: Re: Do hard to pronounce names break immersion? I have a character in my book named Jiolluav (with the correct accent, Zholl-you-of or /ʒōl-'yoo-äv/), and I've written my entire "novel" (it's a

@LarsenBagley300

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I generally like to write that names are "anglicized" if they are indeed made up for the convience of the reader. For example, I once wrote an alien main character named "Kyron" and even then, I have at various times changed pronunciation in my head and had it pronounced it "1st syllable rhymes with sky (Kai-ron)", "1st syllable sounds like key (key-ron)", "1st syllable rhymes with beer, second sounds exactly like on (Keir-on) or second syllable sounds like ron (Keir-ron).

I don't know and have thought maybe all four were valid and different characters said different versions of the name based on their own accents and how they heard it... since there are about 5 other characters, each one could have a personal preference and the fifth is like "Wait... who's pronouncing it right?" and the original conversation is sidetracked in debate over the matter.

Speaking as someone who has a real name that is essentially a varient pronunciation of another more common name people will constantly mispronounce my name by mistake, (Shane (sounds like... well if you find a rhyme I haven't heard, I'll give you a cookie... but Train is a good word that rhymes), which is the pronunciation of the name Sean in an Ulster Irish accent, where as in America, Sean is often pronounced Shawn (sounds like Brawn)). "It's Shane" is practically my catchphrase, due to how often it happens. In fact, I had a teacher in my elementary-middle school who legitatmently taught me in almost every grade and is a family friend and to this day occasionally calls me "Shawn" by mistake... though the real winner of "You should know better" award was the mother of one of my best friends. His name is Sean and I'm Shane and his poor mother would often swap our names when talking about both of us.

Suffice to say, if your character has any contact with anyone with less familiarity of her name, she will be well aware of the mispronunciation. Like me, it wouldn't be much to suggest that she's developed a quick habit of pronunciation correction every time she hears the mispronunciation... I would say write the line once a book so your readers get it but it doesn't become forced... and maybe at funny bits (like in the middle of a fight at the heart of a volcano that's about to erupt, have a bad guy the wrong pronunciation only for her to casually correct it, while tossing 4-5 ninja mooks to their magma deaths below... Sure the fight is difficult, but correcting someone's pronunciation of my name is pretty on par with thinking about breathing.

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