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Post by Kpatch on Jul 19, 2014 21:20:25 GMT -5
Do you find it distracting or jarring if a character has a nickname and is sometimes called one thing, and sometimes another? I don't mean like Jeannie/Teresa. More like a character sometimes being called Jean and sometimes Jeannie. Or Teresa and sometimes Terry. I'm working on a story where a main character is called a more diminutive name in the beginning and then a more grown-up version of the name later. I'd love to hear your thoughts.
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Post by André DiMera on Jul 19, 2014 22:09:08 GMT -5
I think it's a bit jarring, at first, but after a while, I get used to it. So ling as it's made clear who the character actually is, I think nicknames are fine. I'm interested to read this new story by you Kpatch!! |
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Post by villa281 on Jul 20, 2014 13:37:21 GMT -5
I think it is confusing if he or she is called two different names during the same time in the story. However, if it is during two period of that persons life then I think it is O.K. I have a cousin named Michael who we used to call Mickey, but as he grew older he felt the name was to childish so we now call him Michael. If it is a situations like that then I think it can work.
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Post by mae00 on Jul 21, 2014 9:13:10 GMT -5
I agree with Andre and villa. Name changes can be jarring. If done right tho, one can flow into the other one. I've read stories before where the name the character goes by all the time currently is used and then you have that one person from the past that comes in and calls them by another name (like a childhood nickname). As long as it's introduced that way (the character referencing the name and how much they hate/like, etc.) and that name comes from the same person, it makes sense and flows easily. When you start having multiple people just suddenly call that person by that nickname, it makes it very hard to adjust to.
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Post by melly on Jul 23, 2014 22:00:30 GMT -5
It's just like real life. I have a family nickname that no one else really knows about....it's used only within the family and not consistently. My ex-husband didn't even hear it until a few months before we got married. It just never came up since whenever he was around, because there were always lots of family friends at everything he attended and no one uses the name (or any of our nicknames, actually) unless it's just us. (that probably sounds weird....)
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Post by Kpatch on Jul 24, 2014 5:15:24 GMT -5
Thanks for the feedback André DiMera, villa281, mae00 and melly. When I say "nickname" I mean a variation of the actual name. Like Jeannie is a variation of Jean, or Terri is a variation of Teresa, or Mel is a variation of Melanie. Does that change your answer to my original question? |
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Post by melly on Jul 24, 2014 7:33:22 GMT -5
Nope.  |
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Post by mae00 on Jul 24, 2014 8:41:38 GMT -5
On name variations like that, I'm kinda torn. Mel for Melanie didn't bother me (maybe it was because of the way Philip said it ). But Theresa calling Jennifer - Jenny. That just irritated me and still does. She hadn't known the person long enough to change the name in any form. Now, other people calling Jennifer Jen doesn't bother me. Maybe it's the intent behind the name change that gets to me or the way the name change is presented. It can really go either way for me I guess. |
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Post by Kpatch on Jul 24, 2014 19:18:24 GMT -5
The intent is that the character doesn't want to be called the diminuitive name anymore because he thinks it makes him sound like a kid instead of a man. Okay, I'll tell you the name. LOL. It's Kenny and Ken. Same person, different life stage.
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Post by villa281 on Jul 24, 2014 19:54:25 GMT -5
The intent is that the character doesn't want to be called the diminuitive name anymore because he think it makes him sound like a kid instead of a man. Okay, I'll tell you the name. LOL. It's Kenny and Ken. Same person, different life stage. I think it will work. |
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Post by fluffysmom on Jul 24, 2014 22:01:32 GMT -5
I think it's fine. Families do that all of the time. My sister decided to go by Rebecca as an adult. We still call her Becky.
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Post by gapeach on Aug 5, 2014 15:14:22 GMT -5
I think it will be fine. Can't wait to read the new story!
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Post by mae00 on Aug 5, 2014 16:16:32 GMT -5
Oh, a change like that should be fine. I know several Michael's who started going by Mike b/c it was more "manly" and grown-up.
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Post by slyn11 on Aug 24, 2014 0:37:58 GMT -5
I am all late to the party...but I am all for nicknames. I think it makes it more realistic. Sometimes different people refer to a person by different names.
In my life, professionally and when I was in school I am called one name, and my family calls me something different. I had a few friends that heard the name my family calls me and adopted it too. Then I have people in my life that abbreviate names no matter what. My close group of girl friends from work call me R - we all call each other by our initials. My best friend calls me my sorority line name and my other best friend calls me another abbreviation of my first name. Confusing to explain...but that is life. I think it shows the many "faces" we wear as people.
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Post by sevenna92 on Sept 30, 2014 11:17:02 GMT -5
I think Terri is a cute nickname for Theresa. Actually someone on Twitter referred to her as "Poker face Tess" because of her horrible poker face. Actually, in my alt universe fanfiction series, Lee Dumonde called Theresa, (who had reverted back to her original name Jeannie at that point), Jean on a couple of occasions after they got married. Basically when Theresa became reformed, she decided to take back her original name as a symbol of her new life and she allowed people close to her to call her Jeannie if they wanted to. Many members of the team still called her Theresa because that's what they were used to. Even Lee sometimes called her Theresa. I know, confusing.
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