JaneEspenson.com

Suppose you’re writing a spec pilot, and you’ve got a lot of characters whom you want your readers to keep straight. You’ve got Brian and Courtney and Flagg and Sharon and Henderson and Nigel… But let’s say that Henderson and Nigel are fairly minor. They’ve got names and all, they’d be regulars if the pilot somehow became a series, but let’s say they’re only in two scenes of the pilot.

In these circumstances, you might want to consider:

Committee-Head Henderson
Welcome.

And:

Nigel the Butler
Good morning, sir.

Now the reader will be reminded who they are whenever they speak, and the burden of keeping all those names straight will get a lot easier.

Whenever you make the reader’s job easier, you make your own job easier.

Lunch: In ‘n’ Out burger, Dr. Pepper