What do you advise authors when they want to know whether to use a character’s name or a pronoun in dialogue and narration? Here are a few tips I’ve amassed. 1. In one-on-one conversations, people seldom use each other’s name. So don’t litter your dialogue with characters’ names. Here’s an example. “I say, Mary. Have you noticed how cold it is outside tonight? Mary, I think I’ll light a fire.” This passage contains two Marys too many. 2. When a character is alone and we’re in her point of view, it’s safe to assume that the personal pronoun refers to her, except when she mentions someone else in her narrative. Therefore, it’s not necessary to use the viewpoint character’s name constantly. This is also a good way to make sure you’re staying in a particular character’s POV. 3. A name is more prominent than a pronoun, so reserve it for special occasions. For example, when a character begins a new activity in a scene, alert the reader to that fact by using her name rather than a...