A wonderful and valued client of mine is writing a novel that is set in fourteenth-century Ireland. The protagonist is a young common woman named Mary who falls in love with a titled lord, and he with her. The story focuses on their evolving relationship.
My client asked me about the names she should use for her characters. It was getting tricky because the man, Lord Richard Conway, had several available names and ways he could be addressed by both the author and the other characters.
I learned how to do this from the James Bond novels. In those books, the lead character has four distinct names:
1. “Bond” or “James Bond” or “Mr. Bond” is used by colleagues and enemies who are not on intimate terms with him. Ian Fleming, the author, always and without exception calls him “Bond” or “James Bond.”
2. “007” is what M calls him when he is having a conversation relating to a secret mission. Ian Fleming never refers to the character as “007” in the text that he, Fleming, writes as the narrator of the story.
3. He is called “James” only by his girlfriends and a few intimate friends. It is very rare when anyone calls him James, so you really notice it in the book. Ian Fleming never refers to him as “James” in the narrative.
4. Once in a while a vulgar American will call him “Jim” or “Jimmy.” Bond hates this.
Let’s say you’re writing a medieval novel. You, as the author, never change your relationship with any of your characters, including Lord Richard Conway. It is the same from the first page to the last. Therefore you, the author, have no reason to suddenly change what you call him. It must be “Conway” or “Lord Conway” from the first page to the last.
On the other hand, Mary’s relationship with Lord Richard Conway changes dramatically. When she first meets him she must address him as “Lord Conway” or “my lord.” But once they are intimate and she becomes his peer, she would begin to call him “Richard.” This significant change in the form of address is another signal to the reader that now they are in a relationship.
Other characters can call him “Lord Conway” or “Richard,” depending upon their rank and familiarity. But they must be consistent and it must be appropriate to the occasion. For example, at a formal public event no one would call him “Richard,” not even Mary.
Next, imagine if Mary had a pet nickname for Lord Conway, like “snuggles.” Mary would say, “How about some breakfast, snuggles dear?”
Would you, the author, call him “snuggles”? No. You would write, “Conway looked up at Mary with a big smile and said, ‘Yes, sugarlips, I would love some breakfast.'”
– Thomas Hauck, freelance professional ghostwriter and editor based in Gloucester, Massachusetts, provides first-time and established authors with personal literary services.