A treatise on style... or how to refer to your characters without actually saying their names

This post is... exactly what it says in the title. It will (hopefully) show you how to refer to your characters without using their names. It can be very exhausting to read someone's fiction and see the same one, two, or three names printed several times in every paragraph. Now, you need to use names sometimes, especially when you are writing about a large group of people conversing. It is necessary to clarify who is speaking. But in scenes with two or three participants, you have the flexibility to use other adjectives and titles for your characters.

If you have Microsoft Word, try an experiment. Highlight all of your novel/whatever you're working on and go to the 'Tools' tab. Then go to 'Autosummarize'. It should open up a new window and allow you to shorten your highlighted work. The automatic choices range from 75% to 25%, or you can choose the exact number of words you want to shorten to. Pick the lowest one (it should be ten sentences).


For your pleasure and amusement, I will now read the entirety of my masterpiece, Chopin at 3:00 in the Morning (the condensed version).


Chopin at 3:00 in the Morning (in 11 words and/or 10 sentences)

“Gwen! “Mandy.”

“Gwen – Gwen…? “Gwen!” “Mandy!” Mandy...” “Gwen... “Gwen.” “Gwen?” “Gwen!



*Bows to the thunderous applause*


See? It's just the two main characters' names over and over again. You get the idea. This proves just how much the names of your characters saturate your work.

Now, names are still going to be your primary means of identifying which character is speaking or performing a specific action. However, some variation is occasionally refreshing.



Here's an example from Magnetic Resistance, simply because it is in third person, the most difficult viewpoint to write in terms of understanding who is talking (first person presents other, unique challenges).

It would be so easy to fall in love with Alex. Who am I kidding? I'm already in love with her. I have been for years. Olivia sighed, pressing a kiss to the dozing attorney's warm forehead. Her eyes were closed, her breath deep and even as she slept curled up against Olivia's side like it was the most natural place in the world for them to be. Everything felt so right...

Olivia shifted slightly in Alex's embrace, almost smiling as the blonde murmured something in her sleep and held her tighter, unwilling to let her go. The small movement made Olivia's heart ache. Was Alex afraid she would cut and run? She could not deny that she was thinking about it. Part of her wanted to sneak out the door and never come back. After experiencing Alex, no one else would ever be enough. Alex loved her. Olivia believed it. She had seen it in those sincere blue eyes, felt it in the gentle, reverent caresses that explored her legs and hips and breasts, the lips that had teased and taken and tortured hers.

She had believed it as Alex's fierce, scorching tongue explored her folds, only pausing when the counselor glanced up through the square lenses of those damn glasses and licked her lips, lips covered in gloss and a smile and Olivia. At the time, the look had been incendiary, even decadent. But remembering, the detective knew that there was love behind it. And that terrified her.

Notice how I (subtly) replaced the name Alex with 'the dozing attorney', 'the counselor' and 'the blonde'. I replaced Olivia with 'the detective' at the end.

You can use someone's hair color, eye color, skin color, clothing, height, job, or profession to distinguish who you are talking about. Basically, use whatever you want. Just please do it in moderation. Seeing 'the blonde' a million times is no better than seeing your character's name over and over again on the page.


Here are some examples, but please, for the LOVE OF ALL THINGS HOLY, use them sparingly, and juggle them so you don't end up sounding like a bad Harlequin. PLEASE.

'The taller woman'
'The olive-skinned woman'
'The scientist'
'The police officer'
'The spaceship pilot'
'The politician'
'The younger woman'
'The brunette'
'The violinist'

You get the idea... profession, age, hair color, height, ect. Just be very, very careful. This tool can be useful for adding color and mixing things up, but please use with caution.

You can also use 'her lover' or 'her girlfriend'/'her wife'/ect, esp during sex scenes, but once again, be careful. Don't overuse or you'll end up with a disaster.