Get used to it

Violeta · Jul 22, 2012

I've got a question for those of you who write under pen names and pseudonyms?

How did you get used to them? I don't mean only with time. More in the lines of
being able to answer when they call you by that name. Especially if the pen name is totally made up.

And if your pen name was something new to you (as in, it wasn't your best friend's middle name
or such), how did you choose it? What made you decide; this is it, this is the name I'm gonna be known from now on?

I wanna start a twitter account for my pen name, but I can't decide on one. What if I want
to change it later when (and if) I get an agent and a sell? What would happen to the
audience that I may, or may not, have gained until then?

I don't know...
How did you do it? :tongue

Little Anonymous Me · Jul 22, 2012

Well, I'm not published, so the only thing I can answer is how I picked my (future) pseudonym. I pulled up a list of last names, chose one that was short and easy to say, then looked at the alphabet and picked two random letters to be the initials. A very technical and soul-searching process for me.

Brightdreamer · Jul 22, 2012

Not being published, I don't know about pen names, but I do know about pseudonyms. I'm using one right now. (No, Momma didn't name me Brightdreamer, believe it or not...)

I don't find it that hard to respond to a pseudonym, in the right context. As myself, I'm an exceptionally shy person; behind my pseudonym, I have just enough anonymity and courage to actually converse freely with total strangers.

I've met up with people I've known online. We called each other by our internet names, because that's how we knew each other. To them, I was that name... and, around them, I was that name, too - that person who is basically me, but a somewhat less introverted, more confident me.

I'd imagine it would be the same with a pen name - even if it's one slapped on me by future editors/publishers*. To my readership, I would be "Pen Name." When discussing stories and pitching books, I would be "Pen Name." And, if someone called me "Pen Name" on the street, I'd respond as "Pen Name." (And a danged good thing, too, because Real Me's still a hopeless coward...)

* - Naturally, I'd prefer to pick my own pen name. But, as someone who dreams of getting stories into print someday, and who understands that I know squat about publishing and promoting - the stuff that editors and publishers have to know if they want to keep eating - this is one of those problems I want to have...

Cyia · Jul 22, 2012

I got used to mine by making it the only name I use online. Twitter, Facebook, email, etc are all under my penname. The name I chose is a combination of a nickname and one of my grandmothers' maiden names.

If you haven't decided on a name yet, you might consider choosing one that will have you shelved near a best-seller: a "ki-" name if you write horror to get shelved beside Stephen King. A "me-" or "co-" name for YA to get shelved beside Stephenie Meyer or Suzanne Collins, etc.

lorna_w · Jul 22, 2012

Can't answer the "how do you adapt" question, as I doubt I'll ever be able to.

Since your mother's maiden name is used in verifying your identity for banks/credit cards, I'd steer away from using that. Also consider, are you trying to hide your real name for as long as possible? (like you'll be getting a tax i.d. number under that name and asking your agent for non-disclosure and telling no one, "I'm that writer"?)

Violeta · Jul 22, 2012

lorna_w said:
Also consider, are you trying to hide your real name for as long as possible? (like you'll be getting a tax i.d. number under that name and asking your agent for non-disclosure and telling no one, "I'm that writer"?)

Nopes.

I don't mind my agent (or publishers, editor, etc.) knowing my real name and
sending the checks to "this name", but I think I'd rather have my readers know me just by my pen name.

Privacy, for one.
Selling, for another.

My real name is kind of dull (and common), so I'd like to use a more "lively" one that doesn't carry so much baggage with it. You know? :tongue

Violeta · Jul 22, 2012

Cyia said:
I got used to mine by making it the only name I use online. Twitter, Facebook, email, etc are all under my penname. The name I chose is a combination of a nickname and one of my grandmothers' maiden names.

If you haven't decided on a name yet, you might consider choosing one that will have you shelved near a best-seller: a "ki-" name if you write horror to get shelved beside Stephen King. A "me-" or "co-" name for YA to get shelved beside Stephenie Meyer or Suzanne Collins, etc.

Those are great ideas. I used to have the same (or very similar) nickname for every site I logged in, but when I tried to research it for a possible pen name position, it turned out to be The.Most.Common.Combination.Of.Name.And.Surname.Ever.Invented.In.The.History.Of.Mankind. :e2faint:

I think I would have a better shot by calling my writing persona Jane Doe. :tongue

Then again, maybe the most common name ever isn't that bad, but I don't know... (I really liked it, though. So many years using it... But as I said, it also carried a lot of baggage -from all those other sites-)

And I don't even have someone to pass the "list" to so they can share their two cents.

Family and friends aren't that helpful in these matters. :ROFL:

Maryn · Jul 22, 2012

Maryn is my pen name, and I've used it here so long that I literally think of it as my name at times--like, sign emails to non-AW people with it, answer to it easily when I meet AW people, like that.

Don't make the mistake I did of using your pen name somewhere like Yahoo Answers, trying to help young writers. You don't want hundreds of those answers to pop up before your titles.

Maryn, I think

Violeta · Jul 22, 2012

Brightdreamer said:
To my readership, I would be "Pen Name." When discussing stories and pitching books, I would be "Pen Name." And, if someone called me "Pen Name" on the street, I'd respond as "Pen Name." (And a danged good thing, too, because Real Me's still a hopeless coward...)

Hahha. I hear you.

Violeta · Jul 22, 2012

Maryn said:
Maryn is my pen name, and I've used it here so long that I literally think of it as my name at times--like, sign emails to non-AW people with it, answer to it easily when I meet AW people, like that.

Don't make the mistake I did of using your pen name somewhere like Yahoo Answers, trying to help young writers. You don't want hundreds of those answers to pop up before your titles.

Maryn, I think

Phew...
I haven't used Yahoo in a long time. Years, probably. But I see your point. My previous nickname is such a common name
in the real world that even if I choose it as my pen name, I'd have to compete with thousands of others results by that name.

Violeta · Jul 22, 2012

Little Anonymous Me said:
A very technical and soul-searching process for me.

Glad it was, oh, you lucky one. :tongue

I find names and surnames that I like, especially if they go well with one another, and then see which one I like
the most. Then I make combinations. And then I change my mind. Or part of the name. Or both. And rinse and repeat. :Shrug:

Little Anonymous Me · Jul 22, 2012

Violeta said:
Glad it was, oh, you lucky one.

I find names and surnames that I like, especially if they go well with one another, and then see which one I like
the most. Then I make combinations. And then I change my mind. Or part of the name. Or both. And rinse and repeat.

Heehee, I probably will change my mind between now and the time I (hopefully) get something published. I play around with it when I'm bored, but the process never changes.*

*Prefers not to contemplate what that says about her.

Beachgirl · Jul 22, 2012

I use a pen name and wanted to pick something that had no relation to names of real people in my life. The only similarity is the last name of my pen name has the same number of letters in my real last name.

As for getting used to the pen name, my family has helped me get used to it. If I'm sitting at my computer writing or whenever we're talking about my writing, they call me Scarlet.

"Hey, Scarlet, are you gonna quit writing long enough to eat dinner?"

"Hey, Scarlet, when's that book gonna be done?"

"Hey, Scarlet, are you ever gonna leave so my wife can come to bed???"

Violeta · Jul 22, 2012

Beachgirl said:
"Hey, Scarlet, are you ever gonna leave so my wife can come to bed???"

Ha!

Good one.

It is, actually, a very good idea. Thanks!

*goes take a look, see if anybody is up to the task*

Well, they're asleep now. I'll ask them in the morning. :tongue

lorna_w · Jul 22, 2012

oops, one more thing. make sure PenName.com is available before choosing. So probably "John Smith" isn't a good one.

Soccer Mom · Jul 22, 2012

It just takes time. I've been Marguerite online for long enough that it seems perfectly natural to me. I write under several names, but Marguerite is the one that I answer to.

VoireyLinger · Jul 22, 2012

Cyia said:
I got used to mine by making it the only name I use online. Twitter, Facebook, email, etc are all under my penname.

This. Familiarity and time are really the keys to getting used to another name. I also took the step of having people who I am associated with professionally only use my pen name, both online and in person, such as at RWA chapter meetings.

Adrianna Burch · Jul 22, 2012

For me, I anticipate it being easy, because I just moved my real name around a bit and the first name is still the same. Haha.

Violeta · Jul 22, 2012

lorna_w said:
oops, one more thing. make sure PenName.com is available before choosing. So probably "John Smith" isn't a good one.

John Smith... I remember him. Nice dude. :tongue

So, what if the domain was taken? Can't I just get a WordPress account and upgrade it or something? A lot of my favourite authors have that. Some also have a domain outside WordPress, but that's another story. :tongue

I don't know... See? I can't even choose a pen name (so many options), so how am I gonna "get the domain" before someone else does? It'd be my ruin if I had to pay for so many names :flag:

.

Violeta · Jul 22, 2012

Adrianna Burch said:
For me, I anticipate it being easy, because I just moved my real name around a bit and the first name is still the same. Haha.

Another lucky winner.

Yikes. That owl is judging me... and he's staring, too. :e2paperba

xD

Violeta · Jul 22, 2012

VoireyLinger said:
both online and in person, such as at RWA chapter meetings.

That seems like the way to go.

Violeta · Jul 22, 2012

Soccer Mom said:
It just takes time. I've been Marguerite online for long enough that it seems perfectly natural to me. I write under several names, but Marguerite is the one that I answer to.

Yup. I know how it is.

*misses her old nickname*

Now all I can do is hope that;

- I end up using Violeta
- I find a lot of places -online- to haunt with my chosen pen name (until I'm comfortable/familiar with it).

:tongue

jencarpy · Jul 22, 2012

I don't have acpen name, but the name I use for work is an abbreviated version of my maiden name. I've gotten so used to it that I barely answer to my married name at all. It's on my business cards, email sig and so on. All I will say is make sure you like it, cause once it sticks.....its stuck.

Violeta · Jul 22, 2012

jencarpy said:
All I will say is make sure you like it, cause once it sticks.....its stuck.

That is true. It takes time getting used to a new name, but it takes even more time than that to "forget" about the previous one.

Filigree · Jul 22, 2012

I have many names, equally viable given the situation. My art contacts know me by one name. Here on AW and in other online forums (going back 16 years) I'm Filigree. I've published under M.H. Crane, and in two days I'm going to be published under M.C. Hana. All of those are variations of my legal name, or nicknames given to me by trusted friends. I fairly used to them all by now.

Get used to it

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