posted
Do you mean more than one viewpoint character in short order?
Or are you talking about many characters all at once in the first scene?
Both of these have their risks. (And don't forget that there are no rules -- only consequences that may or may not be worth it to you.)
If you introduce too many characters at once you run the risk of overwhelming the reader. In the first case (which I think is what you're talking about), no sooner do I get to know Jack, then all of a sudden Jack is gone and now we're getting to know Jill. I've read books that had half a dozen or more viewpoint characters that were in different locations and had nothing to do with one another. In a few cases, I've stopped reading. The ones that I kept reading either came HIGHLY recommended or else some of the followin was true...
I would say to look long and hard at your plot to see if there is any way you can keep from having to introduce all the POV characters at once with no introduction and no spacing. If it is necessary, then I recommend at least having a tie-in. Make me care about SOMETHING that is consistent throughout -- let's say there was just a terrorist attack and we start the novel by hopping from one character to another, each receiving the news of this attack in his/her own way. So they are clearly tied together by circumstance.
If they don't know what thread ties them together, then I recommend a prologue. Maybe a hurricane is approaching and they don't know it...could make for a neat prologue to get into the eye of the storm and follow its course towards land.
In any even, I would efinitely make sure that each character is unique and written in a very compelling manor. Make me remember and care about each one.
For me, there has to be a logical reason for the switch. Like everything else about the story, it has to seem right. It has to feel like exactly what ought to come next. That's hard to do, especially at the beginning. But if you tie them together somehow so it's a logical progression, then it's ok.
quote:Right now I have them all in the first chapters with little *** so you know that a change is coming.
Those little changes are called scenes, and the normal manuscript device employed to indicate a change of scene is the number, or pound sign: #
[Begin example]
So scene one looks like this and then you are done.
#
This starts scene two and off you go.
[/example]
My understanding is that proper manuscript formatting uses only a single number/pound sign, centered on the page, with one line space above and one line space below. At least, that's how I'm doing it. Major/significant changes go into new chapters.
posted
I would think introducing them in short order should be the way to go---otherwise your lead character won't have anyone to talk to.
I admit confusion over the phrase "leaving a seperator [sic.]." Does that mean they each left a separate location? Did they talk with anyone else in these locations? And aren't they characters, too? Even one-shot one-line characters should have a life...
(By the way, "separate," or its variations, is one of those words I, too, usually have to look up to be absolutely sure of its spelling.)
posted
I don't mind several different characters being introduced in the first chapter, but as others have said they need to have something in common right away, either in a prologue or all sitting and watching the same news broadcast.
I don't like it when two or three characters are introduced and nothing happens and how they don't relate to each other, that's just sad.
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