Have you ever wondered why Charles Lutwidge Dodgson wrote as Lewis Carroll? Or why Theodor Seuss Geisel better known as Dr. Seuss had not one but two pseudonyms? Find the answers in the following infographic reblogged with the kind permission of
Jonkers Rare Books.
I've been playing the literary name game and came up with Bobby Anne Harding for a possible pen name. This combination of my nickname, middle name and mother’s maiden name has quite a ring to it don’t you think? If I wanted to disguise my gender, I could use the shorter and more masculine sounding Bob Harding.
What pen name would you / do you use?
Today's guest post is by freelance writer Elaine Hirsch. Using pseudonyms for the purpose of identity concealment while writing provocative and engaging literature is a time-honored practice. The Founding Fathers wrote the seminal Federalist Papers
under the collective pseudonym Publius. There were even opposing views to the Federalist Papers written under different pseudonyms such as Cato and Brutus.
Pseudonyms have been a mainstay of literature, sometimes as collective pen names (Ellery Queen), or as aliases. Stephen King used the name Richard Bachman ostensibly to test whether his success as an author had anything to do with his own persona. While it may not do to
write one's master's degree dissertation under a pen name, outspoken academics have long disguised their writings when necessary, and still do so today.
Online privacy and the possibility of anonymity are two transcending issues of internet communications. Pseudonyms abound in the blogosphere, and they are utilized for different reasons.
For example, Beatles drummer Ringo Starr, whose real name is Richard Starkey, adopted the name because of the abundance of rings he wore. Despite having little to do with his actual name, Ringo Starr stuck and Starkey has since been known as Ringo Starr for his contributions as a drummer for the Beatles.
Keeping one's employment is also a logical reason for using an online nom de plume. Notorious blogger Belle de Jour turned out to be Dr. Brooke Magnanti, a research scientist who blogged about her life as a London call girl while finishing her forensic science doctoral studies at the University of Sheffield.
Others may want to start out with pseudonyms until they find their voice, or until they feel comfortable their writings aren't going to get them fired immediately. Such is the advice of Dr. Allen Roberts, an American emergency room physician for whom blogging became an emotional outlet.
Keeping oneself out of jail is another sound reason for writing pseudonymously.
Fake blogger JT LeRoy may have been a literary hoax perpetrated by author Laura Albert, but the character's online musings could have attracted the attention of law enforcement.
Pseudonymous writing does not translate well to all situations or topics. Whistleblower blogs may necessitate pseudonymous authorship, but academia generally shuns pseudonyms use since it doesn't conform to the responsibility and credit principles of attribution. In any case, writers, readers, and critics should keep in mind that whatever a pen name's ups and downs, there are certainly situations where pseudonymity is justified and even necessary.
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Elaine Hirsch is kind of a jack-of-all-interests, from education and history to medicine and videogames. This makes it difficult to choose just one life path, so she is currently working as a writer for various education-related sites and writing about all these things instead.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Other Writing Articles:Keep Your Writing Goals Front and Center
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