Re: hi everyone
Tim O'Connor (oconnort@nyu.edu)
Wed, 08 Jul 1998 12:05:38 -0400
On Wed, Jul 08, 1998 at 08:56:35AM -0600, WILL HOCHMAN wrote:
> Several months ago I went to hear Richard Ford read at the Tattered Cover.
> Afterwards, we got in a discussion of his use of "X" in _The
> Sportswriter_. He claims he had totally forgotten it in Esme` but I think
> the point of writers using "X" is likely not to be guess who it really is,
> but to encourage readers to imagine it could be almost anyone...will
... And sometimes to work as a placeholder for a character in
development. I can think of many instances in which I was
simultaneously working on the narrative of a story but also seeking
just the right name for a character, and many times I fell back on
using a letter (e.g., "Z") or a friend's name (hello, Ed!).
In fact, it's a fascinating area to consider, because so many times,
names have personal connotations for us as writers, and we often can't
get around the personal image that is conjured up by a specific name
(even if we're the only ones who equate some name association with some
trait undesired in the character).
There are more than a few intriguing examples if we go look at
manuscripts of novels we know and love; Hemingway did it with The Sun
Also Rises (though most readers who know the facts observe that the
characters were only *thinly* veiled, even with their names changed),
and changed the names later, when he had a firmer grip on the story.
Ah, names.
--tim o'connor