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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/36353
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Currently, I'm running into an issue with constructing a scene in third person in which the POV character is having a conversation with his mother. Since it's third person, I can't just be like "Mom said this. Mom did that."

And, since it's his mom, I can't just refer to her by name. (Or can I?) I'm mostly having to overuse "his mother" to the point where even I'M annoyed by it.

The problem is that for example [How do I say that a character said something without resorting to “said Character” every time?](https://writing.stackexchange.com/q/31151/23159) is referring to dialogue tags. I'm trying to find a way for a character to refer to the person he's speaking to that isn't repetitive.

As an example:

> His mother did a thing. She was always doing that thing.  
> "I resent you thinking I always do that thing."  
> "Sorry, Mom, but you totally always do that thing," he said. His mother stormed away.

I'm always referring to her the same way, and I can't switch it up without being untrue to the way that the POV character thinks of her.

What are ways to fix this?

Original score: 8