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I have more than 30 recurring characters in one of the series that I’m writing, and I’m beginning to wonder if that is too many for readers to keep track of. (Most of them have a backstory and are somewhat important at one time or another.)
Any thoughts/questions/advice? 😛 Thanks!
(My apologies if there is already a topic about this somewhere.)
INFJ. An extroverted introvert who loves to write and draw.
*disappears into the shadows*
@ariella-newheart Good question! I have struggled with the exact same thing in my KPA (that’s Kapeefer Adventure, sort of like the LOKD). I guess it depends on the series: How long it is, and when and where your MC(s) are traveling. If you have to put in all your recurring characters, you could either alter the characters so they fit each scene, or alter the scenes so they fit the characters (I think the latter is harder, though). Or you could put them in groups. Five of them could be in a band, and six others could work in the mines together, etc.
But it’s also important to keep in mind that the reader will have trouble keeping up with all 30 of them. So, unless you are good at making each and every one of them memorable, my top advice is to just plain cut some of them out. That’s kind of a problem if you have a close relationship with them, though :-/
That’s the best advice I can give you. Others will probably have better, more organized advice… XD Mind if I tag someone?
*doesn’t wait for answer*
@jane-maree @dragon-snapper @rochellaine @skredder @jenwriter17 @sam-kowal @daeus @catwing @kaya-young @mnvalentine @anyoneYou can pronounce it however you want.
@ariella-newheart Oh, I had this same problem with one of my books… 🙂
Since this is a series you are writing, the easiest way to do it without confusing the readers might be to make only a few characters the important ones in each book. If the others are background characters in one book, and then they become important characters in another book, the readers will have fun recognizing the names from the previous book, without getting mixed up because now they are in a separate story and can make new friends with the “new” characters. (I’m not sure if that made sense.)
There isn’t this exact topic anywhere, I don’t believe, but there was a topic started a little while ago which spoke about multiple POVs. Here’s the link to it, and you might find something helpful there. 😀
"Sylvester - Sylvester!"
@ariella-newheart This would depend on how similar the characters are to one another, and how often they show up. If you have up to 7-10 characters that stay with the reader the entire plot, it shouldn’t be too bad, especially if you give them each distinct names and defining characteristics. As for the rest of the recurring characters, if they could “recur” in groups that associate some of them with one another, that would help. (For example, if 5 recurring characters are all part of this faction and like to stick together…)
I could see this as confusing, though, if you end up having them show up randomly or even all at once. You’d have to be careful with names, too, since it’s easier to remember people based on the first letter of their names — with 30 characters, though, several will have names starting with the same letter.
A practical reason to cut this number of 30 down some is that you’d really want character depth for readers to connect, and you can’t do that if you’re trying to consider how to fit in 30 people in these few chapters.
However, you could also make some of them less important/prominent characters: maybe they can play a role in the story, but only show up once (like a neighbor on the street offering a helpful tidbit of advice to your protagonist). An advantage of having pre-developed characters, even if they only show up once or twice, is that you can make them really real and draw the reader into the story (if that made any sense).
Anyways this is pretty long and possibly confusing – ask me to clarify if needed. Hope it helps!
It's g-h, 2-4-6-8 twice, three 9's
literatureforthelight.wordpress.comHow many characters is needed really depends on your story. If your series is supposed to be a sprawling epic, having 30 recurring characters might be appropriate or even expected. Just a few tips that might be helpful:
- Do not introduce too many characters all at once. This will just get confusing for readers.
- Be clear on who your main characters, supporting characters and minor characters are and which of them you plan to give their own “arc” or “story thread”.
- Make sure your recurring characters are actually relevant and important to the main plot or several subplots. It is fine to create one-off characters to help in worldbuilding etc. but if they appear more than once or twice, then they should have a real, great impact on the story. If they are redundant, eliminate them or reduce their number of appearances.
- Keep your characters distinguishable and interesting. It is good that you have come up with backstory for most of them as this will help in this. But also be careful not to go off on tangents elaborating too much backstory for these characters when you write especially if they are just minor characters.
- Combine characters with compatible plot goals and roles etc. So if you have five bad guys for this particular plot thread when two can do the job just fine, keep it to two. If one character is important to the plot in one arc but then disappears completely afterwards, consider whether you can naturally reintroduce him again in a subsequent arc to take over another character’s role. This refines focus, allows for deeper development for individual characters and eliminates pointless characters. You can always use the deleted characters in another story if you really like them.
- Use worldbuilding to connect the characters together in an organic way so that it is not so jarring when they are introduced one after another in the story. Maybe a group of them live in the same village, trained in the same squad in the military or are from the same family lineage. Maybe Character #23 is Character #5’s cousin who he mentions a few times in the beginning chapters even though he only appears much later.
- Be aware that group dynamics changes when a new person joins it and have unique interactions and relationships between each of the characters. This is important if you are writing an ensemble cast.
Hope this is helpful! 🙂
You could merge some of your characters into one. Unless of course they have to be seperate. But merging multiple characters into one could add a lot of depth to a single character. Or it could be a horrible abomination.
Just an idea.
That one English guy.
@ariella-newheart
Personally I would say yes… Though this might just be a matter of opinion.. Might I suggest trying to combine a few of the characters into one? That could cut out a good chunk. You’d just have to figure out what parts of them are relevant or important to the story and figure out how to take that and put that into a different character.For me the best part of any book series is the relationships between characters, I feel like if you have too many fighting for attention or affection readers will be overwhelmed and might not end up being attached to anyone at all.
Kind of like this sentence, if I make a load of the words bold or italic you wont know which ones are actually import, so you might not understand what parts of the sentence I want to stand out or emphasize.
I feel as though I explained this badly. Sorry! Ill try to answer and questions if ya have them.
and I was so confused
* any questions! Not and questions.. *facepalm*
and I was so confused
@ariella-newheart 30 characters may not be too many for a series. My favorite analogy about this, is imagining myself (the writer) having a pitcher of water. Each character is a glass, and I decide how many glasses there are, and how much water I pour into each glass. In a short story for instance, I won’t have a lot of water, so pouring just a tiny bit in several cups will weaken the story. (The water sort of represents how much “screen time” or depth you can give each character.) In a longer series, you will have more water. Just be aware for every side character or new main character you put into the mix, it will be using up “water” you could choose to put in an already existing character’s glass.
@valtmy has some good tips about managing a large cast.
Being mindful of what expectations you are giving the reader about each character is important. It would be disappointing to spend a book getting attached to one character, and believe they’re going to have an important role in the next book, only to find they make a small appearance, and don’t contribute much to the overall plot.And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.
@ariella-newheart you’ve got some good advice from the other kapeefers.:)
personally, I think 30 characters might be a lot for a reader to keep straight in their mind, even if it is a series and stretched out over multiple books. maybe see if any characters could be combined.
on K. M. Weiland’s website, she has a couple posts about this. unfortunately, it’s not working at the moment for me to link it to you, but if you go to helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com and type ‘too many characters’ in the search bar, the results you need will come up.
hope this helps! 😉
I'm a Kapeefer 'TIL WE'RE OLD AND GREY!
www.jennaterese.com@ariella-newheart Looks like you have a lot of good advice here 🙂 I always have a lot of characters too, so I’ve thought about this a lot. I think it depends partly on the length of the series. Thirty characters is probably not too many as long as they have page space for development and are in varying levels of importance. Putting them in groups helps and making them all have distinctive traits is good, too. Don’t make every single character have a complete backstory and two or three side plots (unless you’re writing an epic) and make sure they don’t all have the exact same personality. I’ve read books like that and they are torture… the author himself lost track of characters.
In general, if you can easily remember all of them, you’re probably fine. If you consistently miss some, you probably have too many. Also, ask someone to read it and give you their opinion 😀
Good luck writing! 🙂
Silence! Silence everyone, for the king's speech!
@dekreel Thanks!
I guess it depends on the series: How long it is, and when and where your MC(s) are traveling.
It’s five books. The story takes place in a wide array of locations over the course of… *thinks for a moment* …three years. And I don’t mind that you tagged people. The more the merrier! ^-^
(I’m not sure if that made sense.)
It did make sense, thank you! I found the topic you linked helpful, too, since in the final book I am switching back and forth between different POVs a lot.
INFJ. An extroverted introvert who loves to write and draw.
*disappears into the shadows*
This would depend on how similar the characters are to one another, and how often they show up. If you have up to 7-10 characters that stay with the reader the entire plot, it shouldn’t be too bad, especially if you give them each distinct names and defining characteristics.
The main characters moves through the story and through different groups of characters (many of which appear in the first book and then reappear in later books) I’m not sure how similar my characters are, though in a few I have observed some disturbing similarities in the patterns of their backstories which I will have to fix or eliminate eventually. O.o
As for the rest of the recurring characters, if they could “recur” in groups that associate some of them with one another, that would help. (For example, if 5 recurring characters are all part of this faction and like to stick together…)
Oooh that’s what I’ve been trying to do! It’s good to see that I’m on the right track, then. Thank you! 😀
You’d have to be careful with names, too, since it’s easier to remember people based on the first letter of their names — with 30 characters, though, several will have names starting with the same letter.
I’ve actually run into this dilemma, and have discovered that I seem to prefer A, J, and K names. I have been trying to use names starting with all different letters.
However, you could also make some of them less important/prominent characters
I think that’s what I’ll have to do for some of them. I’m not sure what you mean by this, though:
An advantage of having pre-developed characters, even if they only show up once or twice, is that you can make them really real and draw the reader into the story (if that made any sense).
INFJ. An extroverted introvert who loves to write and draw.
*disappears into the shadows*
@valtmy I guess “sprawling epic” would be a good phrase to describe my series, yes.
Be clear on who your main characters, supporting characters and minor characters are and which of them you plan to give their own “arc” or “story thread”.
Ah, yes. That gives me an idea of what I need to do. I appreciate all the advice, it is very helpful. 🙂
merging multiple characters into one could add a lot of depth to a single character.
I’d say that most of my characters already have a lot of depth to begin with, but for some, merging might be an option. Thanks, I’ll consider it. 😀
@notawriter Regarding your suggestion, same as above. 🙂For me the best part of any book series is the relationships between characters, I feel like if you have too many fighting for attention or affection readers will be overwhelmed and might not end up being attached to anyone at all.
This is was I was worried about, yeah. I definitely want readers to be as attached to my characters as I am, since I’ll be killing some of them off. *evil laugh* Anyway, you explained pretty well, don’t worry!
INFJ. An extroverted introvert who loves to write and draw.
*disappears into the shadows*
That’s a good analogy, I think I understand.
It would be disappointing to spend a book getting attached to one character, and believe they’re going to have an important role in the next book, only to find they make a small appearance, and don’t contribute much to the overall plot.
My goodness. xD I don’t think I have a problem with that, especially since my beta readers like to joke and say that I never introduce a person into my story (even if they’re just a simple storyteller or pickpocket) without having some sort of conspiratorial scheme in mind that they will be a part of in the future. Maybe that’s part of my problem, but idk…. 😛
@jenwriter17 Thank you so much for the website recommendation! The articles (or whatever they’re called) I read were extremely helpful. I think I may have to delete a few characters and subplots which don’t have an impact on the main story. *looks over at character list and cries* ;-; ( @dekreel )Don’t make every single character have a complete backstory and two or three side plots (unless you’re writing an epic) and make sure they don’t all have the exact same personality.
I have tried hard to create distinctive characters with all different personalities and backstories, though like I mentioned before, I have observed similarities in some backstories and I fear that I’ll have to change them. 🙁
In general, if you can easily remember all of them, you’re probably fine. If you consistently miss some, you probably have too many.
Yeah, I can easily keep track of my characters. xP
INFJ. An extroverted introvert who loves to write and draw.
*disappears into the shadows*
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