Hey, so I'm trying to create a story with two characters I've created, but I'm trying to keep the story really simple, and I'm really intrigued by the idea of them not actually having names, but just being mentioned by pronouns instead. The main concern I have with this is that it might get confusing if there gets too many other characters in the story (which might not even happen as, like I said, I'm trying to keep it really simple).
Does anyone have any tips or suggestions for how I could manage this? Are there any stories you know about that do a similar thing? Or is this a completely hopeless request, and I should just name them?
I've actually done a short story (currently in progress) where I haven't named the characters. In doing so, I typically went off simple characteristics, and numbering.
I know it sounds weird, but it can keep things clearer. For a quick example;
The blue eyed girl quickly made her way through the crowd of people, stopping as she saw the group she had been trying to avoid.
"Well, what are you doing here?" One of the taller boys asked, seemingly in a friendly tone. When addressed, the girl sighed softly before turning to face him.
"Trying to avoid you." She said simply, trying to walk off. The first boy only laughed, glancing over to one of the other dark haired boys.
"Why would you want to avoid us?" The dark haired boy asked, giving her a confused look.
"Yeah, we're spectacular." The first boy insisted, crossing his arms over his chest.
That was literally written on the spot, lol. But that's very similar to what I've been doing for my short story. Besides the fact it lacked detail, and had a bland vocabulary, of course, that's basically what I did
@RainyDayArtist I didn't even think about distinguishing them based off their different features. That's very helpful, thank you.
There are plenty of classic works that don't name their characters! In the "acclaimed" variety is "Anthem" by Ayn Rand (I didn't particularly like it, but not because of the no-names aspect. The mc was kinda misogynistic, but I digress), and plenty of films have pulled this off as well (See "The Road", which is a masterpiece in my eyes). Plenty of short stories do this as well (although I think naming a character is less expected in a short work to be honest), but I can't remember the names of any at the moment. To me, it gives the work an almost casual feel, as though you are an onlooker into the lives of a hand full of strangers passing by. I think not giving a character a name can give an intrigue to the story and will definitely simplify things, as long as you steer away from physical descriptors as a replacement to names. Hope this helped! :)
@JuniperDreams Thank you; it did. I'll be sure to check some of those works out.
I have a book in which the main character never actually reveals his name until the very end. I pulled it off through the other characters giving him various nicknames, but I’m not sure that’s what you’re looking for. But for example, since he was very closed off, the other characters kept calling him “Solo,” and it stuck. So I guess another option would be to conceal a real name with a fake one.
I’ve also seen some authors hold on to a single characteristic. For example, if written in third person, if a character had a single really defining feature, the author would nickname them. Like if a character had a scar— the author would refer to them as Scar. If the character had blue eyes— the author would refer to them as Blue Eyes.
@CoffeeBean The idea of avoiding their real names with a nickname from the other characters is a really interesting idea. I'll definitely consider that. Thank you.
This can work, but it has to be done well, and in a way so that the reader doesn't get confused. If you really want to try it then give it a shot, but remember that it'll take a lot of work and consideration. You will need to establish several identifying features for each character and make it clear what trait belongs to who. If you start a story with only one establishing feature about a person, the audience will get tired of hearing the same feature over, and over, again.
Thanks for the advice! Establishing several identifying features is a really good idea, and I'll definitely consider that. Thank you.
I just remembered another one! "Lost Names" by Richard Kim pulls the nameless thing off spectacularly (and the MC isn't a douche lmao).
@JuniperDreams Lol, awesome. I'll be sure to check that one out.
