How Many
Characters Are Too Many?
Will too many make
readers lose interest?
My critics told me my first novel had
too many characters. My critique group said the same thing, and during the
writing, I actually cut down on them! Even a good friend, who loved the story,
told me she had to take character notes. So on book number two, I made sure
that particular complaint wouldn’t happen again. Guess what? One person said
even that book had too many.
Should authors
worry about having too many characters? I write and read suspense. I have to
agree that sometimes the use of large numbers of characters gets confusing. But
it’s pretty hard to write good suspense or a good mystery with just a few
characters. Remember the Girl With The Dragon Tattoo series? Yikes! If there
were ever books requiring the reader to take notes, those were the ones. A few
of the names were even spelled very similarly. And that series was on the NYT bestseller
list for years.
So
I had to ask myself, what makes a tolerable character list for readers? Why will
they accept dozens from some authors yet complain about too many from authors
with 10 or twelve? Readers—we want to hear from you!
Here
are some ways I’ve learned of to keep your reader abreast of your characters:
1.
Do keep characters’ names different. Avoid names
that sound alike, look alike or begin with the same letter.
2.
If possible, introduce characters one at a time, with
scenes in between the introductions. There’s nothing harder to follow than
getting hit with an entire team of law personnel, for example, at the same
time.
3.
Try not to switch points-of-view within a scene.
This is a basic “rule” of writing style, however, I’ve seen some famous writers
breaking it when doing dialogue between two main characters. Unless you’re in
their league, I’d stay away from it. It’s difficult to do it effectively
without confusing the reader.
4.
Find creative ways to remind the reader of who a
character is and how he fits into the story when he or she hasn’t been mentioned for a
while. Keep in mind every reader won’t be reading the book straight through and
will need to have his/her memory refreshed.
5.
Always be sure each character is necessary to
your story. Characters, like words, may need to be cut if not relevant to the
plot line.
Dear Readers,
As always, I’d love to hear from
you. I hope some of you are enjoying spring! We’re still waiting for it here in
upper Wisconsin. Amazingly, there are still ice-fishermen on the lake in front
of my house, which I’ve heard is going to be a record breaker this year! They
seem to be pulling a lot of fish out of the lake, while the eagles are circling,
patiently waiting for their opportunity.
Have
a wonderful week,
Marla
