Is it possible to have too many main characters? There are a good bit that will be killed off later in my WIP, but I'm wondering if some need to be axed soon or scaled down to a background 'supporting' role. If it came down to it I know how to 'downstaff' my dramatis personae, but playing Trump isn't always fun. I love every character I've created and dislike having to reduce or eliminate them entirely to streamline my story. But if for the greater good, then I must. I know they would eventually be killed off later in the story, but it was the way it flowed.
Trying to downstaff my cast of characters has caused me to combine some and to multiply others. It's great and fruitful, but an overabundance can be counterproductive. I guess my executive self will have to make that hard decision no matter how my subordinate self feels, weeding out the weakest links. I'll reduce as many as I can, but feel that others will be eliminated totally. Another day in the life...
I think it depends on where you plan to publish. If you plan to self-pub, you have more freedom, but if you plan to go the traditional route, then those rules for characters are a bit stricter. :)
ReplyDeleteI found I had to combine a few characters during a rewrite, too, because they were basically carrying out the same function. It can be hard for readers to keep track of too many characters, but you'll have to decide what's right for your story.
ReplyDeleteGabrielle- I'm still unsure about that. I'm mainly focused on finishing for the time being, though I'm starting my fact-finding mission. I really appreciate your input, being published and all. Congrats, again.
ReplyDeleteLGS- I know what you mean. I found with several characters that I made even more which negated the process. It's terrible being your own worst enemy. lol
In 'The Stand' Stephen King set off a bomb because he had too many. I thought that was a great solution.
ReplyDeleteI have a novel sitting in a drawer with eight POV characters. It's been in the drawer about five years now. I wonder if I'll ever get back to it.
When I decided to eliminate a character from my story that I had a particular fondness for, I simply 'saved' him for a future work. I felt good about doing the hard thing, yet still have my character 'waiting in the wings'.
ReplyDeleteI tend to gravitate toward long and involved novels..(ask anyone who knows me...It's a sickness Ha! But even I need a flow chart to keep track of what's going on in War and Peace, my current read in progress. At times,the sheer volume of characters hinders my enjoyment of a story I otherwise quite like. ~ Nadja
Mike- I loved 'The Stand', and agree that King's bomb was brilliant.
ReplyDeleteNadja- I've also swapped characters from story to story to 'save' them. I'm with you on long and involved novels. I love intricate and complex stories.
I always find I end up with 3 or 4 main characters in my books and always worry that I have too many. But if it works for the story, then it works.
ReplyDeleteHappy to be a new follower!
Thanks for following, I'll be doing the same. My number of main characters is about 28 so far. I'm kind of wondering if it's a little high.
ReplyDelete28 view point characters might be a little much for a single novel. I've done somewhere between 6 and 10 before though --and most of them survived.
ReplyDelete28 is epic! I wouldn't be able to keep track of all of them. Perhaps you can write a post about how you keep track of all your characters.
ReplyDeleteTaryn- I've been trying to reduce that number to about half to start. So far it's been rather challenging since they're all essential to the story.
ReplyDeleteVR- When I first started my story years ago I had 57 main characters, and it was fun really keeping track of them.