Hmm.

[katallison]

OK, I'm still trying to write a Vividcon con report, with marked lack of success, but in the meantime -- I'm very curious about something I've come across a couple of times lately in LJ comments, and that is the issue of the name you use to refer to a character when you're writing a close-3rd-person-POV story about that character.

Ahem. Let me see if I can be clearer. Say I'm writing a story in 3rd person about Fraser, where he's the POV character. I always refer to him as "Fraser" because that's, y'know, what I call the guy. But I've seen a couple of people lately saying that in such situations the name used should be the one that the character himself uses when he thinks about himself, so the question is does he think of himself as Fraser, or Ben, or Benton, or whatever?

See, in my head this is kind of, sort of, related to the issue flambeau was talking about a while ago (here, to be specific), where you can't sneak in descriptive stuff by having the POV character musing about his own tautly muscled abs or emerald eyes or whatever, or on the other hand providing detailed descriptions of scenes he regularly moves through and is familiar with to the point of obliviousness. You have to maintain the authenticity/integrity of the character's own awareness. And one could argue, I guess, that using the name the character would use about himself inwardly is part of that authenticity-maintenance, except -- I dunno, I just have never thought of it that way. It feels strange to me, and I'd love to hear others' views.

Comments

[rhi]

My inner nag (who, not surprisingly, sounds like my mother's voice) uses my name, but that's a pure guilt technique, what can I say. Otherwise, it's 'I' or 'me'. For a 3rd person writing style, though, I think it does work to use whatever the character is most accustomed to hearing himself called at that time or in that mood. For example, at work, he probably thinks of himself as Fraser, or maybe Constable. At home, he's Fraser or maybe Benton or Ben. Around Ray Vecchio, I doubt he's Benny, but I could be wrong, too. ::g:: Now, around Ma Vecchio, he may well end up thinking of himself as Benton.

Particularly for the characters who try to blend in with whatever group they're in, I can see the names shifting, and it could well be an indicator of mood, too. Letting people in or shutting them out, say. Overall, however, I'd say write what feels correct to you and makes the story run most smoothly. Which I guess goes back to the 'transparent writing' thread I think Cesperanza started a while back.

Sorry to blither, Kat. It made more sense when I started typing. I'll go away again now.

[katallison.livejournal.com]

Nope, makes perfect sense to me, and your point about shifting names for different situations is an excellent one. And, yeah, transparency; to me, using a first name that we seldom-if-ever hear in canon really stands out, draws attention, so a writer needs to deploy it very strategically, for a clear purpose organic to the story, or otherwise it's just going to niggle at me.

(Plus, also, I'm in agreement that Fraser does *not* think of himself as Benny. Ever. *g*)

[rhi]

Oh, good! I was afraid it made no sense in print. (In my head, it was fine.) As an example, in Chicago's Most Wanted, during the amnesia I can see Fraser thinking of himself as Benton; it's his name. The only way I can see Fraser thinking 'Benny' to himself would be if he acquired a nagging inner Vecchio. ::snicker:: Which might be hilarious.

Oh! Quick question. I've read stories where RayK sees Fraser's father. Do you know if there's much/any fic with Fraser's *mother*? I woke up this morning with a dS snippet in mind, but would rather not perpetrate a cliche.... Thanks!

[katallison.livejournal.com]

Hm. I've only seen one, which was a snippety thing someone did for flashfiction, and I'm not clearly remembering the premise--it was from her POV, is all I remember. I urge you to go ahead and write it, do! I think all the ghosts in dS deserve more page-time than they get, and Fraser's mother is almost entirely unexplored.

[rhi]

::laughing:: DS Flashback is going to get me writing that fandom yet, you realize. Sounds like I need to pull out that Fraser/Fraser Sr ABC piece I started. Thanks for letting me know, Kat. I figured you'd have a much better idea than I did.