“There is nothing to writing, all you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed”. This very personal quote from Ernest Hemingway is probably one of the most insightful when it comes to the life of a writer devoted to their passion. But not so long ago, even the most brilliant writers were reticent about putting their real name to their work. So here are some of your favourite writers who wrote under a nom de plume, some of the reasons might yet surprise you!
George Eliot
The Middlemarch, Silas Marner and The Mill on The Floss writer is one of the most famous authors to write under a male name to avoid discrimination in a time when women writers were mostly associated and expected to stick with romance. She chose the name “George: after her partner George Lewes and the “Eliot” because it was a “a good mouth-filling, easily-pronounced word”. She believed that male readers would take her work more seriously if they thought it was written by a man.
George Orwell
This India-born British writer is most well-known for his satirical political works – The Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four. Born Eric Blair, he chose a pen name to protect his family from embarrassment because his writing was critical of British colonialism and the government. He chose the name out of his love for England. “George” was chosen after the patron saint of England and “Orwell” was after the river of the same name that he loved visiting.
Samuel Clemens
The creator of one of the most delightful characters in English literature, Samuel Clemens chose the pen name Mark Twain as a throwback to his steamboating days. Mark Twain” was a phrase used by boatmen to indicate that the water was two fathoms deep, which was safe for the boats to navigate. A more delightful explanation and one that is more in keeping with Mark Twain’s personality has to do with a saloon and some whiskey. Check out the story here.
Lewis Carroll
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson used the pen name Lewis Carroll to keep his writing separate from his professional life as a mathematics professor at Oxford University. The author of the most famous book in the literary nonsense genre, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll went so far as to refuse letters that came to his office in Christ Church, Oxford, to keep up the ruse.
Pablo Neruda
This Nobel prize winner was born Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto. This Chilean literary heavyweight, considered one of the most important influences in Latin American Literature, changed his name because his father didn’t approve of his love for writing and his choice to pursue it seriously. He chose the name Pablo Neruda as homage to Czech poet Jan Neruda.
Mary Westmacott
The Queen of Crime, Agatha Christie, managed to keep her identity as Mary Westmacott a secret for almost 20 years! She adopted the pseudonym to explore different genres of writing and wrote 6 novels under it. She even went so far as to use a different handwriting for her manuscripts. Christie’s novels under the name Mary Westmacott, were semi-autobiographical, romantic novels, a far cry from the Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple adventures she was so famous for.
Robert Galbraith
J.K. Rowling, the richest writer in the world, deliberately authored the first Harry Potter series under a vague name instead of Joanne Kathleen Rowling, because the assumption was that young boys might not be inclined to read a book authored by a woman. They would be more likely to read her books if they thought they were written by a man.
But after the first book that literally exploded onto the scene, she was “outed” as a woman. She used the pseudonym, Robert Galbraith to pen a crime novel series of six books, because she didn’t want to write under the pressure of expectations that could stem from the success of the Harry Potter series. She chose the name “Robert” because it’s one of her favourite men’s names and also because Robert F Kennedy is her hero!
Richard Bachman
Even the “King of Horror” felt the need to use a pen name. He became popular at a time when writers were discouraged from releasing more than one book a year. He could not limit himself to that so he decided to write under a pseudonym. The other reason was that the movie Carrie based on his book became hugely popular, and he wanted to know if his books would still attract readers even if the King name wasn’t attached to them. Turns out, the books weren’t as successful as those written by “Stephen King”, and became popular only after “Bachman” was unmasked.
Dr. Seuss
In the midst of the prohibition era in 1925, a young Dartmouth college student was caught drinking with his friends. As a punishment he was banned from writing for and editing the college’s humour magazine, Jack-O-Lantern. So Theodor Seuss Geisel, became “Seuss” to continue contributing to the magazine. He later added “Dr.” to the name in honour of his father who had hoped Theodor would become a doctor. He also wrote under the pen name Theo LeSieg – Theo being shot for Theodor and LeSieg being his last name spelt backwards.
Victoria Lucas
When semi-autobiographical book The Bell Jar was first published, it was under the name Victoria Lucas. Writer Sylvia Plath used a pen name because she didn’t want her mother to know she had written that book, so as not to upset her. The book was republished under her own name after her death, .
Voltaire
Much like Pablo Neruda’s father, François-Marie Arouet’s father too wasn’t happy with his choice of career. He expected him to pursue a legal career. This French Enlightenment writer known for his works Candide and Letters Concerning the English Nation, adopted the nom de plume Voltaire after completing his first play.
Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell
Creators of strong, complex women in literature – uncommon at the time – Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Bronte felt the need to write under these pseudonyms respectively. This was done to give their work a fair chance since women writers weren’t taken seriously at the time.
Paul French
The creator of the three laws of robotics and one of the Big Three science fiction writers was asked to write a juvenile science-fiction novel that would serve as the basis for a television series, “Lucky Starr”. He doubted that the “Lucky Starr” series would be adapted very well and so decided to publish it under the pseudonym Paul French. Plans for the TV series fell through, but he continued to write the books, eventually producing six novels in the series.
