I've been posting a series of mine online for a little over three years and in September it drew to a conclusive close. However, I put a few loose threads to my readers and betas, and they were encouraging of the idea to write a continuation from the POV of the child of my two main characters, who played a pivotal role in the original despite being only an infant. The only problem I'm facing is how to refer to my new character's parents, who people know very well. It feels strange to merely call my former-MC 'Mom' in reference to the close third-person POV, but also slightly odd for my new MC to think of their parents by their first names. What do you think would make the most sense?
I think if you're writing from a child's POV it sort of has to be mom, mother, his mom... and not this character's name. Try to remember you're writing a new story now. You are following another character more closely in a different time. I mean you could use the mom character's name if your POV character ever does, but that sort of thing can greatly alter a story.
Yeah, I think it's a matter of pov. Since you're in close third, 'mom' and '[character]'s mom' make the most sense.
I think calling her mom would make more sense. Children don't usually call their parents by their first names. Readers will probably take notice if your child MC is calling his/her mom by her first name. They will know that the new MC calling her mom is the new normal though, and they probably won't give it a second thought.
Indeed. I think, calling a character's parent a warm word "Mom" will make the readers get even deeper into the atmosphere of the story.