On April 6, 2011, Wendy wrote, …I’m trying to write a story that has a lot of characters, and they all have an important part in the story. But I’m not sure if I need to show my main character meeting them all, or if she should just know them when the story begins. How should I introduce everyone? How specific do I need to be, and how much should I assume on the part of the reader? Would it be confusing for me to throw characters in there without an introduction? How soon should I show character developing scenes for them?
I discussed a similar question about a year ago, in my post of June 23rd, 2010, so you may want to look at that.
Novels, especially ones with an old-fashioned tone, occasionally begin with a list of characters and brief character descriptions, just as you see when you read a play. This device is sometimes used when there are many characters. Might go something like this:
Abigail – Twenty-something, ramrod-straight posture, perfect diction, wholehearted about everything she undertakes, first in a long line of seamstresses to complete her college education, assistant to the comptroller of a manufacturer of sports socks.
Bartholomew – Fourteen, narrow face, narrow shoulders, small for his age but no one dares tease him because he’s master of the secret revenge, ninth grader studying masters-level physics. Son of Abigail’s boss.
Christopher – sentient lizard, three inches long, brown-and-green scales, Abigail’s pet although she is unaware of his special powers.
And so on, offering the information that you, the author, want the reader to know.
The advantage is that you don’t have to introduce the characters inside the story. They can just walk on when their turn comes, again as in a play, and the reader can thumb back to the beginning to find out who’s made an entrance. Of course, as the story progresses, the characters won’t remain static. The author still has to develop them, and the thumbnails don’t cover very much.
The disadvantage is that the reader has to thumb back and forth until he gets to know the characters. Some don’t mind this; I’m not fond of it. On the other hand, an e-reader, which I have no experience with, may make this jumping around a snap.
Since there are no laws of story writing, you can develop your own form. You might give each major character her own scene at the beginning so she’s fixed in the reader’s mind. Naturally, the scenes have to be interesting, and it will help if they connect with the events that follow. Then you can launch the body of the story in whatever POV you like.
But if you prefer standard storytelling, I’d say variety is the key. You can have your main meet one or two of the characters for the first time. The others she may already know.
What I would avoid is a blitz of new characters. If your main, Toni, goes to a party and meets the twelve significant characters all at once, the reader is likely to be overloaded no matter how clever you are at setting them apart. Suppose you arrange it as a memory game. Toni may even see it this way. She’s trying to remember the people along with the reader, so she’s thinking, I met Ken and Karen in the kitchen. Look at that! Two K’s in the kitchen, which starts with a k. Ken was washing dishes and whistling, Clean Ken. Karen dropped the bag of potato chips. Klutzy Karen. Toni stays with them for a while and gets a deeper impression of each, which she passes along to the reader.
A little later, while she waits in the hallway to get into the bathroom, she chats with Beryl. Look at that, Beryl and bathroom, more alliteration! Beryl reveals secrets about the host that she shouldn’t. Toni and the reader are put off by her lack of discretion.
You tour Toni from room to room through the party, introducing characters. You’ve done a great job. When the chapter ends, the reader has a fix on everybody.
The problem is that if Karen doesn’t show up again until four more chapters go by, your reader may recognize her name and may remember that she’s Klutzy Karen, but little else. Your hard work in the first chapter was wasted.
Of course, some characters are memorable whenever they appear. The reader is likely to remember Christopher, the sentient lizard, even if fifty pages go by between appearances – unless your other characters include five other thinking animals. A potential love interest is likely to stand out and be remembered, likewise a character who threatens the safety of your main.
The advantage of a first-time meeting is that you don’t need an excuse to describe the new character. Toni will be paying particular attention to someone unfamiliar. She’ll notice Abigail’s erect posture and perfect speech. However, if she’s known Abigail for three years, you’ll have a harder time revealing these traits. You’ll need a hook. You can have Bartholomew comment on Abigail’s characteristics, if he’s likely to. You can have Abigail herself say something about them, for example, if someone made fun of her, she can tell her pal Toni about the ridicule. Or you can have the traits become temporarily prominent in Toni’s mind, as in, Abigail was freaked. She always talked like every word was worth ten dollars, but today each one was a museum piece. I wanted to hug her, but she was standing so straight and sharp I thought I might cut myself.
If you bring characters in only as they’re needed, the new entries will be fresh when they appear. Some may be necessary only for a scene or two, and you don’t have to burden the reader with remembering them from an earlier point in the story.
In the comments that followed my recent post called “Foggy First Page” I was surprised at how many people are untroubled by ambiguity, so I wouldn’t worry much about starting new characters in the middle of your story. A common writer’s maxim is: Trust the reader. If Bartholomew barges into Abigail’s work cubicle ranting about Chaos Theory, the reader will probably be willing to wait to understand him and his role in the story.
As for character-developing scenes, I suggest you reveal your other characters’ development only in relation to your main. If Bartholomew is your main, for example, and Abigail an important secondary, she will be fleshed out as needed in relation to Bartholomew. If Abigail’s emotional growth isn’t important to him, it doesn’t matter how her character evolves. You don’t want to distract the reader from the thrust of your tale.
A few prompts:
• Christopher the lizard is the main character in a love story between him and – you pick, another lizard or anybody else, a different animal, an extra-terrestrial, a human, an elf. Abigail and Bartholomew are important secondary characters. Write the story.
• Write a cast-of-characters list along with short descriptions of each one. Start a story in which you rely on your list and bring on your characters as if the reader has always known them.
• Make a cast-of-characters list for a story you’re already working on. Rewrite your first three chapters (or as much as you like) relying on the list and not repeating any of the information. Then drop the list and descriptions and put back in only what you need to help the reader identify these characters. Do you find that you have to return your story to its original state, or have you been able to leave some material out? Is your revision leaner?
• Write the party scene I started above. Have Toni meet lots of people and make as many as possible memorable. This may be a lively party, with arguments, food fights, vigorous dancing, whatever.
• Toni is twelve years old. She’s just been taken to her new foster home. It’s dinnertime, and she’s meeting the characters in her new, large family. Write the scene and as much that follows as you like.
Have fun and save what you write!
Rina says:
My upper limit of characters used in one story is 7, and I still don't quite know how I did it. I know that some authors manage a different POV character every chapter or so – they have my respect!
What annoys me sometimes about hastily-introduced characters is if they never grow beyond the first traits… Daniel might get introduced and we learn he likes to use big words, and in all the subsequent meetings, we never know anything about him but the words. So I guess I'm saying, don't reveal everything at once… or else, have something left after you've introduced someone!
Sophie says:
The serendipity of new characters is one of my favorite parts of writing novels; new characters pop in all the time and sometimes surprise me by turning out to be crucial. My issue is keeping track of my characters and making sure that they come back to do something important; all too often, I introduce characters and objects once and never bring them up again, as though they've been lost in the narrative. Any suggestions on managing plot and character threads?
gailcarsonlevine says:
Sophie–I also write about this in my post of June 23, 2010. Take a look and then you can ask a follow-up question if you have one.
From Maybeawriter–For some strange reason, I am yet again having problems posting on the blog…
Thanks April and Mrs. Levine! I do want to clarify something. I hadn't actually written very much of the old storyline yet, as the whole thing is still in a kind of extended planning phase. I wouldn't need to "start over" so much as just "start." Period. It's really just the story itself that's giving me issues…
Grace says:
I have a special place in my heart for fantasies with large traveling parties and I mostly write fantasies with large traveling parties, so this post will really help me 🙂
I've heard another good way to keep characters straight is give them a physical trait that is mentioned whenever they are present to help the reader remember them. J.K. Rowling is great at this. We know we're reading about Professor Quirrel when we read about someone wearing a turban. We know we're reading about Snape when we read about a character with greasy black hair. We know we're reading about Dumbledore when someone wearing half-moon spectacles is mentioned- and so on…
The Westing Game, by Ellen Raskin (one of my favorite books) is a mystery with 16 main characters, so there are 16 suspects. She did a phenominal job at introducing them all and keeping them unique and seprate. I still remember the names of all of the characters though It's been 2 years since I've last picked up the book.
Thanks for the post, Ms. Levine. 🙂
welliewalks says:
I liked this post- it had a lot of variety and good ideas! Thank you!
@ Grace- I liked that idea, the idea with the mention of J.K. Rowling. I'd like to try it but I'm not sure how to do it without sounding like I say the same thing over and over while a character is in the scene.
gailcarsonlevine says:
From Emma on my website: I tried again, but in case you didn't get it, I'll post it here:
I’ve used objective third person on my MC for the first half of my book so he can slowly learn about the SC’s, but I switch to the OTP POV for one of my SC’s halfway through when she gets kidnapped. After that, I sort of hop from one person’s OTP POV to another. Is POV hopping good or bad?
Emma–My post of August 18th, 2010, is exactly on this topic. Please take a look and post any follow-up questions you may have.
Grace says:
@welliewalk, I don't know exactly how to do this effectively either because I've never tried it. But I think if you establish the interesting physical trait when first describing the character and then sprinkle that description in only a few scenes where the character is present just to remind the reader of the trait (and consequently who the character is), then I think the description is doing its job to place the character firmly in the mind of the reader. You don't have to use the same exact wording each time either.
I'm no expert but by looking at J.K. Rowling's work and the example she created I think this would be a good way to approch using this method if you wanted to try it.
(I hope I'm not being completely vague in my advice:)
Josiphine says:
I have a question for you Ms. Levine:
I'm an aspiring writer and have completed several books. But my problem is making my books book-length. Most people I know say that each time they do a rewrite they cut back so their novel isn't as long. I'm in the opposite predicament. My books are never long enough, a short story, or a novella at a stretch.
Do you have any suggestions about making my books the right length? I know that my plots have enough meat to last…I just can't make them do so.
Do you know what I mean?
And on a entirely different note, any tips on rewriting would be extremely appreciated.
I recently found your blog, even though I've been a fan for years, and really love your advice. I'm carefully reading all the old posts so I can get caught up!
gailcarsonlevine says:
From Emma on the website: Okay, I tried sending this one to you, too, but I'll post it here as well. In my story there are several people with different accents, but how do you write an accent? I tried writing “Vhere em I?” to give someone a German accent, but will readers recognize what words I’m trying to write, and is it correct to misspell words to show that they are spoken with an accent?
Emma–I would say straight out that the person has a German accent and leave it there. If the accent comes from a made-up language, you can misspell a few words to demonstrate and then go back to standard English.
Josiphine–Welcome to the blog! I wrote a related blog post on December 23, 2009, but I have a little more to say, so I'm adding both your questions to my list.
Sophie says:
@Emma:
I second Ms. Levine on misspelling a few choice words to convey an accent. A couple of other things you could try are altering grammar or sentence structure (if your character isn't fluent in English, he/she might not be able to make all their sentences complete or their nouns and verbs agree, for example), and actually inserting words from that language into your character's speech (in your case, German words). This is especially effective when your character is upset, since a lot of people tend to revert to their native language when they're feeling angry.
@Ms. Levine: Thanks!
Kitty says:
This post is perfect for my current project (my Camp NaNoWriMo novel)! I've been trying to figure out how to make the characters more distinguished or memorable. My MC goes to a new school with quite a few interesting people…
I do have a problem though, when I'm trying to write a novel. I leave out details about the setting; I tend to become impatient and sometimes skip over setting entirely. I create the characters, but their world isn't so developed on paper. In my head, I can see it all, but if I let it sit and reread it or have someone else read it, it's more blurry.
Also- to any NaNoWriMo participants: any advice for someone doing it for the first time? I've stayed on the word count thus far, but I get intimidated whenever I read another book…
Thanks!!!
gailcarsonlevine says:
Sophie–Great suggestions!
Kitty–I'm adding your question to my list.
Grace says:
@ Kitty- my advice, don't let yourself get intimidated- you are just as good as anyone on there. Really NaNoWriMo is just mind over matter and your willingness and ability to sleep-deprive yourself. Mostly just shut off your inner-editor. Do NOT edit as you go. Just write. That's all you have to do- just write. Revising will come later. Stick to your plot and ideas like glue, and sort out everything later. Hope this helps 😉
Kitty says:
@Grace- Thanks for the advice!!!
Clara Warford says:
@Emma: In a few books i've read, there has been a person with some sort of speech oddness, and one character had a lisp, and the author wrote every 's' as a 'th'
Thometimeth, it wath hard to tell what they were thaying….
gailcarsonlevine says:
From M.K.B. on my website: Hi,Ms. Levine,
I absolutely love your stories! Before I read your stories I wasn't sure what I wanted to write or if I was going to persue it as a career,but I started reading your books and became a HUGE fantasy fan,and now my dream of being an author is bigger than ever.
I'm sorry I'm putting my questian here,I know that you prefer it on your blog,but I don't have a blog so it won't let me put it on there. Sorry 'bout that.
Um,my two questians are:
1. Sometimes I feel some of my characters don't have enough volume and they don't feel as real to me as some my other characters. I was trying to formulate a system to create characters'do you have any suggestians?
and
2.I'm very use to writting a story in a long,lengthy way so when I go to write a short story I tend to want to add descriptions and tell somethings about my character and not cut to the chase. Do you have any hints to help me tell a story well but briefly?
M.K.B.–I'm adding your question to my list.
lapuce says:
I just finished reading Magic Writing. I wanted to thank you for creating such a helpful book. It gave me some insight and the will to put into action what I have been dreaming since childhood: Writing. My first language being french, I always viewed this as an obstacle but not anymore. I have to jump deep in this sea of possibilities and believe in myself. The end result might not be perfect but it will be my reflection and perception of life. I might or not be published but what matters is to plant the growing seeds of learning. Thank you again for giving all of us the tools in making this more approachable.
Stephanie M.
Nazaret Cuadros says:
Um, I have a question. Why is The Fairy's Return and Other Princess Stories and the Princess Tales Volumes the same?