I'm not talking about calling people names in this post because that's not a nice thing to do. Sometimes it's fun, but never nice.
I have two friends, both males, who like to add my name to
every other sentence they speak. It’s annoying, but I have yet to find a way to
tell them to cut it out without hurting their feelings.
With my first book, Love Through Time, my editor told me I
mentioned the characters names way too much. With another book my beta reader told me I didn’t mention the characters names
enough.
Oh my goodness. Writing is a huge juggling act.
It’s all about getting the balance where EVERYTHING is concerned, including
mentioning the characters names. Too many and it’s uncomfortable.
When I read a
book where the character’s names are hardly mentioned, and 'he or she' gets repeated for a whole page or two, I tend to forget the characters names. Especially if
I’m not vested in the book yet.
How do you strike the balance?
Interesting, Nana. (there I added your name)
ReplyDeleteI guess in my WIP, the characters names are mentioned a lot especially in the dialogue to make clear who is talking. I agree with you that it can get pretty confusing without the names.
Lol, Celestine. When there is dialogue with more than 3 people names are needed, but things get murky when it's just two people.
DeleteYou hit on a good subject matter. My first editor said I use my characters names waaaay too much. Now I actually have to watch the name calling. I do put the person's name in every other paragraph, I think. And I agree with you about the he's and she's, and when I'm reading a book, I've had to go back to see who's doing the talking....
ReplyDeleteInteresting how we grow with each book. Only to regress and then have to repeat the lesson again.
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