Comments on Does Your Pen Name Define You?

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Some think me catty enough ;-)

Interesting that you read VH. No one else has fessed up yet

posted by beachbelle on January 23, 2005 at 2:27 PM | link to this | reply

Go with Belle or Bella so you can have the same nickname my kitty does.

P.S. When I was young, I read everthing Victoria Holt wrote, bar none!

posted by Julia. on January 23, 2005 at 1:32 PM | link to this | reply

Man, that would be a shock.

posted by Oceandancer on January 22, 2005 at 6:56 AM | link to this | reply

Billy

It's great we can all be heroes here

posted by beachbelle on January 22, 2005 at 5:11 AM | link to this | reply

Talion

Spot on. No I don't mean the description but this is exactly the image which makes the name bother me. On a few occasions here I have sensed that people are reacting to the name but as you say the proof, or not, is in the reading

posted by beachbelle on January 22, 2005 at 5:11 AM | link to this | reply

Beachbelle, since Blogit is fun writing instead of professional writing I

think we can use our blogit psuedonyms to be what ever we want to be.  Mine is a super action adventure hero...but in real life I'm a twelve year old girl in Saskatoon...

posted by FreeManWalking on January 22, 2005 at 3:14 AM | link to this | reply

The "belle" part invokes an image of that certain type of southern woman. Mint julips, old money, big hair, a slow drawl, too much make-up, and always overdressed for the occasion. Bad if you believe the Scarlet O'Hara stereotype, worse if you've discovered there's a degree of truth to it. However, read one post, any post of yours, and such illusions are shattered.   

posted by Talion on January 21, 2005 at 8:10 PM | link to this | reply

Whamenator

Your name is you and yet in some ways it isn't you. There is a very kind side to you which the name does not express adequately. But you see I think it is a good thing because then people have to get past their preconceptions

posted by beachbelle on January 21, 2005 at 7:45 PM | link to this | reply

Poetjpb

Thanks. I like seeing my name rather than some other name except when I write stuff which I am not happy with.

posted by beachbelle on January 21, 2005 at 7:43 PM | link to this | reply

I did not put a lot of thought into my name, beachbelle.

Whammie is sort of like my own name anymore, as a lot of people call me that at work, and it is displayed on the Vanity Plate on my car.  One time someone called me The Whamenator after I played a prank on the guys.  So I did not have to think too much.

posted by WHAMENATOR on January 21, 2005 at 7:24 PM | link to this | reply

i love beachbelle

yeah I didn't get it either when I signed up.

Well I only use poetjpb here on the blog.

I use my real name in print, sometimes I use my middle name too or my maiden name.  I vary it some.

Thought about using a different name but I am too vain, I love seeing it in print.

posted by poetjpb on January 21, 2005 at 7:17 PM | link to this | reply

Tapsel-T

It depends on the outcome you seek. Is my name sexy? I can't tell. I think not

posted by beachbelle on January 21, 2005 at 7:08 PM | link to this | reply

Definitely not sexy, Beachbelle.   Would it help if I adopted a sexy name?????

posted by TAPS. on January 21, 2005 at 7:06 PM | link to this | reply

Scoop

Was that because you were always first with the news?

posted by beachbelle on January 21, 2005 at 6:51 PM | link to this | reply

Beachy I may have commented before when you wrote this,

mine was a nickname a guy gave me at work

posted by scoop on January 21, 2005 at 4:34 PM | link to this | reply

Strickgold

It would be difficult to choose a name. In a way when people change or hyphenate their names it sounds like an affectation. The other approach is to be the one that brings interest to the name of Smith or Jones or ...

posted by beachbelle on January 21, 2005 at 1:07 PM | link to this | reply

I have thought about changing my real name legally

my name is as common as JONES...

posted by StrickGold on January 21, 2005 at 1:02 PM | link to this | reply

Well word.smith, it seems that what one writes can define us

posted by beachbelle on January 21, 2005 at 1:01 PM | link to this | reply

Brenda works too! But anyway, it's a little late in the game

for me to worry about it now anyway!
Have a great day.

posted by PastorB on January 21, 2005 at 1:01 PM | link to this | reply

RedLunar

I love your name. It is a beautiful name. Isn't it funny how you said you lean to the name Bella but addressed your comment to Beach

posted by beachbelle on January 21, 2005 at 1:00 PM | link to this | reply

the-Loanlady

That is what happened to me. It must have happened to lots of people. I thought it was like a user password name

posted by beachbelle on January 21, 2005 at 12:59 PM | link to this | reply

MerryAnne

Ordinary can work particularly when the writing is extraordinary. The writing is the thing.
I never changed my name, never will. I can always identify sales people when they call my number because they call me Mrs ....... and anyone who knows me doesn't.

posted by beachbelle on January 21, 2005 at 12:57 PM | link to this | reply

CunningLinguist

You are such a unique talent, I think that you could work around it somehow, or at least always incorporate it somewhere. But enough talk of the details, get the thing going first, if that's what you want. I'll put the whip back in the cupboard now

posted by beachbelle on January 21, 2005 at 12:54 PM | link to this | reply

Ariala

They do, don't they?

posted by beachbelle on January 21, 2005 at 12:51 PM | link to this | reply

PastorB

I am more used to thinking of you as Unicorn or Brenda. I don't think in most cases it does harm to use your own name except for the reasons I mention.

posted by beachbelle on January 21, 2005 at 12:46 PM | link to this | reply

Oceandancer

It is like plunging in the deep end. I think once the personal stuff is out there people become blase about it. The only exception is when the personal info is quite shocking.
I remember once turning on the tv to see a friend, who I hadn't seen for a long while, being interviewed. She looked great but I got a hell of shock to discover that she was being interviewed about being HIV positive.

posted by beachbelle on January 21, 2005 at 12:44 PM | link to this | reply

Maybe you were in that frame of mind when you chose the name,

but I've certainly never thought of you as dizzy.

posted by word.smith on January 21, 2005 at 12:43 PM | link to this | reply

McNab in your post of April 26, 2004 entitled "John McNab"

you said you were ‘A boring old fart.’ Perhaps but you usually make me smile....particularly in today's "grain of salt" post.

posted by beachbelle on January 21, 2005 at 12:40 PM | link to this | reply

Roofpig

I think that people themselves bring certain qualities to a name. I agree with you that yours sounds about right. Distinctive, easy to remember, yet interesting. I will watch out for it

posted by beachbelle on January 21, 2005 at 12:32 PM | link to this | reply

Wildwoman Laloba

Here is what you commented back then.

"I love my username/pseudonym. I chose it for the archetype of it. Creativity. does it define me? I think it describes me. Laloba is the female voice of intuition. I strive to develop it. To listen. Over the years I have been mistaken for being spanish, mexican, native american.........I'm none of these. I'm of finnish descent."

posted by beachbelle on January 21, 2005 at 12:29 PM | link to this | reply

Renigade

I am glad you mentioned that. I was wondering. I did figure from your writing that you can spell.

posted by beachbelle on January 21, 2005 at 12:25 PM | link to this | reply

beach,

I've had the pen name of redlunar for many years now It is related to my birthdate on the mayan calendar...it seemed natural to use it here at Blogit. I like your name here, but if you choose to change it, I have always had an affinity to Bella.  red

posted by redlunar on January 21, 2005 at 11:44 AM | link to this | reply

when I signed up for blogit I had no idea that would become my " name ".  Mine is wierd enough that I am leaving it alone.

 

posted by the-loanlady on January 21, 2005 at 11:38 AM | link to this | reply

I'm still deciding on the whole pen name thing.

I love being married, but don't really like my married name. So I'm thinking of using my maiden name. Although both are pretty ordinary.

posted by MerryAnne on January 21, 2005 at 7:54 AM | link to this | reply

I remember this one

I was having deja vu and then vuja de. 

I like the attention this name gets me, and I've actually thought about using it if I'm ever published.  I obviously wouldn't be taken seriously if I wanted to write something of substance with a name like CunningLinguist, but I don't know how common it is for an author to bounce around from pseudonym to pseudonym, depending on the project.

Interesting post, Beachy.

posted by CunningLinguist on January 21, 2005 at 7:45 AM | link to this | reply

I have many names and sometimes I forget who I am, but someone always

reminds me.

posted by Ariala on January 21, 2005 at 6:42 AM | link to this | reply

beachbelle

I remember this post as well.  Because of it, I posted a blog about my pen name.

 

posted by johnmacnab on January 21, 2005 at 6:36 AM | link to this | reply

When I had my previous "name" here of unicorn

that served well because that is the name of our business/ministry; Unicorn Services, and it was the name of the ranch- Unicorn Ranch. But about a year ago a blogger here; Crappy, started calling me PastorB and I just took that on after that, I think it serves me much better. In my writing outside of Blogit, I always use my real name I guess because I want it to be easy enough to access, although I have heard from other writers that that is not always a good thing.

posted by PastorB on January 21, 2005 at 6:35 AM | link to this | reply

I use my real name in my articles

though I think if I were to get into, oh gosh, what's the term? Creative non-fiction personal essay...? I would use a pen name. I know a fella who does well in the genre. Whenever I try, though, I can't bear the thought of attaching my real name to such personal information.

posted by Oceandancer on January 21, 2005 at 6:23 AM | link to this | reply

My Blogit name is an inside joke with some friends of mine that has since become my AOL screen name, email address, and login name at just about every website on the net.

As for my writing in real life, I originally was going to use a pseudonym, but I ultimately decided that I like my normal name better because it's more unique than a pseudonym could ever be (Peter Tarkulich).

posted by roofpig on January 21, 2005 at 5:56 AM | link to this | reply

I remember this post

and I may have remarked how I chose my name.

posted by Wildwoman_Laloba on January 21, 2005 at 5:30 AM | link to this | reply

Because my blogit name has ties to my real name,

I feel like people are wondering if I really can't spell "renegade".

posted by Renigade on January 21, 2005 at 5:24 AM | link to this | reply

It's quite allright Beachbelle, as long as people interprete that as being nice and not ridiculous.

posted by Voyager9940 on January 21, 2005 at 5:03 AM | link to this | reply

Ca88

Out of here I don't like it when I use a pseudonym. It never feels the same. I can't revert to my name because I never changed mine

posted by beachbelle on January 21, 2005 at 5:01 AM | link to this | reply

Mine feels ridiculous voyager

posted by beachbelle on January 21, 2005 at 4:59 AM | link to this | reply

"Nicknames stick to people, and the most ridiculous are the most adhesive."

Haliburton, Thomas C.
1796-1865 Canadian Jurist Author

See/hear/read ya!

Voyager9940

posted by Voyager9940 on January 21, 2005 at 4:55 AM | link to this | reply

"Wot's in a nyme she sez and then she sighs..." CJ Dennis (and I've most likely misspelt the misspelling). Strangely enough all the other names I use mean the same thing and are versions of each other. I didn't know this when I picked them. I'm considering writing under my maiden name. Still thinking about it.

posted by Ca88andra on January 21, 2005 at 4:53 AM | link to this | reply