Dilemma of the alter ego

[bobeager]

Does anybody else use a pen name. I write under two different names.
Finding it hard to get feedback happy to comment on other writers stories.
I came up with the name Bob Eager originally as a self help guru giving
people absurd advice. If you would like to see more you can google Edgar Rider and
Bob Eager together. Not sure when we can post links on here
However this is a great forum looking forward to speaking to and learning
from other writers

Bob

[cafolini]

There is no substance to this because the assumption is that a different pen name causes the expression of the alter ego. On the other hand, I don't see any dilemma in that area. No matter how many different names people use, they are transparent and wherever they go, there they are.

[bobeager]

The reasoning behind this is the difference of opinion between authors I have contacted. Some have said by using a pen name it is a detriment. Some have suggested to stick with one name. Others have encouraged me to keep going under both names. Some authors have understood some do not. I am merely bringing it up trying to understand why some of us feel so compelled to use several different names. This will not prevent me from continuing to use different names. Just analyzing the personal need to do this.

[Calidore]

An author might adopt a pen name for genre reasons, i.e. romance paperbacks written by men will have a female pen name, and nobody will buy a he-man action novel written by Percival Chinlessgit. Or a publisher/agent might suggest a simpler, more salable pen name if the original would be too hard to remember, just like actors do (actor Herbert Charles Angelo Kuchacevich ze Schluderpacheru became Herbert Lom, for example).