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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/29222
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/29222
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

If a character knows the people in a crowded scene, they think of them by name, which indicates to the reader that they are in familiar surroundings. If they don't know the people in a scene, then they will tend to notice some prominent feature or action they are performing.

If you don't name the individual students that she notices, that tells the reader she is in an unfamiliar environment.

Think about walking into a restaurant looking for a party of friends you have agreed to meet. You look around the tables of people you don't recognize. You notice very superficial things about each. Business suit. Three blond kids. Tatoos. Purple spiky hair. Seen and forgotten in an instant.

They you see your party and immediately you see their faces, their names come to mind, you don't really note what they are wearing or anything else superficial (unless there is something really out of character), because you are seeing them, your friends, your colleagues, your classmates. (Even your enemies, if they are well known to you.)

So, if your character walks into a room and sees suits and spiky hair and tattoos, they are in a room full of strangers (no matter what you might say to the contrary). If they walk into a room and see people whose names they know, they are in a familiar space. It really is not about whether your readers will remember these characters, is it about placing your character accurately in the world they are entering.

Original score: 13