Questions tagged [naming]
Questions about creating and using names. Note that questions asking people to come up with names for you are off-topic.
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Can I reuse my character?
So I have a character in one of many books I'm working on and I wanted to know if I can just reuse the same character in different books and media if I created said character but each one is different ...
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How could I create a naming system for non-biological creatures in my book that makes sense to the reader and a character in-world?
I'm wondering how to create a naming system that makes sense both in-world and the reader.
The creatures I speak of come in various different forms/species. They're made of metal and can vary in what ...
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Trademarked Name Use in Novel
Can I have a character's name be the same as the one in a popular children's book?
For example, the kids in a neighborhood think an old man is hiding something. This has been going on for years and ...
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Why do writers rarely use a name from another work even when it's allowed?
Why do writers rarely use a character name from another work for their original characters, even if it is legal (i.e. there is no copyright in names)?
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Character is called by their initials. Do I spell it out?
I have a character who is referred to by another character by their initials TP, do I spell it out (teepee/tepee/tipi) or just use the initials TP. It is supposed to add humour and show their fun ...
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Should non-English organizations/ministries/governments (as authors) be translated into English in APA 7th edition citations?
Should I translate the name of my country's government/ministry into English for references and in-text citations in a publication using APA 7th edition guidelines? My paper is in English, and I'm ...
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Can I use a song lyric as the title of my theatre production?
I'm starting a theatre company and one of the ideas I have thought of for a production is an ongoing series of monologue/scratch evenings. I want to have the premise of each night to latch onto the ...
4
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350
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First name or last name(s) in a biography?
I'm deep into a biography of a well-known person. He was born with a last name, took his mother's last name following her divorce, took his stepfather's last name following her remarriage, then took ...
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Should I change my character's name if it's a variation of mine?
I'm trying to name a character, and I found one that fits him perfectly. It makes sense for the setting, it supports the theme and his character arc, and it supports his parents' characters (mainly ...
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How to refer to different versions of a character?
In my historical spy thriller, there are five different characters named Miku that our protagonist has to fight. So initially, they're refered to as Idol Miku, Vampire Miku, etc. etc. etc. But then ...
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If a character has multiple names, how can my narrator refer to them?
I'm writing a story about a spy. The narrator is third person omniscient. However, our spy has multiple names.
Her fellow spies refer to her as "Spy 94" but her real name is "Kafu"....
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In historical fiction, should the narrator call the characters by their last names or by the nicknames used by other characters?
I'm writing a historical fiction. For context, it's about Robert Oppenheimer and how he swapped lives with a modern-day kindergarten teacher.
Here's a little piece of dialogue between him and his ...
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Is it okay if I use a historical figure's name for a work of fiction completely unrelated to history?
I was planning at some point to write a mystery fiction unrelated to history. I was inspired by writers who used literary figures as a name for their characters, yet the plot was completely unrelated ...
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What are the rules for using mythological names in characters?
Are there any of such rules applicable to this case? For instance, if a story has various character groups, should all characters from one group be named after gods from a single mythology?
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What if the narrator forgets the names of the characters?
My writing project involves flashbacks and explanations that may already be hard to follow to the reader. But the most important point in it, is that in the end, no one remembers what ever happened. ...