14 April 2012

Whats in a pen name?

There are a number of reasons for a writer to have a pen name be it protection for themselves or their family, a way of simply keeping the outside world out of their everyday life perhaps even to give a name to a separate voice used to write with, to escape a past or change who they are. There are a number of reasons and usually each writer will have a different reason for choosing one.

So how do you go about choosing a pen name? do you simply choose the name of something you like or that represents you? or do you pain-stakingly sit down and figure out every single word that you can make of the letters of your name?

In my case when I was in college I made the discovery that there were two of me.
As the story goes everyone has a doppleganger and well I guess the same can be said for names as well.
Turns out this girl lived less than a mile from where I grew up as well.

So in part because of this reason and because every time I search for RNHadley I get Radley which is some accessories designer in London and the name of a village here in the UK, I have looked into pen names a few times over the years. And while a few times I did think I had found a good name it turned out someone already had it and that person was a writer.

Although my method was to use the letters of my own name, none of them felt quite right. However with a slight adjustment I think that quite possibly I have found the perfect name one of which states that there are several layers to who I am and that I have red hair. Obviously for the moment I will keep looking researching each individual name but for the moment I really like this one, and from what I can see no-one else has used it.

So will you use a pen name? what will your method be? and what does your pen name say about you?

2 comments:

  1. I decided to go with a pen name because I needed something that would stand out, that would be unique. I Googled the name before I picked it, to make sure there weren't any other people out there with the same name.

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    1. I googled two names turns out they are taken, the 3 i'm liking now arent though, so its picking one.

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