Be consistent
We’ve all done it – been so immersed in our writing that we’ve changed a character’s name half way through a story. So a story might start off being about Jake and his annoying mother, only for him to morph into a character called Johnny towards the end of the story.
It needn’t be a character; sometimes it can be a place. Jake may be living in Newcastle at the beginning of the story, but by the end, without having travelled a mile, he’s ended up living in Newquay, the other end of the country.
So set your work aside when you’ve finished and check for those little inconsitencies.
***
DeMaupassant said that what is important is that when there’s a scene where a man grabs a rifle from the wall rack, that you place the rifle there earlier in the story. I changed he name of one of my characters in Up in the Bronx, because he had the same name as a current friend, and then when the character gets all mangled in a car accident, I felt I needed to change the name. I missed one edit and I think it’s still in the book.
You’re certainly not alone – and I’m sure if it’s only in one place, no-one else has noticed 😉
I tend to start stories with a blank line for my characters’ names. The name of a character only becomes clear to me as the story takes form. It is just a weird quirk of mine. 🙂
That’s really interesting; we all have different ways of writing and it’s best to find the one that works best for you 🙂
Anyone who reads your Blog changed a character’s name half way through a story or been guilty of alarming inconsistencies ?
Step forward one Countingducks who Is the first to admit that without skilled editing who knows what glaring errors would see the light of day. Thank you for making me smile on a Saturday morning
No-one on my blog 😉 but I’ve seen it many a time elsewhere. Glad to brighten your Saturday morning 🙂
Where they burn book eventually they will burn people… Writer Heinrich Heine 1821….
I changed the name of a dog in my book and the name of the main character’s best friend. It’s hard to get the new name in your head, I still think of both of them as their original names! In those circumstances errors are easy to do, so it’s great that I have a computer at hand to check out for my mistakes!
You’re so right – we take computers for granted now 🙂
That made me laugh as I recalled how many times a school psychologist would cut and paste kids names into a document and our girl would suddenly; become “he” or vice versa. Not cool for the parents but I always giggled in my mind.
Oh no! That doesn’t look good, does it? Though. it does make you smile, as you say 🙂
Sound advice Ester, I’ll have to remember that 🙂