fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2114 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2114 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 061 secrets from Secret Submission Post #302.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ], [ 1 - unreadable ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

mentioned how hated it was when the narrative -- not a thought or a piece of dialogue, but the narrative -- referred to somebody by a characteristic. The blonde, the writer, the student.

And I have to know if all the hatred for that was just magnified because of the echo-chamber "we agree with you, OP!" phenom while people who disagreed just stayed out of it, or what.

Because I'm writing a fic now where a particular character's name has been written in dialogue, it's been written in dialogue attribution, and it's been written in narrative -- you know, things that he was doing. In fact, in the 250 words that I've done, just his name is SIXTEEN PERCENT of them, and THE STORY ISN'T EVEN ABOUT HIM.

I mention this because as I was free-writing, I committed the apparently grave sin of calling him "the writer" once in a bit of narrative ("Confused, Kevin cocked his head at the writer."), and it seemed perfectly fine and natural to me, but then I couldn't stop thinking of this place and that secret. So, is it as bad as was implied?

I don't think using a few epithets here and there is wrong, but I prefer it when names and pronouns are favored.

As long as epitaphs aren't constant (you see them much more than pronouns and names), ridiculous (the ravenette), or confusing (the taller man when the men are very close in height) then they're generally okay imo

I think the question is whether the fact that the character is a writer is important to what's happening in the scene. Like, if Kevin is relating his autobiography, or asking about grammar or something, then the fact that it's specifically a writer he's talking to is relevant. Otherwise I'd say just use the name, or maybe something to get round it altogether like "cocked his head in response".

If you're using the names a lot, maybe you could look at the sentence structure? Sometimes you can make it so you can get away with "s/he" more and use the name less. Generally though names are unobtrusive and less weird/annoying than trying to figure out who epithets are relating to.

Write what comes naturally to you, and don't censor yourself, especially when it's free-writing. Re-read it, and if anything sounds bad to you, change it. Then have somebody else look over it and ask them to tell you if anything sounds bad.

Also when re-reading, read aloud if you can. Hearing the words will immediately draw your attention to anything that sounds awkward, unpleasant, or confusing.

I find them annoying when over done. What bugs me most is that it can make it unclear whose perspective I'm supposed to be following (or make me think that the character who considers the people they already know according to hair colour, title, occupation, etc. no matter the situation at hand, is an ass).

So if it makes sense (which is subjective) to use those epithets, go for it.

Ahaha my name even.

It was the echo-chamber, I believe. I went against the general feel of it at that point, but not many people who did seemed to have bothered posting.

The important part is that it sounds good and sounds natural. As long as that's there, there's absolutely nothing wrong with a few epithets. They're like seasoning: just sprinkle them here and there carefully, don't overdo it.

[ SECRET POST #2114 ]

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