How many characters does it take to solve a crime?

Okay, having just read this response I learned a bit more about your novel. Are you purposefully making it up as you go to avoid plotting too much? Do you want a random feel to the novel? The benefit of plotting the whole thing out would be that you could insert clues etc early on, plan twists in the story, plan to develop your characters etc. For example, you say that your MC brings his girlfriend on board, and you also don't like sidekicks (fair enough - they are not realistic anyway). So how about this: Your MC brings his girlfriend in fully expecting that she will be his sidekick and he will be some kind of genius sherlock type character. He quickly realises that he is not as good as he thinks he is, and his GF is actually smarter than he realised. There is a conflict there as he tries to maintain control over her, but she is right more often than not, and he has no choice but to listen to her - although this often causes arguments. He eventually starts to respect her more, and this brings them closer improving their relationship overall. Other characters could come and go as needed. Perhaps they have a friend who is a whiz with computers. They would often leave him behind when out and about because he stays at home dealing with computer stuff. They would also need someone who knows something about police procedure - and perhaps to get important information on criminals etc. Sometimes journalists are used for this purpose, or an ex-policeman. I suppose what I am saying is that the MC should not be able to do everything himself. He should learn humility and the value of working in a team and learn to be a leader.

 

Of course, I don't want a random feel. This novel is my primary focus at the moment so as ridiculous as it might get I am very committed to doing the best I can with it. I just have never been a fan of plotting and having it work for me. It's just the way I write. I understand some people are really big on plotting and there's a whole debate about it. But I also just know how I work. Either way, I think it's hard not to question your stuff, choices and direction. That's kind of where I am a little.

 

I think it depends on the role they have as the crime unfolds. If some are standing like a lemon in the middle of a part of the action, what are they doing there? What is their purpose? Don't put in a character when you don't have an answer to this question, because readers will pick up on that and it will cost you points with them.

If it helps any, when Agatha Christie wrote her stories she did so backwards. She started with the murder in detail, and used that to guide her on the clues left behind and their significance to the murder, and finish with the beginning, how the detective was brought into it.

 

I think my characters work well together as characters in a story. None of them are useless to the story and I'm not sure why/how you would just have a character standing around for no reason. I worry about a lot of things when it comes to writing, but the more I spend time with this story, the more I realize how much I can play off these characters and how much they really are becoming the story. I do have a character that just slipped on ice and fell in the snow, and I left her there (for now). I think it's good for a writer to continuously ask themselves questions as they are writing, but the reasons my characters are in this story is because those are the people I made up, and for now their purpose in to entertain me. I understand what you're saying, but I don't think you have to have all or even some of the answers before you write. If that were the case I would never write anything. In fact, I don't think I would have ever written anything if I tried to follow your advice. I think more about the editors I try to sell work to than the readers. I'm nowhere near thinking of readers if I ever even get there.

 

Totally understandable. I must admit I also find plotting doesn't always work. I quite like the freedom of writing without a plot. The problem I have personally is that I can end up writing my way into a dead end quite easily. Everyone is different though. If you can hold all your ideas in your head and weave new ideas into your story as you write, then credit to you.