Pen Names

[GeneralHZRD he/him]

If you don’t know what a pen name is, it’s when a writer publishes a work under a name other than their own. For example the writer of “The Wheel of Time” Robert Jordan’s real name was James Oliver Rigney Jr. A lot of writers use them, but a lot also don’t. I can’t decide if I want to use one or not, (though I won’t need to decide until I actually get published. ). 

I’m curious what you all think about them and if any of you use them/plan to use them. If you do use/plan to use them how do you decide what name to use?

[elinox she/her]

I think they're fine; it's up to an individual author if they feel it's necessary or not.

As for me, I sort of used a pen name for my book. I used my first initial and my last name when I self-published my first book. I'll likely keep with that for any others I may publish. I didn't want to use my entire first name because 1. it's long and 2. no one but my mother calls me by it so it's not the 'normal' me. I didn't use a nickname of my first name either because some people know me by one nickname, while others know me by a different one and I didn't want to have to choose which one to use since it would likely confuse people. So I opted for my initial. I liked the anonymity of it since 'E' doesn't allude to either gender.  

[Vogelsang he/him]

I honestly would probably use one myself. Names are quite an important part your image.

[Ataraxian Wist she/her]

My first name is weird and so I've always gone by my middle name, but I can't imagine it looking cool on the spine of a book (or my last name for that matter) so I based my pen name off of a bunch of inside jokes so my friends will know who I am when I publish (which is way out there).

Edited December 27, 2017 by Sazedezas
typoes

[Showman he/him]

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I have no idea. If you do, make it worthwhile because it's going to stick. Do something notable, because more people are probably going to know you by that name than your real one.

[The Allomantic Metalhead he/him]

I don't always use them,but when I do It's usually a parody.

For example, when I was writing a parody of dystopian YA stories, I used the pen name "Alex Bearfang" (don't bother looking for it, I haven't ever finished a book I started).

In another work (a parody of crazed far-right fundamentalism made to be intentionally bad and self-contradicting) I used the wonderful pen name "Christian Reagan Eagleson".

 

Neither of those pen names are even close to my real name.

[Totally_Not_A_Worldhopper she/her]

I'm a huge fan of pen names, though I have no idea why.

And if I ever do publish a book (or finish writing one!) I plan to use a pen name - my name is boring, and incredibly long. Plus, it has a really dumb meaning.

 My current pen name plan is to use either Cara or Jennifer Evans. Or something ridiculous like Ajdkkehfu Jgduefva.

[Kureshi Ironclaw]

I will probably use a pen name if I ever get a book published. They're a marketing tool and a powerful part of a writer's brand image, so they need to be distinctive and match the tone of what you're writing.

Also, it's probably best for me to separate my writing from my work as a musician to stave off confusion.

I have no clue what I would actually use for my pen name though. Probably something involving my middle name in some way.

[Alderant she/her]

I like the idea behind them. There's nothing out there yet, but I use one as the identity I'm drafting my novel under.

Edited February 26, 2018 by Alderant

[Fifth of Daybreak he/him]

I decided a long time ago that if I went with a pen name, it would be Bernard Rice. 

Why Bernard Rice?

When I was in middle school, we had a mini mall project where we had to come up with a product to sell and a business plan and such, then execute it on a day when we would all set up inside the cafeteria and the rest of the school go through all of our booths and browse our wares. I was selling snow cones and mini notepads with our school mascot on them. The snow cones we're popular enough that the reporter for the local paper doing a story on the project decided that my booth was the one he wanted to take a picture of, so he got a couple shots and wrote down my name. 

 

A few days later, there was my picture in the paper, but not my name. Instead of Trevor, I was Bernard Rice. It was strange and funny enough that I decided it would eventually be my pen name should I decide to use one, given just how far off he was from my real name.

[Yezrien]

I own several pens, but I have not named them.

[GeneralHZRD he/him]

On 2/28/2018 at 8:58 PM, Belzedar said:

I own several pens, but I have not named them.

What?! You haven't named your pens? I have a maroon pen with me right now that I have named Isabel Riker.

[Ookla the Absent]

Not an author, but I have quite a few names I use more or less regularly, to the point where there have been times if asked to introduce myself my immediate response was "Caranguejo" rather than my real name (fortunately keep my online names mostly separate from irl)