posted
reiterate who is who if I have devoted paragraphs to intro, thoughts and feelings of each character? Does thay make them more memorable? And how many is too many characters to introduce at once? IF the beginning is an action and it is required for the scene that there are three people present, is that too many to introduce? I have read books by Dickens and he has many many characters in the beginning and I find it hard initially to keep up. Where as Peirs Anthony introduces at least two in the first chapter and most of the time one of those characters isn't beyond the first chapter. I'm confused. Where's the happy medium that makes you want more?
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posted
As long as the story flows with a smooth rhythm then it doesn't matter. In the first 13 of my book (WIP) there are two characters and both are speaking. In the intro, the first two pages, there are three. In the entire first chapter, there are five that have speaking assignments and three that are mentioned by name only.
posted
One serious character sketch when the character is introduced. After that, reminders can come in the form of just varying the way we talk about the character...
Gary went with Alice downstairs...
blah blah
...while her boyfriend made the drinks....
etc
As far as how many characters to introduce at once?
Never more than 2 until those characters are established.
Thats not to say there cannot be more characters present, but if you have ten important characters in the opening scene, pick one or two who will be immediately important and introduce them, the other introductions can follow later as we need to know each character.
posted
There are so many "it depends" in the answer to this question that I don't know where to start...
First, introducing characters IS a matter of action. Devoting paragraphs to introductions is practically worthless, IMHO, because no one ever remembers anything that isn't presented in context. You want me to know who Mary is? Show her kicking an alien's butt as she tries to escape from a maximum security prison on Proxima. James? Isn't he the guy who just werestled a laser from one of the eight-tentacled guard's arms? Peter? There he is ducking behind a wall so he doesn't get shot as he watches Mary and James in action.
Do we know any of their last names? favorfite foods? number of siblings? No, but we have something to build on and that stuff will come, when relevant and important (assuming it ever is).
Now, if you want to introduce ten people right off the bat you're going to have more trouble. They'd better e distinctive and memorable, and it's better if you have a main character, someone we get to know first, better, and who helps us to know the other nine.
posted
I only have two in the first scene and that one really makes an impact. A third is spoken to but only when the first leaves the room.
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posted
It depends on the writer's style, too. I your characters are obviously similar, I will need more reminders. On the other hand, if you have completely different characters you shouldn't need many reminders at all. Case in point, in my story What a Difference a Day Makes, you ahve a very literate alien conversing with a southern redneck. There is very little chance of confusing the two characters.
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posted
BEcause she must give her blood after her son, but before her sister. That and the son wouldn't have come if he'd known she was there, because he wants to kill her.
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posted
tell your story, if you know your characters, the characters will come out in the story. You do not ever really need to define the character or describe them. Their actions in the story will do that...
But, focus on one character at a time...and they might be focusing on another character...So max of 2 main characters in a scene. Its easier to write and easier to read.
If you need more characters, use archtypes. Most readers do not want to get to know 9 new people over the course of one book so use character types they already know.
posted
The above explanation seems unclear, but it's probably because I'm not familiar with the work as well as you are. Just make the reason clear to the reader.
Make sure to avoid this blunder (almost as bad as getting involved in a land war in Asia):
Don't refer to the same character by several different names. So, to paraphrase OSC, if your character is Captain Tim Jones, don't tell us:
Tim walked through the tight-packed halls of the space station, sweat dripping from the captain's nose and forehead. The father of two had worked late into the night before, and Mr. Jones was paying for it today.
Just give us a name, or a station (or whatever's important for the reader to know) and slip the rest in later. And make sure you refer to the MC most often as what you'd like the reader to think of him as (God, what terrible diction)--that is, if you want us to think of him as Captain, call him that. Or if you want us to think of him as Tim, call him that. BUT, only do this in the narrative. In dialogue, he'll be called by whatever name is most appropriate for the speaker--so his underlings will call him Captain, his kids will call him Dad, and his wife will call him Dear. His parents might call him Timmy, but only in a very emotional or tense moment.
This problem increases exponentially for every character you introduce--if you've got six characters in a scene, three of whom are male, you're not going to be able to use "him" or "he" as often as you'd like. So your paragraphs might become jumbles of proper names and vague descriptions (The dark-haired boy said, the blue-eyed boy said, etc.).
Just my two cents, hope this gives you something to consider.
----------- Wellington
[Edit: Proofread, proofread, proofread.]
[This message has been edited by 'Graff (edited January 28, 2006).]
What ever you do don't punish the faithful reader for some reader's ignorance.
I'm reading the WoT series for the first time and am now in book 6 and you have no idea how many times i've thrown the books across the room because of RJ's freaking plodding and repetitve insistance on telling the reader everyone's history towards everyone else.
posted
Matt- I promise I'll try not to do that. I actually try to make it plain who is who when introduced--now, though I haven't in my first work which I have to fix. Thanks for the replies.
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I actually try to make it plain who is who when introduced--now, though I haven't in my first work which I have to fix. Thanks for the replies.
