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Q&A How to avoid mentioning the name of a character?

Sure, take the example of the Library story arc in Doctor Who, we see River Song tell the Doctor his name by way of convincing him she's trustworthy but we don't hear it. The audience only know wha...

posted 6y ago by Ash‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T10:10:16Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/40105
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar Ash‭ · 2019-12-08T10:10:16Z (almost 5 years ago)
Sure, take the example of the [Library](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silence_in_the_Library) story arc in _Doctor Who_, we see River Song tell the Doctor his name by way of convincing him she's trustworthy but we don't hear it. The audience only know what she told him because she says she's going to tell him and only know it's the right name because of the Doctor's reaction to it. The same is possible in written fiction as well:

> X leaned over and whispered into the Old Man's ear. The colour drained from his weatherbeaten features, then he found his voice. "But how do you know that name?" he sputtered.

Or something similar, the key is to show the information being used without actually saying what that information is.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2018-11-13T16:55:53Z (about 6 years ago)
Original score: 72