Killing Off a Nom De Plume

The other day I was talking to a friend of mine about my writing. One of the things that came up was why I used a pen name when I wasn't published. What was the purpose? *Biotch* first came to mind with the rubbing in that I am still unpublished, then I answered "I really don't know other than the fact that someone is already using my real name."

A writer may use a pen name if :

• His or her real name is likely to be confused with that of another writer or notable individual.
• Their real name is hard to remember and/or spell correctly.
• Their real name sounds silly, stupid or obscene.
• They write in several genres using different pen names for each genre.
• Occasionally a pen name is employed to avoid overexposure.
• Some female authors have used masculine pen names to ensure that their works were accepted by publishers or taken seriously by the public.
• In some forms of fiction, the pen name adopted is the name of the lead character, to suggest to the reader that the book is a (fictional) autobiography.

In my case, my real name is already being used by an author that writes in a different genre. Not exactly the genre I prefer to be associated with either. More on that in a later post. For now I am going to keep writing and sign it with Sissi until I find a suitable pen name/pseudonym/nom de plume/alias/haiga/a.k.a.

Do you use a pen name? Why? and How did you come up with it? Now that I've killed off my nom de plume I am going to name my pen. I shall name her Lola.

(**refer to older posts for recap on nom de plumes)