Son time travels

[loquere]

I don't know if I can make this make sense.

So I just wrapped up a second chapter. It has a time travel theme where a son comes back and is well older than his now teenaged father.

They have the same name, without the jr.'s or sr's because of the swapt age. It's almost like the two of them are the same person. Telling the two apart in dialouge is difficult.

Advice?

 

[PennLady]

I don't know if I can make this make sense.

So I just wrapped up a second chapter. It has a time travel theme where a son comes back and is well older than his now teenaged father.

They have the same name, without the jr.'s or sr's because of the swapt age. It's almost like the two of them are the same person. Telling the two apart in dialouge is difficult.

Advice?

Why do they have to have the same name? Seems to me that's the easiest thing, just to change their names.

Other options:

* the son could go by his middle name. Even though it's the same as the father's, the teenaged father wouldn't have to know it's the son's middle name.

* the son could go by initials. Say his name was John Thomas, Jr -- he could go by JT. The teenaged father, again, wouldn't have to know what the JT stands for.

 

[electric1]

Change one character's name. Or give one a nick name.

 

[electric1]

"Or use some kind of descriptor that only applies to one character," said the green-eyed writer. "And use that descriptor consistently so that it becomes a substitute for a name."

 

[loquere]

Change one character's name. Or give one a nick name.

Too late for that it's a second chapter. That shit's ingrained.

 

[loquere]

"Or use some kind of descriptor that only applies to one character," said the green-eyed writer. "And use that descriptor consistently so that it becomes a substitute for a name."

Yeah i've been calling one by the name captain and the other younger blah blah, but as awareness comes in although the younger one is younger in the flesh he really isn't in one way of looking at it.

It's okay though I just need to have a unified way of acknowledging and distinguishing them through out.

 

[PennLady]

Too late for that it's a second chapter. That shit's ingrained.

Is the first chapter posted? Why is it too late? If no one but you has seen it, the change shouldn't be a big deal, although it can be odd when you're used to referring to a character in a certain way. But don't make this more difficult on yourself than it needs to be.

 

[loquere]

Is the first chapter posted? Why is it too late? If no one but you has seen it, the change shouldn't be a big deal, although it can be odd when you're used to referring to a character in a certain way. But don't make this more difficult on yourself than it needs to be.

Yes it's posted, it's been up nearly six months, I think.

 

[PennLady]

Ah. Well, I'd say this is a point in favor of finishing a story before you post it. Good luck.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Yes it's posted, it's been up nearly six months, I think.

Six months? Quietly submit a change to Chapter 1 and pretend it was always like that.

 

[PennLady]

Six months? Quietly submit a change to Chapter 1 and pretend it was always like that.

Actually that's a good idea. In a story I had up here at one point, Numbers Game, I had written a character with two sons. I decided I wanted those kids to be a boy and a girl instead, so I edited Ch 1 and put a note before the chapter that included the sister. No complaints.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Joss Whedon is famous for it. In fact, retroactively changing story history is called Jossing" in some circles. If he can, you can.

 

[Cruel2BKind]

Joss Whedon is famous for it. In fact, retroactively changing story history is called Jossing" in some circles. If he can, you can.

Joss is boss.

 

[PennLady]

Joss Whedon is famous for it. In fact, retroactively changing story history is called Jossing" in some circles. If he can, you can.

I love Joss but when did he do that?

I so want him to write a Dr Who episode. Or Castle.

 

[Cruel2BKind]

I love Joss but when did he do that?

I so want him to write a Dr Who episode. Or Castle.

He did it a little bit in Serenity, adding characters that probably would have been in later seasons... if Firefly had had later seasons

I think he did it in Alien 4, though I can't bring any specific details to mind. That movie was a train-wreck of an idea that he had to work with, and I think he manage to make it bearable.

 

[PennLady]

He did it a little bit in Serenity, adding characters that probably would have been in later seasons... if Firefly had had later seasons

I think he did it in Alien 4, though I can't bring any specific details to mind. That movie was a train-wreck of an idea that he had to work with, and I think he manage to make it bearable.

Yeah, Firefly is late and lamented. Serenity may have had a few tweaks but I didn't think anything contradicted Firefly. And that was cancelled just when it was getting interesting, especially with Book.

Alien 4 is just best forgotten by all involved, I think.

 

[Cruel2BKind]

Yeah, Firefly is late and lamented. Serenity may have had a few tweaks but I didn't think anything contradicted Firefly. And that was cancelled just when it was getting interesting, especially with Book.

Alien 4 is just best forgotten by all involved, I think.

This thread prompted me to do a little research. Joss said the script was okay, and he liked the script (duh, he wrote it ) But that they attacked it completely wrong. He misliked the casting, the way they said the lines, and the score.

 

[jomar]

So, is the son going to be his father?

 

[PennLady]

This thread prompted me to do a little research. Joss said the script was okay, and he liked the script (duh, he wrote it ) But that they attacked it completely wrong. He misliked the casting, the way they said the lines, and the score.

<threadjack>

I remember reading that he had perhaps similar problems with the original "Buffy" movie, which I believe he wrote but did not direct. Apparently Donald Sutherland was a bear to work with, and didn't do a lot of stuff the way Whedon -- and I guess the director -- wanted.

</threadjack>

 

[3113]

All in the Dialogue...if you're willing to do a little work and research

They have the same name, without the jr.'s or sr's because of the swapt age. It's almost like the two of them are the same person. Telling the two apart in dialouge is difficult.

Why is telling the two apart in dialogue difficult?It should be incredibly easy! For heaven's sake, watch "Back to the Future!

"Whoa, that's heavy..." says the son from the '80's (and teen dad frowns at him).
"Let's go, Daddy-O!" says the teen dad from the 50's and older son doesn't know what he means.

Slang, dude, slang! Would your teen dad know what the fuck you were talking about if you went back in time, say, to the 90's, and said, "God, I hate spam," or "I need to tweet that"? If he asked if you wanted a "Crystal Pepsi" would you know what he meant? What if he talked to you about napster would you know what he meant?

The difference is ALL in the dialogue. There is no way these two talk alike. Not if one has been tweeting away in 2013 and the other is listening to Nirvana. You're not clueless, dude, so I have to assume you're being lazy and wanting to just write this up easy rather than put in a little work and research and make it the way it would be if someone from our time went back into his father's time. THere's a culture clash going on here and you should be taking full advantage of it.

 

[loquere]

Six months? Quietly submit a change to Chapter 1 and pretend it was always like that.

LOL, your a republican aren't you?

 

[loquere]

So, is the son going to be his father?

Son is a captain of a fictional federation (not star-trek) spacecraft that goes through a worm hole. blah blah blah he's back in the past. His father at 18 years old as part of the plot is beamed aboard, carnage ensues.

 

[loquere]

Why is telling the two apart in dialogue difficult?It should be incredibly easy! For heaven's sake, watch "Back to the Future!

"Whoa, that's heavy..." says the son from the '80's (and teen dad frowns at him).
"Let's go, Daddy-O!" says the teen dad from the 50's and older son doesn't know what he means.

Slang, dude, slang! Would your teen dad know what the fuck you were talking about if you went back in time, say, to the 90's, and said, "God, I hate spam," or "I need to tweet that"? If he asked if you wanted a "Crystal Pepsi" would you know what he meant? What if he talked to you about napster would you know what he meant?

The difference is ALL in the dialogue. There is no way these two talk alike. Not if one has been tweeting away in 2013 and the other is listening to Nirvana. You're not clueless, dude, so I have to assume you're being lazy and wanting to just write this up easy rather than put in a little work and research and make it the way it would be if someone from our time went back into his father's time. THere's a culture clash going on here and you should be taking full advantage of it.

Thank you, for you're comment

 

[sr71plt]

If they are still son and dad and have the same name, they are still junior and senior, whether they formally put it on their name or not. So I would call the dad either dad or senior, as appropriate, and the son, son or junior.

 

[Bramblethorn]

LOL, your a republican aren't you?

Only in the Australian "don't want to be a monarchy" sense

But I meant it seriously. I've done a bit of quiet retconning on mine, mostly for duplicated character names, and nobody's ever commented on it. If it seems too blatant, you could go for different forms of the same name - e.g. James vs Jim, or George H.W. vs George W.