Characters with pseudonyms

[MelissaBaby]

I am interested in any advice about handling characters who use pseudonyms. I am writing about a group of women who work together in a strip club, where they all use stage names.

There are four characters whose off-work lives are a major part of the story. Of course, outside of the club they use their real names with friends and family. In a third person narration, how would you handle the issue? Should the narrator switch the names scene to scene?

I figured that there would be some sort of transitional moment early on in the story that indicates their real names. For example, in the first chapter, "Roxanne" gets a phone call from her father, who of course, calls her by her real name. Should I perhaps include an author's note at the top explaining the names as well?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I'd use whichever name the character would use in context - if in the club the women only ever used their stage names, use those. There'd always be some way to equate real name with stage name, I'd have thought.

If you need to spell it out to readers in a glossary up front, you're targeting the wrong readers. Readers are clever enough to figure out four = four, surely?

 

[MelissaBaby]

I'd use whichever name the character would use in context - if in the club the women only ever used their stage names, use those. There'd always be some way to equate real name with stage name, I'd have thought.

If you need to spell it out to readers in a glossary up front, you're targeting the wrong readers. Readers are clever enough to figure out four = four, surely?

That’s basically my thinking, but I thought I’d see what others think. I’m wondering if it might Be a good idea to have the real name and stage name be alliterative, to make it easier for the reader to keep track.

 

[NotWise]

I wouldn't put an explanation up front. I'd just try to make it clear in the text that the characters go by more than one name, and why.

Nicknames are as close as I've gotten to pseudonyms. In "Stinky and Fudd," the brother and sister sometimes call each other by their childhood nicknames, but no-one else does. Their names are explained in dialog very near the beginning of the story.

I read a blog once by the porn star known as Penny Flame. Her real name was Jennifer, and the blog title was something like "Finding Jennifer." She knew a lot of her fellow performers only by their pseudonyms. I guess they can get immersed in their professional identities to the point of losing track of themselves.

 

[MelissaBaby]

I wouldn't put an explanation up front. I'd just try to make it clear in the text that the characters go by more than one name, and why.

Nicknames are as close as I've gotten to pseudonyms. In "Stinky and Fudd," the brother and sister sometimes call each other by their childhood nicknames, but no-one else does. Their names are explained in dialog very near the beginning of the story.

I read a blog once by the porn star known as Penny Flame. Her real name was Jennifer, and the blog title was something like "Finding Jennifer." She knew a lot of her fellow performers only by their pseudonyms. I guess they can get immersed in their professional identities to the point of losing track of themselves.

Thanks for the advice. In my experience sex workers usually stick to pseudonyms with each other so that they don’t slip up and use someone’s real name in front of outsiders. But yes, there is that element of immersion. I thought of myself as a different person as soon as I entered the environment where I used my stage name. I suppose it’s like an actress who is really in character the moment she steps on stage.

 

[SimonDoom]

I could see this getting confusing if, for example, the strippers are hanging out in a dressing room and dad calls one of them on a cell phone and calls her by her real name. What name do you use as the narrator?

I'd probably try, as much as possible, to stick with the real name throughout the story in narration, to maintain consistency and cut down on confusion. I might use two different names in narration if the story is clearly divided, perhaps by time, into sections where they're strippers and sections where they're not. But if this is a story where they are frequently putting on and taking off their stripper hats, so to speak, I think it will get confusing to switch names back and forth. The reader will figure it out soon enough that each has a stripper name and that's why they refer to each other that way.

I could imagine using the stripper name when they're on stage performing.

 

[DreamingOfMyEx]

One thing to consider is how to help the reader keep the names straight -- In other words, how to associate the pseudonym with that character's real name.

If you notice, a lot of movies use some subtle method for assisting the viewer distinguish between characters. In one movie I saw recently I wouldn't have even recognized one character later on in the movie if it weren't for a prominent (but still cute) mole she had. If I hadn't realized who she was I would not have fully appreciated the events. They may not have chosen that particular actress because of a particular blemish, but it was the only reason I knew who she was in the later scene.

The first thing that comes to mind is for each character's two names to start with the same letter. Catherine uses the name Candy, Darlene becomes DeeDee, Frances picks Felicia, etc. It's something they might deliberately shy away from in real life, but it could make the story more readable.

 

[MelissaBaby]

I could see this getting confusing if, for example, the strippers are hanging out in a dressing room and dad calls one of them on a cell phone and calls her by her real name. What name do you use as the narrator?

I'd probably try, as much as possible, to stick with the real name throughout the story in narration, to maintain consistency and cut down on confusion. I might use two different names in narration if the story is clearly divided, perhaps by time, into sections where they're strippers and sections where they're not. But if this is a story where they are frequently putting on and taking off their stripper hats, so to speak, I think it will get confusing to switch names back and forth. The reader will figure it out soon enough that each has a stripper name and that's why they refer to each other that way.

I could imagine using the stripper name when they're on stage performing.

Until the very end of the story there are only two locations where the women interact, the club and a diner they hang out at. So, tentatively, I would use their stage names in those scenes and their real names elsewhere.

In the first chapter, I used “Roxanne” until the phone rang and called her by her real name, then stuck with the real name until the next time she was at the club. I think it worked well.

 

[MelissaBaby]

One thing to consider is how to help the reader keep the names straight -- In other words, how to associate the pseudonym with that character's real name.

If you notice, a lot of movies use some subtle method for assisting the viewer distinguish between characters. In one movie I saw recently I wouldn't have even recognized one character later on in the movie if it weren't for a prominent (but still cute) mole she had. If I hadn't realized who she was I would not have fully appreciated the events. They may not have chosen that particular actress because of a particular blemish, but it was the only reason I knew who she was in the later scene.

The first thing that comes to mind is for each character's two names to start with the same letter. Catherine uses the name Candy, Darlene becomes DeeDee, Frances picks Felicia, etc. It's something they might deliberately shy away from in real life, but it could make the story more readable.

Thanks. That’s something I’m considering.

I keep thinking though, people watch superhero movies and don’t seem to have any trouble remembering 75 characters secret identities.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Thanks. That’s something I’m considering.

I keep thinking though, people watch superhero movies and don’t seem to have any trouble remembering 75 characters secret identities.

Yeah, but they have a face to put to the character in the movies and comic books or "graphic novels".

I have a character in my Warrior series whose name is Lafferty Owens. When he meets someone new he uses his entire name... Major Lafferty Ownes, he's a Marine, but then he tells them his friends call him Laff when not on duty. I switch between his short name and his rank and last name all the time. No one has called me on it as being confusing.

 

[AlexBailey]

Hey Melissa,

Your personal experience is an enhancement to your perspective for this story. It seems like you could make an interesting point within your story, where the characters put on or take off their stage personas. It could be a minor crux that adds to the story telling.

 

[jehoram]

Me, I'd go with the name that the character herself uses when she's thinking of herself. That would probably be here "real name" rather than her "stage name." As long as you explain up front that she'd be going by another name in parts of the story, there shouldn't be any confusion. And when you're introducing new characters, be sure the reader knows that there'll be two names for her.

Example:

A tall, statuesque blonde extended her hand to me. "Hi," she said, "I'm Trixie. I'm new here, too."

Trixie (whose real name, I found out later, was Delores) ...

After that, the reader should have no trouble keeping the characters straight, no matter which name they happen to be using at the time.

Unless, of course, the revelation that Trixie was actually Delores was a plot twist you were saving for the end ...

 

[Brutal_One]

Hi Melissa,

I establish what I refer to as ‘Pet names’ for two of my main female friends who are long time childhood friends. As such it is natural for them to refer to themselves by their ‘pet names’ of “Doll” and “Legs”. The meanings and origins of the name is clear. It was something however that ‘occurred to me’ rather than being and idea from the original story (where the friendship extends much further back than simply meeting at the University they both attend.)

It’s introduced in their first re-union after the summer break and moving into a new purchased flat that has been purchased by one of the girls “Sophie” aka “Legs”.

The idea too comes from the fact that we have ‘pet names’ within the family and I have a childhood nick name.

I think if you introduce in context and as has been suggested with names they might be ‘known as’ in work versus their ‘home lives’ it should be clear if the characters are following the story I would suggest.

Brutal One

 

[MelissaBaby]

Hey Melissa,

Your personal experience is an enhancement to your perspective for this story. It seems like you could make an interesting point within your story, where the characters put on or take off their stage personas. It could be a minor crux that adds to the story telling.

Yes. The whole issue of personas plays into where I'm trying to go with this. The falsity of the notion that you can just become someone else and separate what you do in that guise from who you really are is one of the central themes. So, there is more to this than just keeping track of the names, that's just the first hurdle.

 

[MelissaBaby]

Lots of great advice, I really appreciate it all.

I just added this early in the first chapter. I think it will make a good start to keeping them sorted out.

Misty is introducing her new girlfriend (not a dancer) to her co-workers.

“Hi, guys,” Misty replied, “This is Maya. Maya, that’s Roxanne, and this one is Clover.”

Maya looked at Misty with a puzzled expression. “You all call each other by your stage names?”

Roxanne nodded. “Well, we don’t use our real names at the club, so I guess it just becomes a habit.”

“I don’t even know your real name,” Clover said to Roxanne.

“I know you guys,” Roxanne replied, She pointed first to Misty, then to Clover. “Meghan and Charlene.”

“So what’s yours?” Clover asked.

Roxanne hesitated a moment, then said, “Rhonda.”

Clover snorted, then began to sing, “Help me, Rhonda, help, help me Rhonda…”

“See, I knew you were going to be an asshole about it.”

“Help me Rhonda, help me get a nut in my pants…”

 

[NotWise]

Lots of great advice, I really appreciate it all.

I just added this early in the first chapter. I think it will make a good start to keeping them sorted out.

Misty is introducing her new girlfriend (not a dancer) to her co-workers.

if anything in that confused me, it was that the dialog tags use their stage names instead of their real names.

 

[KeithD]

If a major theme point is that the different names illustrate her separate lives, I would use the separate names in context. The example you give of the father calling the daughter provides a great opportunity to keep this clear in context--Roxanne answering the phone to find Daddy calling her Anne. It points to her dual lives in context and gives another reminder to the reader of the two names used. If it seems unclear in the particular use, I'd insert a clause noting the different name uses. But I'd keep that at a minimum

I have this frequently in my stories, where a male prostitute is using one name with johns but a true name with the readers. Just finished one where three names are used. The character has a true name, a stage name, and then a third name in a town he's retreated to to escape the world where the other two names are clashing. I do sometimes wonder if the reader is keeping up with that, but do what I can in keeping the role of the character in keeping with the name being used in that role

 

[AlexBailey]

Yes. The whole issue of personas plays into where I'm trying to go with this. The falsity of the notion that you can just become someone else and separate what you do in that guise from who you really are is one of the central themes. So, there is more to this than just keeping track of the names, that's just the first hurdle.

Lol. I can see how it gets confusing. It's a bit like some trans-names. I've met some gender-fluid folks who use different names and pronouns depending on how they feel or present. Referring to them can be awkward at times. I'm always Alex, but I know another Alex who is sometimes Lex, Alexis, Alexi, even Zandra.

Writing several characters with multiple names could be tough. You may want to take the alliteration a little further (more obvious) for any characters who aren't as fully developed.

 

[Jamie_and_Lisa]

Hey Melissa,

Your personal experience is an enhancement to your perspective for this story. It seems like you could make an interesting point within your story, where the characters put on or take off their stage personas. It could be a minor crux that adds to the story telling.

"We agree with Alex," said Lisa, 'it would be interesting to know how you really did it -- although we are guessing the two communities overlapped little to not at all --."

"Your work history is more interesting to most readers than ours," said Jamie." For instance, we hardly ever get to weave the fact that Elmer Sperry invented the gyroscope into a conversation."

"Yet somehow, we just did. High five, Jamie."

 

[MelissaBaby]

if anything in that confused me, it was that the dialog tags use their stage names instead of their real names.

Yeah, that’s exactly the problem I’m trying to work out. If they use their stage names with each other, should the narrator use them in that context as well?

And if I only use their stage names in the club, or when they are onstage, I think that would be more confusing.

 

[MelissaBaby]

Lol. I can see how it gets confusing. It's a bit like some trans-names. I've met some gender-fluid folks who use different names and pronouns depending on how they feel or present. Referring to them can be awkward at times. I'm always Alex, but I know another Alex who is sometimes Lex, Alexis, Alexi, even Zandra.

Writing several characters with multiple names could be tough. You may want to take the alliteration a little further (more obvious) for any characters who aren't as fully developed.

There are only the three in the example and one other for whom it’s an issue. Any other characters with stage names only appear in the club, so their real names are irrelevant.

 

[NotWise]

Yeah, that’s exactly the problem I’m trying to work out. If they use their stage names with each other, should the narrator use them in that context as well?

And if I only use their stage names in the club, of when they are onstage, I think that would be more confusing.

That might depend on how your characters are introduced. I don't know if nicknames are relevant, but in "Stinky and Fudd" the characters are introduced as Summer and Stephen, and then Stephen makes Summer explain why she calls him Fudd, and he reminds her why she's Stinky.

They continue to call each other by their nicknames, so the names appear in their dialog, but they don't appear in dialog with other characters, in dialog tags or other parts of the narrative.

It it's potentially confusing, then how important is it for all those characters to have two names? An alternative might be that your main character has both names, but she only knows the stage names of the other girls.

 

[MelissaBaby]

"We agree with Alex," said Lisa, 'it would be interesting to know how you really did it -- although we are guessing the two communities overlapped little to not at all --."

"Your work history is more interesting to most readers than ours," said Jamie." For instance, we hardly ever get to weave the fact that Elmer Sperry invented the gyroscope into a conversation."

"Yet somehow, we just did. High five, Jamie."

The use of stage names is first and foremost, a security issue. You don't want customers to know your real name, or give them any clues to your identity. Some dancers will not even give their real names to their co-workers.

If you dance in a bigger city, you have a pretty good chance of retaining complete anonymity, but if you dance, as I have, in a smaller city, it's very likely you will run into people who recognize you in the store or on the street. Someone might greet you, and you aren't sure why they know you. If they use your stage name, then you know why.

But security is not the only factor. Dancers take names they think the clientele will find allluring. Chantrelle is probably going to make more money than Mabel. (Also, there is the wife-mom-sister-daughter issue. So, if your name is a common one, you're apt to make some guys feel squicky.)

But the aspect that I am interested in, and will play into my story is the persona you develop, represented by the stage name. As I put it in My Fall and Rise, "Using another name made you less self conscious. Melissa may have been a stumblebum stoner, but Chardonnay turned out to be a hot exotic bitch on the stage."

But of course, both were me. In this story, I am trying to show both sides of these women's lives, and how they impact these other. If it was just going to be hot shenanigans at the strip club, I could just use the stage names.

 

[MelissaBaby]

That might depend on how your characters are introduced. I don't know if nicknames are relevant, but in "Stinky and Fudd" the characters are introduced as Summer and Stephen, and then Stephen makes Summer explain why she calls him Fudd, and he reminds her why she's Stinky.

They continue to call each other by their nicknames, so the names appear in their dialog, but they don't appear in dialog with other characters, in dialog tags or other parts of the narrative.

It it's potentially confusing, then how important is it for all those characters to have two names? An alternative might be that your main character has both names, but she only knows the stage names of the other girls.

I think you are right, it's all in the introduction. If the reader has a clear understanding of who is who after the first chapter, I am probably home free.

There is not one primary character. It's more of an ensemble, with four main characters, and will delve into their home lives and issues as well as what goes on at the club. Actually, I may get by on the fourth. I think if it's just the three in my example, I can manage it, but I am open to trying it different ways and see what works, which is why I am grateful for everyone's input.

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

The only story I've seen do this really well is Etaski's Surfacing/Sister Seekers series, where one character's true name is a secret for magic reasons, and other characters have multiple names for other reasons.

I think once you establish that link between the two names, it won't be an issue for the readers. Maybe having characters use stage names while the narrator uses real names would help make that link? Especially if there's a way, narratively, to do that with one of them at a time?