Characters with long names

[Biohazard EHW]

If a character has a long name, is it appropriate to call them by a shorter version of that name in the action lines if the longer version of their name is used to indicate their dialogue? Or should I just use one version of the name all the time instead of switching?

For example, if I have a character named Jessica or Michael (my character has a name longer than that), would it be acceptable to refer to them in the action lines as Jess or Mike, or have other characters refer to them in the same way rather than speaking their full name (which people hardly do in real life)...?

[hunterjordan]

No problem. When you intro them state both -- JESSICA (JESS). Same would apply if they go by a nickname MICHAEL (CAP), for example.

[pantalone]

My question is who calls them by the different name? You the writer? What do the other characters call her? Is she Jess all through the flick, but when her mom is there she is Jessica.

[Biohazard EHW]

When you intro them state both -- JESSICA (JESS). Same would apply if they go by a nickname MICHAEL (CAP), for example.

That's what I was going to do, since it's only essential to know the character's full name from the first time we meet that person, so I would just introduce the character as FULLNAME (SHORTNAME) LASTNAME and use the short version of the name thoughout the rest of the script. Would that be the most acceptable way of doing that?

[hunterjordan]

Not sure it's the most acceptable, but it is logical. I'm not sure that logical is always a winning choice, but it's the one I attempt to make.

[Biohazard EHW]

Well I'm not sure if there's some kind of proper format rule to go by in this situation, but I got to be sure, right?

[wcmartell]

Why not just call him "Mike" to begin with?

[JakeSchuster aka Ostroff]

Or just uncomplicate things by making it obvious: an "Angela" who's referred to by various characters as "Angie" or "Ange", is pretty obviously the same person.

[Biohazard EHW]

Why not just call him "Mike" to begin with?

Because it's important that the character be first introduced by their full name.

Then again, it might not be as important as I was thinking...would it necessarily be wrong to introduce a character like ALEXANDER (ALEX) SMITH or something to that extent? I don't want to do it and then be wrong.

[JakeSchuster aka Ostroff]

But if you introduce a character as ALEXANDER, and then, in dialogue, someone calls him Alex, there's unlikely to be any confusion.

Unless you have two characters, an Alexander and an Alex. In which case I'd urge you to change one of them to MIKE.

[altoption]

Because it's important that the character be first introduced by their full name.

Not sure why you think this. In the context of your story? Or are you suggesting there's some rule about introducing characters with their full name?

[dpaterso]

I could see the reasoning and need if the character were called something unusual like Vyacheslav Mikhaelovich Basheleishvili, and was intro'd fully as "VYACHESLAV MIKHAELOVICH BASHELEISHVILI (YURI)" because, in the story setting, other characters are inclined to refer to him by his formal name, e.g.

KGB OFFICER
Vyacheslav Mikhaelovich Basheleishvili,
you are under arrest!

YURI
Screw you, cop!

...So that's exactly how I'd do it.

-Derek

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My Web Page - naked women, bestial sex, and whopping big lies.

[DUCPHO]

Was that a line from the opening of the remake of "The Jackal"? Just curious, remember in the opening scenes where the female Russian cop, accompanied by FBI Agent Sydney Poitier confront a Russian mob figure in a night club... or is it so late that I am hallucinating again?

[dpaterso]

If it is, it's entirely accidental.

PS I liked that film. And Diane Venora, even with the makeup.

-Derek

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"Ms. Koslova, is it?"
"Mm-hmm."
"And what would your first name be?"
"Major. Major Koslova."