Suzanne Collins, and I think the author of this post was saying that would it be neccesary to acutally state the character's surname, as opposed to knowing the names for himself. To quote: "...specifically, does it have to be mentioned in the story?"
Providing your characters with family names is just part of the decoration to convince the reader that your characters are real. Others have given literary examples where authors have dispensed with their use. I would add that I have known people who I did not know the family names of. In a couple of cases I never knew their first names, just nicknames. The context is everything. If a tale is set in a gang or some other subculture then it might be nicknames. If its in a bank then proper names would be the order of the day.
Yes a thousand times yes all story or book characters have to have a surname. All of the characters in my writing projects have surnames.
My main characters call each other Mr. Lastname and Ms. Lastname at the beginning of the story. They only use first names out loud when they move from a business relationship to a more friendly one.
Only time it is really needed is to allow backstory and if there is a connection with the plot. Of ot does not effect no need to go through the pain of making it fit.
Sure! I myself have quite a few characters without last names. One of my protagonists didn't have one, and so adopted the name of the man who raised him to be his surname. Another character isn't even human, and her first name is given to her by one of my protagonists in an attempt to camouflage her in society. Finally, there is a whole tribe of elves who simply take 'Gawaeren' as their surname as that is the name of their tribe.
In one of my stories, they do, but only because the families they each come from play a part in the tell of the story. In my other story, they don't because it's just not relevant and trying to make a place happen where the surname gets mentioned just feels forced, like I'm shoehorning it in.
I tend to give my characters surnames even if I never mention it in the story. A little detail I need to know. It's all about the character their situation and subject matter. A story with a pseudo-European feudal system might have people being introduced with long names and titles whereas a zombie apocalypse novel may never come close to mentioning a last name and readers won't likely notice.
This depends entirely on your story, your character and the situations therein. Almost regardless of a story's length it will not be unreasonable to have, say, the MC's surname be mentioned. This reflects the coincidences and variations of real life: you could go days and days without ever hearing your name, depending on what you do, but if you work in a place where employees greet eachother at the start of the day or you attend a family gathering, during a period of five minutes you could suddenly hear your name dozens of times. As an author you could also simply choose to never have your characters' surnames mentioned for an unexplained reason, or decide they don't even have any, or have the society your story's set in not refer to people by surname etc. All in all, the conclusion's that the author decides.
I have a story set in an alternative, pre-technological North America that's split into about a dozen "countries." My two MCs are from countries that don't use surnames, but they travel to (and through) countries that do. The people they meet there assign surnames to them that reference where they come from. For example, a character named Fred (not one of my real characters) who came from, say, Texas (but grew up there without a surname) would be referred to as Fred Texas when he gets to another place where surnames are used. It wouldn't be Fred's choice, and he'd feel a bit funny being called that, but he'd have to live with it.
It depends. I personally find it easier to have surnames so I know who is related to who, especially if I have two guys named Justin running around. Plus it'd add to the character's personal story, especially if they have a surname that doesn't exactly fit their name nor their setting. "Justin Ivanov, I'm wondering, are you Russian?" "Er, no, my family moved here from Russia shortly before the Bolshevik Revolution. In fact, one of my distant relatives from back then was actually one of Alexei's nannies." Just little tidbits like this can add a lot to a character.
I think it all depends on what's appropriate for the story. In Daphne du Maurier's novel Rebecca, the MC doesn't even have a first name let alone a surname.
I gave my main character a last name, for expedience's sake. And I like the weight of it. Daniel is a decent enough name, but Daniel Harrington...I don't know. I feel like it's got more gravitas to it. That being said, I didn't bother giving either of the primary supporting characters last night. One of those characters has an in-story reason for not having a surname; the other, I just haven't come up with yet. So, I guess you could argue both sides.
I have only given one of my characters a surname, it just grew from her self imposed high class importance. The rest of them, up to now, just have first names, and I like it like that way.
Yes. I believe you don't need to mention the last name, but have a basic idea of the last name for the main characters just incase you find your character in a position where they need to use there last name. This way it also insures that you don't give characters the same last name if they have no family relations if you had to mention someone's last name.
Surnames, turdnames, it's all the same... Joseph K. goes to hell and back and again and dies like a dog but all we learn about his family name is that damn K.
Unless it naturally comes up then surnames aren't really mentioned. They have them, but don't always say them.
I've reconsidered and I'm going to add surnames. My society has significant class divides and I realized the surnames were going to be important to the snobs.
I don't think they need to have a surname. I have two in my manuscript that don't have one: Ara, because she has basically lived in the middle of a desert on her own for most of her life, and she hasn't had to apply for social security or anything like that. Novel, my second doesn't have one because she is all underground and anti hero and sassy.
