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><\/p>\n
I discussed a similar question about a year ago, in my post of June 23rd, 2010, so you may want to look at that.<\/p>\n
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:<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Bartholomew – Fourteen, narrow face, narrow shoulders, small for his age but no one dares tease him because he\u2019s master of the secret revenge, ninth grader studying masters-level physics. Son of Abigail\u2019s boss.<\/p>\n
Christopher – sentient lizard, three inches long, brown-and-green scales, Abigail\u2019s pet although she is unaware of his special powers.<\/p>\n
And so on, offering the information that you, the author, want the reader to know.<\/p>\n
The advantage is that you don\u2019t 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\u2019s made an entrance. Of course, as the story progresses, the characters won\u2019t remain static. The author still has to develop them, and the thumbnails don\u2019t cover very much.<\/p>\n
The disadvantage is that the reader has to thumb back and forth until he gets to know the characters. Some don\u2019t mind this; I\u2019m not fond of it. On the other hand, an e-reader, which I have no experience with, may make this jumping around a snap.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s fixed in the reader\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
But if you prefer standard storytelling, I\u2019d 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.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s trying to remember the people along with the reader, so she\u2019s thinking, I met Ken and Karen in the kitchen. Look at that! Two K\u2019s 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.<\/i> Toni stays with them for a while and gets a deeper impression of each, which she passes along to the reader.<\/p>\n
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!<\/i> Beryl reveals secrets about the host that she shouldn\u2019t. Toni and the reader are put off by her lack of discretion.<\/p>\n
You tour Toni from room to room through the party, introducing characters. You\u2019ve done a great job. When the chapter ends, the reader has a fix on everybody.<\/p>\n
The problem is that if Karen doesn\u2019t show up again until four more chapters go by, your reader may recognize her name and may remember that she\u2019s Klutzy Karen, but little else. Your hard work in the first chapter was wasted.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The advantage of a first-time meeting is that you don\u2019t need an excuse to describe the new character. Toni will be paying particular attention to someone unfamiliar. She\u2019ll notice Abigail\u2019s erect posture and perfect speech. However, if she\u2019s known Abigail for three years, you\u2019ll have a harder time revealing these traits. You\u2019ll need a hook. You can have Bartholomew comment on Abigail\u2019s characteristics, if he\u2019s 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\u2019s 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.<\/i><\/p>\n
If you bring characters in only as they\u2019re needed, the new entries will be fresh when they appear. Some may be necessary only for a scene or two, and you don\u2019t have to burden the reader with remembering them from an earlier point in the story.<\/p>\n
In the comments that followed my recent post called \u201cFoggy First Page\u201d I was surprised at how many people are untroubled by ambiguity, so I wouldn\u2019t worry much about starting new characters in the middle of your story. A common writer\u2019s maxim is: Trust the reader. If Bartholomew barges into Abigail\u2019s work cubicle ranting about Chaos Theory, the reader will probably be willing to wait to understand him and his role in the story.<\/p>\n
As for character-developing scenes, I suggest you reveal your other characters\u2019 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\u2019s emotional growth isn\u2019t important to him, it doesn\u2019t matter how her character evolves. You don\u2019t want to distract the reader from the thrust of your tale.<\/p>\n
A few prompts:<\/p>\n
\u2022 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.<\/p>\n
\u2022 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.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Make a cast-of-characters list for a story you\u2019re 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?<\/p>\n
\u2022 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.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Toni is twelve years old. She\u2019s just been taken to her new foster home. It\u2019s dinnertime, and she\u2019s meeting the characters in her new, large family. Write the scene and as much that follows as you like.<\/p>\n
Have fun and save what you write!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[171],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=165"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":443,"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165\/revisions\/443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}