Hatrack River Writers Workshop: passable NAME inconsistency?

This is topic passable NAME inconsistency? in forum Open Discussions About Writing at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.

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Posted by Zero (Member # 3619) on :

Can I character refer to himself as a particular name even though all other characters that he interacts with call him a different name, which changes throughout the story?

I am mostly sure the answer is yes, but I'd like to know if this would bother or confuse you as a reader.

My character (we'll call him Jack) goes through an identity crisis throughout the story and at different points (believing he is one person or another) other characters refer to him by this new name, which he also accepts hismelf to be, but I always tag him as Jack.

Example:
Jack discovers he is Joe.

And in the face of compelling evidence Jack realized he was Joe. "How are you today Joe?" Someone said from behind him.
"I'm great," Jack replied."

The reason for thsi si his "identity" alternates and so I want a universal one to keep things consistent. The alternative is to change his name each time but I think that will be even more confusing.

Posted by kings_falcon (Member # 3261) on :

I think it depends on your POV but probably "yes."

If you are Full Omni, I think the POV/ narrator could call him "Jack" even though other people refer to him as "Jill."

If it's his POV, he needs to consitently use however he thinks of himself. If that changes over time, his internal tag can change too.

If it's 3rd person and not this character, refer to Jack however that POV does even if no one else is.

I think your bigger problem is making sure that the reader can keep up with the name changes.

I have an MC in my WIP that is referred to by a number of names at various times because she is in hiding. It's Full Omni so the non-dialog tags are always the same name even if everyone else in the scene is calling her something else. As long as it is in POV and clear, you should be okay. At least that's my 2 cents.

Posted by JeanneT (Member # 5709) on :

In limited third person, the narrative voice is usually limited by what the PoV character knows. So I would say that if you use a different term other than what the PoV character knows himself as, what you are doing is shouting: You are now listening to the author. This is generally not considered a good thing.

If it were me, I would go with referring to him by the name he thinks of himself by. But that's me.

[This message has been edited by JeanneT (edited July 23, 2007).]

Posted by Rick Norwood (Member # 5604) on :

Sounds like a very advanced technique, which, if it works at all, might work very well.

Posted by lehollis (Member # 2883) on :

I agree with Rick on this.

Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :

The guy who wrote Acts of the Apostles pulled it off---"Saul, who is also called Paul," but who wasn't called anything but Saul before that sentence, and wasn't called anything but Paul after it. Reason not advanced.

I wouldn't recommend it as a way to write, though.

Posted by Zero (Member # 3619) on :

I realize now I didn't clarify the whole situation well.

I agree that a character must only refer to himself as how he identifies himself. But I forgot to mention that our character sees himself as Jack form the beginning and later learns he is also John, and later learns he is, instead of John, Larry. But He also sees himself as Jack from start to finish. Larry and John are mutually exclusive people, but Jack is akin to him no matter whether he was Larry or John, kind of like a nickname or a codename, along those lines.

Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :

How sure is Jack of who he is? If he's not secure as Jack, the name used may be entitled to wander as well.

I remember a Heinlein story, "Gulf," who starts with one name and identity beginning with "A" to get through security first, switches name / identity immediately after and stays that for awhile, resurfaces at a later point apparently as himself (or at least another name), sticks with that awhile, and then becomes someone else at the end before his violent death. Justifiable, but I don't think I "got" the story until I reread it more recently---and not that I think as well of it as I do of other Heinlein.