Hatrack River Writers Workshop: Is this confusing?

This is topic Is this confusing? in forum Open Discussions About Writing at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.

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Posted by chad_parish (Member # 1155) on :

Here's the problem: I have a character named Robin Echlin. I need the ship he's serving on to be named the Kenneth Echlin. How can I keep from confusing the reader? I'm thinking: refer to the character as "Robin," and the ship as "The ship" or "The Echlin."

Comments? Thanks.

[This message has been edited by chad_parish (edited August 21, 2001).]

Posted by SiliGurl (Member # 922) on :

I'm taking it that the character's name can't be changed??

Part of your dilemma is the nature of the ship and the character. For example, if this is a combat vessel and Robin is in the military or pseudo-military, many people will go by their last name. The two will most definitely be confused.

Perhaps you could offer some type of ship designation. Real world examples would be the USS Echlin or HMS Echlin. Then just always refer to the ship that way... Of course, *you* can always refer to the ship that way in your narrative, but how would a character phrase it? A character in normal dialogue won't always preface the name of their ship by its designation. In which case, just refer to the ship by name (italics). I think that this approach-- short when in dialogue, full designation when use in narrative-- ought to work.

Just a thought.

[This message has been edited by SiliGurl (edited August 21, 2001).]

Posted by Doc Brown (Member # 1118) on :

In real world dialogue, the characters would surely solve this themselves. They would probably adopt nicknames, and the nicknames might reveal something about their relationships.

Lots of ships, military and civilian, go by nicknames. In Mister Midshipman Hornblower the crew referred to the Indefatiguable and "The Indy." The American Battleship Missouri was known as "Big MO" (the abbreviation for that state) and the aircraft carrier Intrepid was known as "The Fighting I."

The nickname for the Kenneth Echlin might reveal something about the way the crew feels about either the ship or its namesake. If they revere the man, they may refer to the ship in heroic terms. They might call it "Dependable Ken" or something like that.

Alternately, if the crew dislikes Robin Echlin, they may give him an unflattering nickname just to emphasize the distinction between Robin and the vessel. This is where sailirs get nicknames like "sharkbait" or "leadbottom."

Posted by A_Bear (Member # 1212) on :

I have to agree with Doc... when I was stationed on the USS Cleveland we called it the 'Cleve' or the 'Steamin Cleve'
Now that I am on the USNS John Ericcson, we call it the 'Big John'

Many crew members will give the chain of command nicknames behind their back. For instance there is a Sargeant we call 'Ensign' because he wants to act like an officer so much.

But a commander would NEVER go by his first name except in rare and private occassions with senior members of his crew.

Have phun!

Arron

Posted by chad_parish (Member # 1155) on :

Thanks, everyone!

I'm definately going to use these suggestions: "Red Ken," perhaps, as he was the first to walk on Mars in my future history.

One thing I should have emphasized: it's a privately owned ship, not military. Thus, some people will refer to him as "Robin."

However, do you suppose some other people (the ex-military crewmembers) would probably still call him "Mr. Echlin" or "Chief Engineer Echlin" out of long-ingrained habit?

Similarly, everyone will call the ship's commander "The General" even though he is Air Force retired.

[This message has been edited by chad_parish (edited August 23, 2001).]

Posted by Doc Brown (Member # 1118) on :

Chad: It could be the long engrained habit factor, but that is not absolutely necessary. Today's civilian freighters have crew with titles like Captain, Navigator, Engineer, etc.. So do cruise ships and airliners.

NASA'a Apollo missions each had a Commander, a Command Module Pilot (CMP), and a Lunar Module Pilot (LMP). Today's space shuttles have Commanders, Pilots, Mission Specialists, etc.. I must stress that NASA is a civilian organization, not a military branch!

Many civilian job titles fit smoothly with a name. Doctor, Professor, Officer, Rabbi, President, Governor and Mayor can be tacked onto a name as comfortably as Captain or Commander.

Being part of a private crew need not exempt Robin Echlin from picking up a nickname like Digithead or Booster Breath or 'Stroidbait.