: Re: Would it confuse my readers to give two siblings nicknames that can be abbreviations of the same name? In my book, there's two brothers, who are named Nick and Cole. Now, I've always thought

IN THIS EXAMPLE, I don't see a problem. As others have said, I don't think "Nicholas" when I hear "Cole", and I doubt most people do. And even if they did, "Nick" and "Cole" sound very different and distinct. In real life, people often use nicknames exactly to give distinct sounding names to two people with the same formal name, like you have two friends both name "Frederick" so you call one "Fred" and the other "Baldy".

The real problem is if the names you call characters by sound very similar. Like if you have two characters that you call "Burt" and "Bart" or "Sally" and "Sandy". You might do this deliberately if an important plot point is that people regularly get the two confused, or that at one crucial time someone gets the name confused. You might do this in a comedy to make a running joke about people getting the names confused. But usually, this is a really, really bad idea. It is almost always a Very Bad Thing if a reader gets to, "And suddenly, Bart burst into the room!", or, "The detective said, 'Bart is the murderer!'", and the reader has to stop and think, "Wait, is Bart the brother or the lawyer? Let me flip back and see ..."

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: This is an interesting question and, personally, I think the answer can only be found within your novel (as I think you've already discerned). The problem I have with the Writerâ€™s Digest

@Heady158

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: Is there a term for 'The Secret Garden' and similar works? For some time now I've been curious about how to classify a small group of literary works. They include The Secret Garden, Polyanna,

@Heady158

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: What techniques do you use to maintain your writing focus and maximise your productivity? How do you keep writing no matter whatâ€™s going on around you? How do you avoid the distractions of

@Heady158

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: Overcoming "Possibility Paralysis"? I don't often experience writer's block these days. Instead I struggle with a different sort of impediment in my writing: I call it Possibility Paralysis. I

: Re: Would it confuse my readers to give two siblings nicknames that can be abbreviations of the same name? In my book, there's two brothers, who are named Nick and Cole. Now, I've always thought

More posts by @Heady158

: This is an interesting question and, personally, I think the answer can only be found within your novel (as I think you've already discerned). The problem I have with the Writerâ€™s Digest

: Is there a term for 'The Secret Garden' and similar works? For some time now I've been curious about how to classify a small group of literary works. They include The Secret Garden, Polyanna,

: What techniques do you use to maintain your writing focus and maximise your productivity? How do you keep writing no matter whatâ€™s going on around you? How do you avoid the distractions of

: Overcoming "Possibility Paralysis"? I don't often experience writer's block these days. Instead I struggle with a different sort of impediment in my writing: I call it Possibility Paralysis. I

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