When building your character how do you refer to them. Characters name is for example John Smith. (my imagination knows no boundaries) how would you use the name? Smith entered the room John entered the room Smith took a heavy swipe to the forehead John took a heavy swipe to the forehead As they placed the cuffs on Smith he struggled to break free As they placed the cuffs on John he struggled to break free John we need to talk about this he the guvnor said angrily smith we need to talk, now how do you prefer to write names into a story line ?
I always use given name unless there is a contextual reason to family name. For instance, my first person narrator refers to her husband as "Rick" by her colleague as "Dr. Nichols". In 3rd person, it's pretty much the same for me. If the story is in a professional setting where last names are common, like law enforcement, medicine, military, I use last names. If the character happens to be in law enforcement, but the story is really about her marriage falling apart, it's first name.
I think it depends on how everyone else refers to that character. For me, I write a lot of military-based pieces, so will use surnames for characters when they are referred to by most people formally (So I, the narrator, will refer to them by their last name, and the other characters will either refer to them as their rank or their last name, depending on who that other character is). Outside of military settings, however, I think it might sound a little odd. Unless it's a nickname of course.
It depends on tone of the story. Conan-Doyle uses "Watson" and "Holmes", for example. Stephen King generally uses full names when a character appears in a scene and then first names for the rest of the scene. I'll switch between given and surnames, but I keep it consistent within the same story. It's actually very rare (given that I write short stories) that my characters have full names. Like @Greg147, when I write historical or military pieces, I tend to use surnames, while for modern (usually horror) pieces, I use given names.
if john smith is our protagonist i would use john for all instances of interaction the reader see's for example "that was quite a show!" john exclaimed. but for instances of interaction i may have all npc's interact with john using smith i.e. "Welcome mr. smith to the theater." the receptionist spoke. it would also depend on the character what i mean is what does john himself like to be called if its john then i would recommend using john as that will be how he introduces himself to new characters if its smith i would recommend using smith. but like the post above me you can take a page from steven king introduce the character with his full name then pick one to use for the rest of the book.
I give their full name the first time I use it (but not their middle name), then refer to their first name forever after. I also try and stick with that theme throughout the novel just because I know in some situations it would be more appropriate to use their last name. If they are a police officer, for instance; I might use a last name, but my point is, I seldom go back and forth between first and last names though because it can confuse readers, and that is the last thing I want. For instance, it would be memorable to have my main characters boss have been a former drill sergeant, and while someone like that would scream the last name of my main character probably, for me, the benefits of having a drill instructor as a boss, are not worth a reader getting possibly confused. At least, if the boss is on incidental in the story line. Instead, I will save a drill sergeant for a book where they are more prominent and so my main characters last name would not get confusing as much. To me name confusion is huge. That is why I would never have the names Asher and Ashley in a story as brother and sister, because that is too close in spelling and sound, and might confuse a reader. It is likely parents might name their children like-sounded names, but again, to me, it is not worth possibly confusing readers.
In one WIP, my MC gives her full name when introducing herself to new people. Ex. When she joins the guard, she (reluctantly) introduces herself as Shaula Allen. But is just "Shaula" otherwise. In another WIP, i have soldiers. The more uptight of my main characters uses last names only. The other MC uses last names when he is supposed to be formal only. So Joel Scott would refer to Royce Warren as simply "Warren" regardless of situation.... But Royce would just call Joel "Joel" unless they are in uniform. All other characters refer to them both and each other by first name
Depends on how other characters would refer to this one, point of view, and your preference—in that order.
Depends on the role of the character. The main character? First name, usually, even if everyone else calls them something else. Otherwise, anyone with a title, like General or Officer or Foreman? Last name. If I have a married couple called the Joneses, I'm probably going to call them Mr. Jones and Mrs. Jones, so when people see the husband's name they'll know he's one of the Joneses. The Jones kids? First names. Can't expect to tell them apart when they have the same last name, plus if one or more of them is a main character, that rule takes priority. Character only has one name? Easy one, really. If a minor character is a classmate of one of the main characters, and the main character recognizes them by their last name, they'll probably referred to by that name even if the character happens to know their first name. (It's all about which one the character remembers first. For friends it's first. For distant acquaintances it can be the last if, say, their professors generally refer to the students by their last names, or if the classmate refers to the character by their last name.) Then of course there's the character who always goes by a nickname— but if the name is a made up name for sci fi or fantasy or something, it can be fun not to tell the audience it's a nickname until someone uses their real name. Bonus points if the real name leaves the reader and/or characters scratching their head ("How do you get "Dick" from "Richard?" "Crusher's real name is... Tim?") I think that's just a decent source of comedy there.
