how do you decide how to refer to your characters?

[joy_of_cooking]

So far, all my stories have had only two characters, one male and the other female. I haven't even bothered to name them, just he and she. Now that I'm venturing into larger casts, I find myself often lapsing back into long stretches of "he...she...he...she." So far I'm just going through and changing one to the name every so often. Is there a better way? What are other people doing?

 

[ElectricBlue]

Names are essential in my stories. If my characters don't have a name, they don't exist in my head.

I generally favour long, flowing names - as I said to someone recently, like my tongue on their clitoris: Gabriela, Arabella, Isabella, Amanda, Amelia, Delilah, Jillian, Juliette. I do have some shorter names, Bec, Ruby, Maddy, Sara, Rosie, Helen, Emma, Bobbie.

My men are much simpler, Alex, David, Adam, one or two others, but not many. They're all basically "me" at different times in my life.

My Arthurian mythos ended up with Maer Maerlyn, Nym Nymue, Vyv Vyvienne, Morgayne, Lilith (huh?), Mordant, Artur, Miryamme, Lancilet.

Names reduce the reliance on "he" and "she", and after a while become invisible, like "he said", "she said", but at least you keep track on who's who. The mistake people make, I think, is constantly using names in dialogue, but people rarely do that, IRL.

 

[joy_of_cooking]

Yep, I'm definitely naming them now. But how do I choose when to use their names vs a pronoun vs some sort of descriptive reference (e.g., "the other man")?

 

[Kumquatqueen]

Use he and she as much as possible, with a sprinkling of names and with epithets scattered sparingly.

He/she are like 'said', the eye glosses over it. Names, nearly as much. "The other man said" is fine, but "the brunette" or "the gorgeous redhead" can get too much (it's a problem when teenagers write fanfic, especially when the characters are male...)

 

[Rustyoznail]

He, she, names, nicknames, shortened names (Susan - Susie - Sue) all work and add variety when used sparingly.

 

[JaxRhapsody]

Use he and she as much as possible, with a sprinkling of names and with epithets scattered sparingly.

He/she are like 'said', the eye glosses over it. Names, nearly as much. "The other man said" is fine, but "the brunette" or "the gorgeous redhead" can get too much (it's a problem when teenagers write fanfic, especially when the characters are male...)

He, she, names, nicknames, shortened names (Susan - Susie - Sue) all work and add variety when used sparingly.

This breaks up the monotony. The extra cast kinda messes up the he/she only thing, huh?

 

[Altissimus]

I generally favour long, flowing names... like my tongue on their clitoris: ...Bec...

You're never going to get her off like that.

 

[ElectricBlue]

You're never going to get her off like that.

You've quoted that right out of context. Bastard .

 

[onehitwanda]

I generally favour long, flowing names - as I said to someone recently, like my tongue on their clitoris: Gabriela, Arabella, Isabella, Amanda, Amelia, Delilah, Jillian, Juliette.

I hope that earned you an eye roll at least!

 

[ElectricBlue]

Yep, I'm definitely naming them now. But how do I choose when to use their names vs a pronoun vs some sort of descriptive reference (e.g., "the other man")?

You'll find a natural balance. Spread them evenly.

I steer away from "other man" type references. They sound odd to me: "Wait, what? Where did "the other man" come from? It was Jake, a moment ago."

 

[ElectricBlue]

I hope that earned you an eye roll at least!

Esmeralda looked down at EB. "Ignore her. You're doing fine. A little harder, darling."

 

[onehitwanda]

Spread them evenly.

https://media.tenor.com/enMwAILCfnkAAAAM/mr-bean-brows.gif

 

[SimonDoom]

I follow the "mix it up" principle. I will use the name, then use the pronoun for a while, but not for too long before going back to the name. I think it reads better if one uses both.

 

[ElectricBlue]

https://media.tenor.com/enMwAILCfnkAAAAM/mr-bean-brows.gif

That was disturbingly quick.

 

[onehitwanda]

That was disturbingly quick.

I am fueled by lack of sleep and my shoulder-dwelling Imp of the Perverse.

 

[LexxRuthless]

I have a bank of names in my head that are attached to archetypes. It's weird, I guess. If Steve's parents had named him John instead, would he still do the same things? Nope. That's a "Steve" thing to do. "John" would never do that. Women's names tend to immediately summon an image to my mind, before I've even developed the character for the story. "Hope" and "Heather" are always these sweet, nurturing types, mature beyond their years, while retaining a sizzling sexuality.

That is occasionally problematic, when I'm working on multiple stories at the same time, because I have screwed up and used the wrong name. That isn't something spell-check will catch.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I am fueled by lack of sleep and my shoulder-dwelling Imp of the Perverse.

Atta girl .

 

[onehitwanda]

Atta girl .

https://media.tenor.com/4ynSpgFuCWIAAAAd/smug-alexis.gif

 

[Bramblethorn]

That was disturbingly quick.

That's what she said.

 

[onehitwanda]

That's what she said.

one, two, thank you.

 

[AchtungNight]

First names or other descriptive details as applicable. Redhead, young blonde, British actress, dandy, fop, doctor, crazed holy woman, redeemed succubus, God of War, etc. Pronouns are minimal since they can get confusing. Toughest characters I’ve ever had to deal with were two FMCs both nicknamed Cat (I referred to them by their last names Osterman & Reddick in their first appearance and called them Cat & Cat Two in their second appearance since Cat Two was an offscreen character), plus a celibate non-gender grey alien faerie royalty hybrid with godlike powers I’ve recently created. The latter character rejects all pronouns except “I” and “you” as improper out of a weird sense of humor. Silvan Farrow is this being’s name, this entity is the head of the secret society that works to benefit the world behind the scenes in my fictional universe. All angelic-aligned beings work with Silvan, and all their adversaries suffer thanks to the power of Silvan’s Friendship Society. Silvan isn’t God, but this entity comes pretty damn close.

 

[Katie_Mae]

Names used when I need to avoid confusion in dialogue (a room full of women talking can't all be "she saids" and for firsts (eg, first time they speak in a... story, chapter, scene etc.) Other than that, I just do whatever.

When using names in the narration I use the name or version of the name that the point of view character would use in their head.
Eg in my current lit story there's a character named David Sòng. My main character (and only pov character) refers to him as "David' in her thoughts, which is how he's referred to in the narration, though in dialogue he's called other things.

If I were to write from the pov of one of her classmates, however, I'd probably call him "Mr. Sòng" in the narration as that's how they would think of him.

I don't refer to people by descriptions unless that's how my pov character would refer to them, which would usually be when my pov character doesn't know their name.

 

[MillieDynamite]

That girl reminds me of Jennifer Goines played by Emily Hampshire in the 12 Monkies TV series. Both in looks (though the hair is to light) and attitude. Crazy is as Crazy does. "No, you haven't met me yet, but I've met you before."

https://media.tenor.com/4ynSpgFuCWIAAAAd/smug-alexis.gif

 

[SimonDoom]

https://media.tenor.com/4ynSpgFuCWIAAAAd/smug-alexis.gif

Who is this? I've never seen that show.

 

[MillieDynamite]

This is Jennifer Goines https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTQ0Mjc3MzIxNV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwMTc1MTc0MzE@._V1_.jpg

EDIT: Actually, it is Emily Hampshire as Jennifer Goines. She does crazy very well.