In the story that I'm planning on writing, I have several different main characters (probably somewhere between 5 to 10), and I'm having a difficult time trying to give them all equal amount of appearances. Any suggestions? The story is similar to the movie Major League, with Charlie Sheen, Tom Brenger, and Corbin Benson, but the story is based on an expansion baseball team. A MLB roster has 25 players on it, but I know it will go more than that because I'll be including other teams' players, front office staff, girlfriends, etc... but I won't be focusing on all of them. Thanks!!
Do they all need equal appearances to tell their stories? You don't need to give them all the same amount of air time. They just need however much time they need to tell their respective part of the story.
Since you mention it, watch "Major League" and keep track of how much screen time the main characters have. I doubt each one was given an equal amount of time. Ditto with main characters. They don't all need equal stage time, just more stage time than the secondary characters (or else they'll be secondary characters, too). If you write the story and find you didn't spend nearly as much time on one main character as on another, well, maybe they weren't a main character after all?
First off, if it is a short story, you should probably tighten it up to one or two plts, revolving around one main character. In a novel, you can take on the challenge of interweaving several plots and characters, although you still should have one central plot. A plot is a character overcoming adversity to attain a goal. A storyline is merely a sequences of events experienced by characters. A storyline ansewers the question, "What happened, and in what order?" but a plot also incorporates, "Why did it happen?" A short story needs to remain focused in a way that a novel need not.
It will actually be a long story, with short quick chapters. It'll take over the entire MLB season, and you know the season is long.
One more question. The story will take place in 2010, so it won't be super future, like flying cars or whatnot. Anyway, since the story is about MLB, do you think I should use real players in my story, or just make up players. Keep in mind, they won't be the main characters nor supporting characters. I just need to include them when my team is playing the other teams. You know what I mean? I'll give you an example: "Mitchell [fake] went into his windup stance, and then released a 92-mph fastball toward home. Albert Pujols [real], a former National League MVP, was in his batting stance. He saw the fastball and took a cut at it. He swung and missed." See what I mean? Should I just use Albert Pujols or make up a player? Thanks in advance
General mentions of players that are likely to still be playing in a year and a half is perfectly fine, but I wouldn't have them as major characters. As for how to give characters equal time, not necessary.
