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Post by The Voice on Jun 7, 2016 13:41:00 GMT -6
Mark Twain, Ellery Queen, Anne Rice, Ayn Rand, George Orwell, C.S. Forester, Diablo Cody, Dr. Seuss, John Le Carré...
What do all of these writers have in common? They're all pen names. I've toyed with the idea of using a pen name for professional writing, but I'm not sold on the idea.
What are your thoughts on using a pen name? Would it be a completely different name or a variation of your own?
I've thought of using James Christopher (a variation) or something silly like Rikki Rancid or Nathaniel W. Pinkerton.
Who would you be?
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gahlearner
New Member
“Books break the shackles of time, proof that humans can work magic.” ― Carl Sagan, Cosmos
Posts: 46 
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Post by gahlearner on Jun 8, 2016 7:00:35 GMT -6
I have some scientific pubications under my real name, from way back when, so, if I'd publish fiction, which won't happen, I would probably be G. H. Learner.  |
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Post by angietrafford on Jun 8, 2016 9:59:01 GMT -6
I was going to use a pen name, but then I got published in the anthology's under my real name so I ended up sticking with that. The name I was going to use was Carla Traymore.
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Post by Joy Pixley on Jun 8, 2016 10:13:30 GMT -6
I would think it could get confusing, going by more than one name. If you actually got fans as your fake name, now they would all call you by that name. Eventually you really would be "Mark Twain" whether you liked it or not. Plus I figure that right now I know a lot more people as Joy Pixley, and I don't want to start all over again as a stranger. I kind of dream that someone I knew from college or high school or something will see my book and recognize my name, and that's one more sale I wouldn't have had if I was going by a fake name.
I can see it making sense if your writing life and your other professional or personal life were really at odds - like you have a stuffy professional job but you write soft-core porn romance novels. I can also see it for people who are famous for writing one kind of novel and are branching out into something completely different - like a horror novelist who wants to do cute children's books. Since I'm in no danger of being super famous for writing one kind of fiction yet, I'll worry about that if it ever happens. Like, if I actually manage to make a name for myself as the creator of Tales from Eneana but later I want to write some seriously hard science fiction, I might think about a more sci-fi friendly pen name.
But for now, my real name is just about perfect for writing fantasy, I think -- I lucked out!
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Jade
Junior Member
"Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self."
Posts: 63
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Post by Jade on Jun 8, 2016 18:45:36 GMT -6
I currently use a pen name (Jade M. Wong) which is a variation of my real name. From the moment I became serious about writing, I always knew I would write under a pen name. All my writing, including the one I've been published for, have been under Jade M. Wong. I have various reasons, but one of them is that my real name is just insanely common and very ethnic. As someone who would be publishing in the American markets, I wanted something more Asian American, rather than 250% Asian lol. I would think it could get confusing, going by more than one name. If you actually got fans as your fake name, now they would all call you by that name. Eventually you really would be "Mark Twain" whether you liked it or not. I always saw pen names the same as stage names, like "Lady Gaga" or "David Tennant" (from Doctor Who) whose real name is actually David McDonald. Even though fans know Lady Gaga's real name is Stephanie or that David's last name isn't actually Tennant, there's no confusion and it doesn't really affect their popularity. |
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Post by Joy Pixley on Jun 8, 2016 20:56:02 GMT -6
I always saw pen names the same as stage names, like "Lady Gaga" or "David Tennant" (from Doctor Who) whose real name is actually David McDonald. Even though fans know Lady Gaga's real name is Stephanie or that David's last name isn't actually Tennant, there's no confusion and it doesn't really affect their popularity. Right, they chose more unique-sounding names, like you did -- that might have helped them be noticed, relative to their birth names. Actors do that a lot, because their real name is too similar to someone else already registered in the acting guild and they might get confused - and sometimes the person who has "their" name changed it to that from their own real name, for the same reason! But now those really are their names, for all intents and purposes, to the majority of their fans. Maybe they like their new names better, I don't know. For me if I put on a new name, it would be like playing a part in a play, like I'm pretending to be a different person. I think that probably appeals to a lot of writers, actually. The lure of getting to be someone else. Oddly, if I was going to do something really different, like become a cabaret dancer or clown or something, maybe I would embrace taking a different name. |
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