Why do some writers write under a pseudonym.

[Angelshare1]

That's a different name if you didn't know! Just wondering.

I'm thinking about getting into writing novels in addition to screenplays and was wondering if a different name might be smart. Not sure why, it would be cool though!

Why do folks do this?

[Chris Adler]

Because they think it's cool? Or perhaps they don't want to be personally associated with a style or type of work?

[Randall_Oelerich]

Because they have a warrant out for their arrest in seven states?
Or are married to a second spouse under a different name?
Or sing in a church choir and don't want to be associated with writing grisly stories filled with the nakedness, torture, vice, and loose women?

[CallaghanFilms]

To get around restrictive exclusive contracts...to introduce a darker/hornier/more demented side...for a quick buck that doesn't stretch your name too koontz---ah, er, too thin...because you are a blacklisted maybe-commie...

[Batutta]

...because made up names can have more pizazz...if you're a woman venturing into a man's genre, or vice versa...

[Gary Huff]

I use my pseudonym to subtly inform the reader of the size of the my ego.

- Smarty McSmartypants

[nosys70]

because then you can produce more books in a year that you can possibly write yourself.

[unadog]

Because no-one takes someone who both writes and does photography/film making as seriously as someone who "specializes in either one." What do you think when you read a travel article, and the writer also took the photos, etc.?

I started to try this a couple of months ago for my writing on a blog. As a professional photograper, I wanted to differentiate my branding/specialization/etc.

I quickly realized that it is complicated though. If I am selling something, like equipment, how do I ensure that the buyer can trust me if some things have one name, some another, etc.?

Not sure whether I will try to continue with it.

The basic reason underlying what I said above is "branding".

In many fields, there is a strong push to specialize - wedding photography, fine art photography, etc. How do you "branch out" into additional areas without diluting your marketing message, or giving the impression that you are a "jack of all trades", but master of none?

Good luck!

Michael

[wcmartell]

Nosy and Callaghan have great answers - usually a novelist writes under a pseudonym to separate one "brand" from another. So the late Don Westlake wrote light-hearted crime novels under his own name, dark and violent crime novels under the name Richard Stark, brooding private eye novels under the name Tucker Coe, etc. Each was a completely different style and tone - so that a fan of the funny crime novels wouldn't read a downer private eye novel that he wrote and hate it. He had different "brands".

And your name is your brand. If you write screenplays and novels, you may want to write them under the same name to increase the value of your "brand".

- Bill