemac · Jan 9, 2008

If done well, you won't confuse the reader.

What's the POV? If it's the main character, then calling the mother by her name might be unusual.

If it's a third person, and you technically have a different narrator, then calling the mother by her name shouldn't be confusing.

scarletpeaches · Jan 9, 2008

I've always called parents by their first names in my books. Course, I'm unpublished, so...

But that might be more to do with my craptastic writing than the fact parents have featured in said books.

My last coupld of projects haven't had any parents in them. They're absent, just not mentioned, which works quite well. But on those occasions when they've made necessary appearances, I've used their first names.

johnzakour · Jan 9, 2008

I agree with Katiemac.

If the POV is first person you can switch between mother and mom depending on the narrators mood.

JohnDavidPaxton · Jan 9, 2008

Women can have names? What as the world come to.

No. Stating that Carol is the mother of Stacy, then referring to one character as Carol and the other as Stacy, isn't confusing.

And just for the sake of argument, if it is, Stacy can always call Carol "Mom."

Just stay away from "I am my mothers sisters daughter, who am I" puzzles and you should be fine.

Ambergold · Jan 9, 2008

Thanks everyone for your replies. In response to Katimac, I'm writing in third person. At the moment I'm not sure if I should refer to the characters mother as 'her mother' in the beginning and introduce her real name afterwards, or if I should do this from the get go.

TheIT · Jan 9, 2008

I had a similar question. This thread might help:

"Name Calling and POV"
http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=81742

Ambergold · Jan 9, 2008

ThanksTheIT, that helps a lot.

Any suggestions on how I could deal with this?

Ambergold

katiemac

Five by Five

scarletpeaches

johnzakour

Dangerous with a Keyboard

JohnDavidPaxton

Ambergold

TheIT

Infuriatingly Theoretical

Ambergold