EricMBacon's picture
EricMBacon from Vermont is reading The Autobiography of a Corpse February 24, 2012 - 3:20pm

I found an old short story that I had written years ago about a man who, after dying in his dreams, woke up the next day and went about tying up all his loose ends before he died. One of the major plot points was that he wanted to spend the rest of his days living in the house he grew up in which was the place that most made him feel at home. Though it was never explicitly written in the story, the main character had not died in his dream, but in his sleep and the brief story afterward was what he experienced during his dying moments.

The character's name was Dale Ready, which with a little editing was an anagram for already dead. I wonder if it is a complete mistake to give this giant hint about my meaning of the story. It isn't neccessary to read the story and interpret that the character was dead through the whole thing. It does include some magical realism, and is written in a way that leaves much up to the reader's interpretation.

Is it a big mistake to do this? What if the reader looks for an anagram first and it messes with the process of reading the story? Does it seem tacky? I know there are probably more ways of doing this wrong than right, but what do you guys think?

I am curious because I want to completely write the story over for a lit. class that I am taking and I have some small ideas on how to expand the story a bit and make it something worth reading.

By the way, one of my weaknesses is naming my characters.

 

Profunda Saint-Sylvain's picture
Profunda Saint-... from Calgary, AB is reading Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy Series February 24, 2012 - 3:23pm

I don't think I've ever gone out of my way to find anagrams for character names in any book I've read. But now I might start... I think it sounds like an interesting idea to play with.

avery of the dead's picture
avery of the dead from Kentucky is reading Cipher Sisters February 24, 2012 - 3:26pm

I think it is safe to say no one will find it.  Except for maybe Dan Brown.

Dave's picture
Dave from a city near you is reading constantly February 24, 2012 - 3:27pm

I like the idea, and it sounds like a good story.  Go with it.

EricMBacon's picture
EricMBacon from Vermont is reading The Autobiography of a Corpse February 24, 2012 - 3:45pm

Wow, I expected that maybe it wasn't such a good idea. I'm am happy for positive reactions, although I am definitely interested in hearing more opinions as well.

DaveShepherd's picture
DaveShepherd from Calgary is reading No Country for Old Men February 24, 2012 - 3:46pm

I wouldn't have noticed it unless I was looking for it. The only one that I consistently notice (and get consistently  annoyed by) is when a character has the initals J.C. and ends up sacrificing themselves. 

For myself, I pick names that have meaning or relate to the story, but you'd have to dig pretty deep to notice the connection. I'm working on a story right now that deals with rationalizations, and one of the characters is named Anna, after Sigmund Freud's daughter who took up her father's research into rationalization (which he took up from Ernest Jones). The name means something to me, but I highly doubt anyone is going to read that deeply into the name "Anna". 

In Harry Potter, Voldermort is based on a french phrase that means "to flee from death"... but I wouldn't have noticed that until someone told me.

I think with names in general unless the meaning is overt, you're pretty safe. It's kind of like an easter egg for the reader... it's something that's cool if they do notice it, but if they don't, it doesn't change anything.