Topic: How to avoid repetition when referring to a character in a scene

One of my reviewers noticed that I make a staggering number of references to one of my characters, Joseph, throughout one of my chapters. It's partly because his father and mother are also in the scene, so there are references to 'Joseph's father' and 'Joseph's mother', adding to the problem. For example,

Joseph's father said, “‘For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required.’”

Joseph's father is the Prince Consort to Joseph's mother, the Regent. I could replace some references to Joseph's father with Prince Consort and some references to Joseph's mother with Regent. That would allow me to mix it up a little. However, other reviewers have told me that Joseph wouldn't think of them in those terms (Prince Consort and Regent) and I should stick with calling them his father and mother.

Similarly, I used to replace some references to Joseph with his title, Crown Prince, for the same reason.

Having eliminated all of those, I'm stuck with dozens references to Joseph in one chapter.

How do others handle this?

Thanks
Dirk

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2 Reply by Dirk B. (edited by Dirk B. 2018-07-13 03:38:16)

Re: How to avoid repetition when referring to a character in a scene

Thanks, Jeff. I misunderstood your review.

I'm still interested in the original question, though. Do I use both Joseph's mother and Regent to reduce repetition, or stick with Joseph's mother? Ditto for his father, the Prince Consort. What about Crown Prince instead of Joseph? I do at times refer to Joseph as a teen, which I think is fine. The others I'm not sure about.

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3 Reply by Dirk B. (edited by Dirk B. 2018-07-13 05:41:52)

Re: How to avoid repetition when referring to a character in a scene

Thanks, Jeff. I'll check out the links.

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