Pen Names

[sarillia]

How do you go about choosing a pen name? I don't know where to start.

I've been going back and forth for a long time about whether I would want to use a pseudonym if I ever actually got published. I finally decided yes because I don't need to worry about my bigoted brother seeing the shameful empathy towards things he disapproves of in my writing and judging me, even if I know that it's unlikely that they would google me and find out that I have a few stories that a handful of people have read. True story: his girlfriend once refused to lend me a book because she had discovered since buying it that it was "immoral" and said that she regretted lending me other such books in the past because she shouldn't be enabling me in poisoning my mind with such things.

Anyway, pen names. Do you have one? How did you choose it?

I kind of feel like I'm getting ahead of myself, but in my defense, I did write today.

Comments

[ayumidah]

Haha. I've thought loooooong and hard about this one. Probably since I first started dreaming about getting published when I was 19. So! It's a lengthy story, forgive me but you did ask ;)

So my mother was very protective when I was younger-- still is, to be honest-- and she didn't want me using my real name online, or giving real details out, which is fine, I saw the wisdom in it. In 2002, Drowning Pool's lead singer, Dave Williams, died unexpectedly of an undetected heart defect. I was fresh into the metal/hard rock scene at that point, and this was shocking and terrible and I wanted a way to honor him.

So ultimately I started using Williams as my made-up online name, and years passed with it holding. Then when I began writing more seriously, and doing NaNoWriMo, and considering getting published, I then began thinking of pseudonyms because my mother is staunchly religious (she sounds like your brother's girlfriend, actually, heh) and I don't want my writing judged by her either, I really just wanted to keep the entire process lowkey so none of my family would be able to know without my telling them if I did get published, so for awhile I considered Alison Williams, because Alison was supposed to be the name of my older sibling if it was a girl and it felt like a way of honoring that bond that was never realized.

More time has passed since, though, and I've changed my mind into using "Dahlia Williams" as a pseudonym because I go by "Dah" online, and it'd be an easy enough conversion for my social media accounts if the day ever comes that publication does happen.

Sorry for the lengthy tale, but yep that's the long-winded origin of mine. Good luck with finding your own!

[sarillia]

Sounds like my plan of using Harry Potter for inspiration that I mentioned to badass_tiger just now isn't as silly as I'd feared.

I'm glad you found a name you like. I like the name Dahlia Williams.

[ayumidah]

Is mine silly? I dunno, inspiration can come from anywhere...

Thanks.

[sarillia]

Oh I meant that yours is good so mine probably will be too.

[ayumidah]

Ah ok!