Communities

Writing
Writing
Codidact Meta
Codidact Meta
The Great Outdoors
The Great Outdoors
Photography & Video
Photography & Video
Scientific Speculation
Scientific Speculation
Cooking
Cooking
Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Judaism
Judaism
Languages & Linguistics
Languages & Linguistics
Software Development
Software Development
Mathematics
Mathematics
Christianity
Christianity
Code Golf
Code Golf
Music
Music
Physics
Physics
Linux Systems
Linux Systems
Power Users
Power Users
Tabletop RPGs
Tabletop RPGs
Community Proposals
Community Proposals
tag:snake search within a tag
answers:0 unanswered questions
user:xxxx search by author id
score:0.5 posts with 0.5+ score
"snake oil" exact phrase
votes:4 posts with 4+ votes
created:<1w created < 1 week ago
post_type:xxxx type of post
Search help
Notifications
Mark all as read See all your notifications »
Q&A

Post History

60%
+1 −0
Q&A How do I differentiate characters in first person POV when the narrator doesn't know them yet?

Well, first thing, how would you differentiate these two people if you met them in real life? Imagine yourself with a group of friends talking about a couple of strangers and think of how you would...

posted 5y ago by mario mario‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T11:33:20Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/44135
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar mario mario‭ · 2019-12-08T11:33:20Z (about 5 years ago)
Well, first thing, how would you differentiate these two people if you met them in real life? Imagine yourself with a group of friends talking about a couple of strangers and think of how you would make it clear which one you talk about.

As far as I know, people would tend to attribute a name or nickname to the unknown person based on their first impression and use it to refer to them.

Another way you can vary how you refer to them it by using their mannerisms. Does one act like's he's always high on cafeine or does his neutral face looks like a permanent frown? Is his companion always serious? It works for voice too.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2019-03-28T08:29:11Z (over 5 years ago)
Original score: 6