McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft
Character Question (and PS hello)
Aakaakaak:
Finding names that match persona can help you associate them better.
Kali:
Just be careful with character tags. Jim uses them nicely, if you pay attention. Every time Marcone's introduced, he's got that "eyes the color of old money" thing. Jim uses the tags as little reminders of who these characters are. The thing is, you do have to pay attention. They're not ridiculous or over-the-top, and they're not hammered home every single time. It's more subtle than that, and thus is doesn't pull you out of the story while you're reading.
Much as I love the Nightside books (and I do), Simon Green uses the same exact tags repeatedly and often in the same small book. It's one of the things that makes his work seem repetitive. This is a case, though, where outlandish descriptions are in keeping with the setting, so they don't seem over-the-top. Suzie Shotgun in downtown Omaha would be overexaggerated and ridiculous. In the Nightside, she's downright understated.
the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh:
--- Quote from: prophet224 on June 11, 2010, 05:24:47 AM --- I want to mention a pet peeve here though. Robert Jordan's WoT has a HUGE cast of characters, and many of them have excessively similar names. Please make the names clearly distinct from one another, and use them carefully in conjunction with your tags.
--- End quote ---
There's a realism issue here, though. Some names are more common than others; A story set in Ireland even now is going to break my suspension of disbelief if there is only one Patrick Murphy in a town of a few hundred.
There are also ways round this that keep people distinct and also keep realism, such as the guy whose name is actually Fred but who spends his life going by "Not-George" because the other three guys in his squad were Big George, Tall George and Lazy George.
prophet224:
You can also indicate that the names are the same, but then call them differently. Patrick Murphy one goes by 'Pat', Patrick Murphy two goes by 'Murph', Patrick Murphy three goes by 'Tinkerbell'.... :) etc.
Kali:
Or you can have them, but have them as background characters. Then you could play with it.
"I've been to see Patrick."
"Patrick Flannigan?"
"Patrick Murphy."
"The one with the mole?"
"Nah, the other one."
"The one that runs the bakery?"
"No, the other ... Look, it's not important. What's important is what I found out."
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