Capitalizing a characters name way before actual intro

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  • Capitalizing a characters name way before actual intro

    Is there a consensus or maybe it doesn't matter, but I have a main character you sort of "meet" on page 8 but he doesn't act or have lines until 20 or thirty pages later. Do I capitalize his name there or wait till later? The way he's introduced is by a name plate, but he doesn't show up till later but its still important to know he exists before we meet him.

  • #2
    Re: Capitalizing a characters name way before actual intro

    If it's important that the reader notices/remembers him, then I would describe him and, yes probably capitalize his name on page 8. This way you're letting the reader know he's a character and has a role to play.

    And then when he reappears in the script, I would find a way remind the reader about when we last saw him.
    Basically, the clearer you can make it the better.

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    • #3
      Re: Capitalizing a characters name way before actual intro

      Originally posted by wsaunders View Post
      Is there a consensus or maybe it doesn't matter, but I have a main character you sort of "meet" on page 8 but he doesn't act or have lines until 20 or thirty pages later. Do I capitalize his name there or wait till later? The way he's introduced is by a name plate, but he doesn't show up till later but its still important to know he exists before we meet him.
      This is an intriguing question -- usually I would say that you shouldn't give a reader information that an audience wouldn't otherwise get -- and since an audience wouldn't know the identity of an otherwise unidentified voice, then the writer shouldn't identify who's speaking.

      On the other hand, if this is going to be the main character of a movie, there's a good chance that the main character is going to be played by a recognizable actor who will almost certainly have a recognizable voice.

      So if someone picks up the phone and George Clooney's voice or Benedict Cumberbatch's voice comes over the phone -- even if you don't know the identity of the character, you've got a pretty good idea that George Clooney or Benedict Cumberbatch is going to show up later in the movie.

      So maybe it makes sense to identify the character by name, not describe him, as such, (wait for that until we really get to see him) but simply indicate:

      He picks up the phone. The voice on the other end is that of a middle-aged man, GEORGE (we'll be meeting him in person later) --

      --in the same way that we know, when we hear George Clooney's voice on the phone that, indeed, we're likely going to be meeting him later.

      NMS

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      • #4
        Re: Capitalizing a characters name way before actual intro

        Originally posted by nmstevens View Post
        This is an intriguing question -- usually I would say that you shouldn't give a reader information that an audience wouldn't otherwise get -- and since an audience wouldn't know the identity of an otherwise unidentified voice, then the writer shouldn't identify who's speaking.

        NMS
        In this situation the character doesn't speak.

        I handled it like this:
        A man, similar in build and years, is frozen inside. The tube's name plate reads, 'ROBERT HARRISON.'
        I decided to introduce his name now, because the main character "talks" to him now even though he's frozen in cryosleep. And then when you meet him later, the audience will put the names together.

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