1. Nicholas Moser

    Nicholas Moser Banned

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    How many characters

    Discussion in 'Character Development' started by Nicholas Moser, May 17, 2021.

    I am mostly going with the flow since my story is based on historical events still unfolding. I knew that I ought to limit the number of characters to avoid the reader getting bogged down and interest. Long sagas like Lord of the Rings introduce story elements and characters as the story unfolds. I just fear that if I leave a character or two out and introduce them later, I will forget about them. So far I have;

    Robert “Bobby” Krauss, Matthew “Matt” Kenney and David Quintero Jr.; Steve Edward Branch, Christopher Byers and Michael Moore (WM3 case) DECEASED
    Henry Ray Wayne (who so far is unidentified): John Wayne Gacy, Dean Corrll, Westley Allan Dodd Wayne Williams, Jeffry Dahmer, etc. Maybe Otis Toole?
    Kyle Cooper: Johnny Gosch
    Jerry Castellanos: Paul Bonacci
    Jonathon and Sherry Cooper: John Gosch Sr and Noreen Gosch.
    Jacob Schächter: Francis Sheldan, Lawerence E. King, Jeff Epstien, John Norman, Jerry Sandusky
    Andrew Westwood: Ghislaine Maxwell, Bill Gates, Gil de Rais
    The Collectors: The Finders cult


    Later in the Story, I will incorporate characters based on John Podesta, George Bush Sr., Joe Biden, Ottis Toole, Henry Lee Lucas, Charles Ng, Leonard Lake, and many many more.


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    Last edited: May 17, 2021
  2. Nicholas Moser

    Nicholas Moser Banned

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    The name of the Collectors (who are based on The Finders) comes from a late-Sixties British Thriller novel that has inspired the heinous crimes of Leonard Lake and Charles Ng



     
    Last edited: May 17, 2021
  3. Nicholas Moser

    Nicholas Moser Banned

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    Also Phillip Paske
     
  4. DK3654

    DK3654 Almost a Productive Member of Society Contributor

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    What exactly do you want us to help you with here? Something about how many characters you should have, but what are the parameters here? What's the difficulty you're having that's leading you to make this thread? What are you looking for?
     
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  5. Nicholas Moser

    Nicholas Moser Banned

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    I dont think I am asking the right questions but not sure which ones should be asked and which ones ought to be forgotten
     
  6. madhoca

    madhoca Contributor Contributor

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    You need to decide what you are going to focus on. When you find that, obviously any "characters" you mention will be those necessary to the exposition. You wouldn't need to include any random people that are irrelevant...
     
  7. Kalisto

    Kalisto Senior Member

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    It's hard to say how many characters are needed to tell a particular story. Some stories benefit with relatively few main characters and others benefit from a relatively large mix of main and side characters. There's no particular hard number you can slap on a story and say, "Hey that's the magic number of characters" but there sure are ways to tell when you might a few too many.

    And I'm mostly talking about main characters and characters you've designed to have a meaningful place in the story. I'm not speaking about minor characters or incidental characters.

    1) The characters are not or no longer contributing anything meaningful to the story. Characters have to actually do something meaningful for the plot in order for them to be relatable to the audience. When characters only exist to be another head in the ensemble or to fill out some kind of diversity checklist, they no longer are relatable and you might want to consider relegating them to minor or incidental character.

    2) Characters are all the same person with a different coat of paint. There are three pillars to character development and that's goals, motives, and conflict. And then there's the arc which not every character needs, but most main characters should have. If the characters have nearly identical goals, motives, conflicts and a similar of not the same, character arc, then these characters are essentially the same person. This can sometimes work well in certain contexts, particularly in short stories where the themes and morals are more important than the characters, but not in longer works like novellas and novels. And very much no in entire book series.

    Now, this sounds pretty daunting. Do I really expect you to break down your characters like this and analyze them? No! I don't! Particularly if you're in the middle of a rough or 1st draft. But here is a good question to ask yourself if you have a good foundation in creating distinct and unique characters: Do my characters ever disagree? And if they do, what over?

    If the answer is "No" then your characters are probably the same and you should consider either adding areas they should disagree or just getting rid of one of them. If the answer is "Yes" but what they only disagree about is silly, trivial things, like who cooks breakfast or who gets to ride the mule to the next town, then you have two of the same characters trying and failing to be different. People with different personalities and different characteristics are going to disagree. Somewhere. This is especially true in the face of conflict and when the stakes are real. It's not always going to be catastrophic to their relationship, but they will disagree.

    3) They're not fun anymore. This is probably the most important metric of them all. If you don't find any enjoyment in a particular character, then you need to ditch them. If your dialogue is tedious to write because you're trying to include everyone, take some characters out! Combine some. Relegate them to minor or incidental characters. Whatever. Just don't attempt to force characters that aren't working for the story.
     
    Last edited: May 25, 2021
    Nicholas Moser and Xoic like this.
  8. Luis Thompson

    Luis Thompson Banned

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    I absolutely agree with you. very deep thoughts that respond within me.
     

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