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Q&A Referring to a character in 3rd person when they have amnesia

Use the name others use for her. It's pretty standard that, if a patient can't be identified, a placeholder name gets assigned. Jane Doe (in the US anyway) is a very common one (John Doe for male...

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

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#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-20T00:40:44Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/45221
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T11:54:35Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/45221
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by (deleted user) · 2019-12-08T11:54:35Z (about 5 years ago)
## Use the name others use for her.

It's pretty standard that, if a patient can't be identified, a placeholder name gets assigned. Jane Doe (in the US anyway) is a very common one (John Doe for males).

If this continues longer than a few days, the hospital staff (or the people wherever she finds herself) will come up with a nickname for her. Or your main character may make up a name for herself. Sometimes this is just a first name. Other times it may be a first and last name, for legal purposes.

If you don't want to show the reader any name, you can refer to her as "the woman" or something similar. Some stories do that. It's not my style, but it works.

Or you might use a nickname that isn't a real name. For example: "5B" (the room she's in) or "Yosemite" (where she was found) or "Redshoe" (what she was wearing when found).

Humans always assign names to people, even if they're not accurate, complementary, or real names. Give her something that has little to nothing to do with her real identity and go with it.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2019-05-16T23:26:31Z (over 5 years ago)
Original score: 15