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would this jar you, as a reader?
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cassieJoined: 10 Jan 2007 07:37:50 Posts: 933 |
My character goes through several different names in my novel. Initially she is Riana, the name she was given at birth. After she runs away from home and cuts off all her hair etc to start a new life, she takes on the name Branwen. At the point where she is cutting her hair off and deciding on a new name (she kind of ceremoniously casts her hair into the water, kind of washing her past away thing) I stop calling her Riana completely, and from then on refer to her as Branwen.
Would this annoy you? Later on it might get more confusing with a 3rd name added to the mix and her eventually having confrontations with the people who knew her as Riana. But I plan on keeping it as straight forward as possible. 03 Jun 2007 12:05:49 |
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august Joined: 08 May 2007 14:06:35 Posts: 84 |
As long as you make the transition clear it wouldn't bother me. I just finished a book where at the beginning you couldn't tell what the author was talking about because these people's names kept switching. Yours sounds better than that. :P
03 Jun 2007 12:08:59 |
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cassie Joined: 10 Jan 2007 07:37:50 Posts: 933 |
lol, yeah I have read a few books where it gets confusing but had no idea how other people felt about it!
I'm aiming for very clear definitions, her new names represent totally different parts of herself, it should get interesting later on thats for sure!! Maybe I can always add one of those character list things! that'd be another 100 words! lol 03 Jun 2007 12:13:38 |
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gaye-belle Joined: 01 Jun 2007 12:11:33 Posts: 966 |
I have that a bit too, my character is adopted, name different from her birth given name, and then it's shortened.
So long as it is well clarified. Your character sounds Welsh? 03 Jun 2007 12:30:40
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cassie Joined: 10 Jan 2007 07:37:50 Posts: 933 |
yeah I have gone for welsh names, I'm quite fond of them lol.
03 Jun 2007 12:31:52 |
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cottreau Joined: 22 Dec 2006 00:32:22 Posts: 567 |
I feel somewhat uncultured. I have never read a book where the main character changes their name.
I don't think it's an issue. It would get annoying if it happened every chapter or something, but that doesn't sound like it's happening. 03 Jun 2007 18:06:11 |
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kerrynangell Joined: 22 Dec 2006 09:00:56 Posts: 1164 |
I think if you tie it to significant changes in her life and make the transition clear it would be fine. If it's from her pov, which it sounds like it is, then she would beginning referring to herself with one name while other characters may still call her another. So long as it is consistent with story I think you're good.
03 Jun 2007 18:52:00
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lurgee Joined: 03 Jun 2007 21:08:35 Posts: 84 |
My hunch would be that as long as it represents a change in her personal identit, i.e. who SHE perceives herself as being, and the readers understand the importance of the transition to her, it will be fine.
Off the top of my head, I remember Charles Dicke'ns changed the name of Pip's convict-benefactor in Great Expecations, from Magwitch to Provis, merely because he was living under an assumed name. I found it really annoying, because there was no reason for Pip to think of him as anything other than Magwitch. But that's kind of the opposite of what I think you are doing. 10 Jun 2007 00:10:06 |
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madscientist Joined: 04 Feb 2007 08:14:07 Posts: 105 |
Katherine Kerr in her books uses souls through different lives so they change names. In most of the books she puts a little chart in the front. This is really handy for the reader so you can keep track of who is who.
10 Jun 2007 08:50:52
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cassie Joined: 10 Jan 2007 07:37:50 Posts: 933 |
Yes, I remember reading some of her books and sometimes its really obvious but other times I got completely lost! And I don't think I knew about the name charts... man that would really have helped lol.
10 Jun 2007 08:54:50 |
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cottreau Joined: 22 Dec 2006 00:32:22 Posts: 567 |
The Guy Gavriel Kay novel I'm reading, "Ysabel" is interesting in that several of the important minor characters didn't have names at all until they were named in a ceremony. Now, they are being referred to by the names given to them.
It is not jarring at all. 10 Jun 2007 19:40:02 |
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maggenpye Joined: 13 May 2007 13:59:10 Posts: 221 |
In Ursula K Le Guin's Earthsea Trilogy, the MC is Ged/Sparrowhawk at vairous times, but as there is a naming ceremony and the names are definitely public/private, it works.
Mary Stewart pulls a similar thing off well in "the cystal cave" where Merlin is raised with a different name. Keep the transition clear and the use of the names consistent - you'll be fine. 10 Jun 2007 23:52:07
maggenpye -
"He's not my dad, he's just my father - big difference." |
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dave Joined: 28 Aug 2007 00:59:23 Posts: 32 |
The theory is that if your character is well described and developed, then you should be able to get away without using his/her name at all - bit of an acid test I think...
As long as the transition is clear, and the way you describe it above, as a kind of 'ceremony', where she decides on a new name, then people would have to be pretty thick not to follow it. 28 Aug 2007 03:49:46
I guess I should put some funny quip here.
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