Can you get away with....

[lovecraft68]

Can you get away with not naming a character in a chapter?

I have a situation where I feel its time to give the readers a quick glimpse of the antagonist skulking around in the background, but I don't want to use his name because he is someone from the MC's past and don't want to give away who.

The section won't be long in fact I may do it within a chapter a cut away from the MC then back again with the other in the middle.

So can you get away with writing "he" for a section or "The man in black" not using that, but its an example.

My default it having them refer to themselves under an assumed name...which I guess would work, but I am curious about the other way first.

Any examples, advice?

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Can you get away with not naming a character in a chapter?

I have a situation where I feel its time to give the readers a quick glimpse of the antagonist skulking around in the background, but I don't want to use his name because he is someone from the MC's past and don't want to give away who.

The section won't be long in fact I may do it within a chapter a cut away from the MC then back again with the other in the middle.

So can you get away with writing "he" for a section or "The man in black" not using that, but its an example.

My default it having them refer to themselves under an assumed name...which I guess would work, but I am curious about the other way first.

Any examples, advice?

Make up a phony name. Plenty of authors use phony names for unknown killers etc. BUFFALO BILL in SILENCE OF THE LAMBS comes to mind.

 

[oggbashan]

Can you get away with not naming a character in a chapter?
...

You can. You can get away with almost anything in fiction.

"That man"; "that man was there again"; "everywhere I went, he was nearby..."

 

[lovecraft68]

You can. You can get away with almost anything in fiction.

"That man"; "that man was there again"; "everywhere I went, he was nearby..."

Above is what I am doing so far both MC's have seen this guy skulking around, but I want to do the reverse of his POV watching them so looking to cloak his real id.

I may go with his former real name Matt. But right now he sees himself with an occult name, which the reader would know.

I could go with "The man who had once been called Matt sat in his car watching....

 

[HeyAll]

Capital letters work too, in terms of identifying an important character without giving a name.

ie "The Stranger lurked in the shadows..."

 

[elfin_odalisque]

I go with Ogg

Surely, not for too long but perfect for what you describe.

 

[Tio_Narratore]

Above is what I am doing so far both MC's have seen this guy skulking around, but I want to do the reverse of his POV watching them so looking to cloak his real id.

I may go with his former real name Matt. But right now he sees himself with an occult name, which the reader would know.

I could go with "The man who had once been called Matt sat in his car watching....

"The skulker formerly known as Matt...?"

 

[lovecraft68]

"The skulker formerly known as Matt...?"

Beats the artist formerly known as Prince I guess...

Maybe the man once known as...sounds better

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

How many movies did Clint Eastwoods no name character make. STRANGER?

 

[Tio_Narratore]

How many movies did Clint Eastwoods no name character make. STRANGER?

That was the man with no name. This man has/had a name(s). It's that the present one shouldn't be mentioned.

 

[DreamCloud]

I like the phony name approach. Some distinguishing characteristic of the man changed to a name. This would help distinguish him from other strangers and allow you more freedom to describe surroundings.

The Beard, Red, Ohio State (assuming a jacket of course)

 

[lovecraft68]

I like the phony name approach. Some distinguishing characteristic of the man changed to a name. This would help distinguish him from other strangers and allow you more freedom to describe surroundings.

The Beard, Red, Ohio State (assuming a jacket of course)

Good thought...He wears and LSU cap...

 

[Tio_Narratore]

Good thought...He wears and LSU cap...

Call him "Mike the Tiger?"

 

[slyc_willie]

I've had the habit of not naming a character until he or she is formally introduced to someone else in the story. Until that point, I refer to the character by profession or distinguishing characteristics: "the doctor," "the brunette," etc. I hate overusing personal pronouns.

I'd suggest something like "the stranger," "the watcher," "the man in the black pea coat," etc.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I like the phony name approach. Some distinguishing characteristic of the man changed to a name. This would help distinguish him from other strangers and allow you more freedom to describe surroundings.

The Beard, Red, Ohio State (assuming a jacket of course)

This one has my vote. I've seen it used quite a few times to good effect.

One variant is to say "he looked like Orson Welles" (or whoever) and then call him "Orson" after that.

 

[jomar]

You're doing something different than I did, but probably half my stories don't name the main character...first person, though, so there's that.

In White Trash, which was a laugh fest to write, he gets called "asshole" a fair bit.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

What is in a name?
A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.

I agree, no name, using euphemisms would get you what you want without alerting the reader of what was to come.

 

[CyranoJ]

I have a situation where I feel its time to give the readers a quick glimpse of the antagonist skulking around in the background, but I don't want to use his name because he is someone from the MC's past and don't want to give away who.

Entire stories and novels have been built around unnamed protagonists so I don't see why it should be a problem. Might be worth refreshing on or checking out some of those works to see what they do with it.

 

[rjordan]

Entire stories and novels have been built around unnamed protagonists so I don't see why it should be a problem. Might be worth refreshing on or checking out some of those works to see what they do with it.

Cormac McCarthy's The Road for one. The book and the movie refer to the main characters as the Man and the Boy. Others include the Old Man, the Veteran, the Thief. I think the Old Man offered his name, but it was never used after that.

rj

Edit: OK, I didn't notice your link which mentions The Road.

 

[Boxlicker101]

If you've ever seen "The Fugitive" on television, there was a background character referred to as "The One Armed Man." In the Damon Runyon stories about Broadway characters, the narrator is never named.

 

[lovecraft68]

I appreciate all the suggestions and references,thanks for the help guys/gals

 

[Carnevil9]

I've seen it done (Stephen King, maybe?) where a chapter or two are from the perspective of the bad guy. If you write those chapters in first person, there is no need for a name to ever come up.

 

[soflabbwlvr]

I've done it. In "Deep Undercover Ch. 1" the main character assumes she knows the identity of another character. She is mistaken. I use a variety of descriptors to reference him: the dark haired man, the boss, the host, etc. The reader doesn't know who he is, and the main character doesn't find out until the next chapter when he introduces himself to her.

 

[LJ_Reloaded]

Can you get away with not naming a character in a chapter?

According to you, women can get away with raping men because men can't be raped.

You fucking hit and run coward.

 

[Boxlicker101]

Do you remember "Get Smart" on TV? There was a major character whose name was never given. She was always called "Agent 99," even by her own mother.