Quick Poll

[piecesofalice]

Flisty, can I bend your ear for a second?

When writing fic featuring partners of the policing variety, aside from dialogue, do you feel is it best to call them by their last names (as per canon) through the prose, or by first name?

EXAMPLE!

Charlie was eating a banana. Dani turned to him and groaned, "Crews, can you not?"

OR!

Crews was eating a banana. Reese turned to him and groaned, "Crews, can you not?"


[Poll #1776863]


Discuss. I'd actually like to hear other's opnions on this - writers and readers - because I feel it has a great deal with throwing me out of a story sometimes.

Comments

[piecesofalice.livejournal.com]

Even in prose? The reason I was prompted to ask is I'm finding I'm reading a lot of fic where the characters are being referred to by their first names in prose but last when in dialogue - there's a lack of POV, too, and it's throwing me out of the story because it's unnecessarily familiar.

I tend to think like you do, to be honest!

[izhilzha.livejournal.com]

Yes, even in prose. I mean, depends on my POV character--if I'm writing from the POV of the parent of one of the characters, for instance, the text might refer to Scully as Dana, and Mulder as... whatever seems likely. Alan Eppes on N3, in my head/fics, calls everyone by their first names. But a superior, like Skinner, would think of Mulder and Scully, as they do.