20 to 30,000 words bef0re ever revealing the characters names. I’ve posted about the narrative technique challenge before, but now I want to discuss the in-story reason they kept it up. The POV character is a STEM geek, so his analogy of sandboxing is specifically in-character. Towards the beginning, when it seems that they should have introduced themselves for real, I’m sticking a paragraph like this: He needed a better mental label, if they were keeping up the part of the game where they kept their real identities hidden. It might be important to her confidence and comfort; people who are anonymous such as in online communities can be more bold and outgoing and even completely ignore fears that paralyze them in real-life interactions. The real-world her might not be the kind to ever {whatever happened thus far}, and she could be relying on that special cloak of identity shielding to do this. So, I won’t be the first to say, “Hey, what’s your real name?”. Then, after they do the deed back at her place, “Hello, my name is …” and vice versa. Then, Sharing real names at last. While anonymous, there is the effect of being more open, and there is an ability to roll-play rather than be exactly yourself. But it was also akin to running a program in a sandbox — it can be discarded without affecting the real system. An anonymous encounter could still be dismissed as just pretend, the participants simply walking away and not letting it have anything to do with their real life. By exchanging real names, she had committed the events to being part of her real life. Anything that was roll playing before was now acknowledged as being who she really is. In very meaningful ways, it was more intimate than the intercourse. First, any further thoughts on the effect I’m talking about? Second, any suggestions or advice on how I can bring this to mind early and remind the readers throughout? The final sentence is part of a continuing theme: that real intimacy has to do with sharing lives (even the painful parts), and people have different things that they may be shy about that has nothing to do with the usual taboos.
I don't think you want to beat people over the head with it. Have a character not give his/her name, have your POV character hesitate and then not give his/hers, and then later on, show the exchange of names as an intimate act. You can trust your readers to put it together without the exposition/lecture on it, I'd say. (also, weird shift to first person at end of first excerpt)
People online usually use names ...but often not their real names. Would it be possible to have them be seen to 'adopt' a name that they both know isn't each other's real name? It would certainly make following the story maybe a bit easier, and maybe easier to write? It could be something that wouldn't ordinarily be a name. Like the guy could call himself Walnut and the girl could call herself Stroppy, or something like that. By the way, the term is "role-play" or "role play." You've written it as "roll play." The first time I thought it was a typo, but then you used it again.
I’m trying not to use “he thought to himself” or similar every time it switches to internal dialog. That’s a good example (from Italics for Thoughts? thread) of why it can be good to do. IAC, the first excerpt is half-baked. As I started it, I realized I wanted it much sooner, but I didn’t want to lose the thought so I saved it.
It seems to me that changing it to So, he wouldn't be the first to say, “Hey, what’s your real name?”. would solve that problem.
I agree with this. I recently read a book called Ready Player One, where three main characters were completely anonymous for almost the entire story, known only as their digital avatars. It had a similar idea that sharing any information about who you actually are is intimate and dangerous. It can also be used to great affect to easily show relations to other characters by what they call each other. Sort of like how in The Matrix, good guys call him Neo and bad guys call him Mr. Anderson. Or in Halo how the only one to ever call Master Chief "John" was Cortana.
I feel like we're talking about different things. There's full-tilt anonymity, and there's an identity that's formed by things under than the usual things. I'm a chicken here, but that doesn't make me anonymous. Folks know I will argue minor points to the death, chime in whenever the conversation turns to passive voice, complain about my mother, rewrite people's stuff in my own voice even though that's wrong, write silly examples of things, and probably other things that I don't want to hear about. That's all true even if you don't know my name, and would still be true if I declined to state my sex or age or anything else. I have an identity.
I think if you view identity as a set of personality traits, anonymity is an identity in and of itself. A mind and emotions can develop differently if the person in question is using an alias or some other way to hide their true identity. Personally, the way I see anonymity is not only as a way to hide an identity, but for some to open up in a way that might never happen in the real world. I've done a lot of gaming, and in a few social games, such as MMOs (massively multiplayer online games), I'll have a different way of interacting with people than how I do in real life. This is especially true when I'd form guilds or clans with other players. Even so, I wasn't hiding who I am. You could say that the me in those online games was just as real as the me in real life. Even here on WF I'm a bit different than my real life personality, but that's not saying that my personality on here is fake. If you're developing a character with anonymity, you have a lot of potential for interesting interactions in your cast. As far as revealing a name, I suppose it just comes down to desire and necessity, if you feel that revealing the real name during an intimate moment is necessary, then go for it, but don't feel obligated to reveal it just because it's an intimate situation. Keep in mind that sealing the deal with the name reveal may or may not have consequences on further online interactions. Will your characters be able to act the same way they have been toward each other in the game after they've met and learned about each other in real life? Will their online personas be able to survive the new bloom of emotions they share with each other after meeting? These might be questions to consider, if you haven't already. =) The topic is very appealing to me, since I am very familiar with "anonymity" and have dealt with my own blend of scenarios where I've revealed my real world identity to online friends. At the same time, just as everyone's personality is different, everyone's feelings about their own personalities would be different. I've accepted that the online side of me is just another aspect of who I am, my "secret identity", if I wanted to feel all cool and stuff.
That's true even without the special anonymity thing. Example, a man can interact with people very differently when playing on his basketball team, being the boss at work, and being Grandpa. The are different contexts, and you express different facets of yourself. Yes, I can see how that can add more complexity. In my story's case, it appears to be no worse than any normal relationship in terms of acting the same way to each other after relationship progresses, but I'll keep that in mind as I'm looking to add more conflict.
