posted
I know this is really a preference question but I wanted to see if there was a general consensus here or not on the issue of multiple protagonists in a NOVEL. More specifically, would it bother anyone if a novel held 6 (or so)"main" characters that the viewpoint rotated between? Is it more a matter of how clear the distinction is between voices (chapter breaks, etc.)and whether their stoies are a part of eachother, or do you get annoyed with more than one protagonist in general?
posted
I don't have a problem with it. Yet each protag better have a major part to play with the overarching plot/theme, otherwise, why bother?
A few examples: OSC uses at least 4, possibly more protags, in Shadow Puppets. And Harry Turtledove's "WorldWar" series follows a good dozen or so throughout several books.
As to whether a scene break or chapter is desirable, well that depends on what's happening. Author choice, in other words. Don't worry too much about it.
posted
I wondered the same thing a while ago, and when I asked, people said to use as many as you want.
That didn't really help me out, so I tried to do some general research into the issue.
I didn't look at "rule" books or "how to write" books, I just looked at trends in my favourite books, movies and t.v. shows.
While I found you can generally have as many different named characters as you like, it seems best when there are no more than 6 or 7 deeply pentrated characters.
I found that usually also included both the protags AND the antags; usually at a ratio of 2/3 protags to 1/3 antags.
The longer the work you are creating, the more characters you can introduce over time, as long as your reader doesn't have to focus on all of them at the same time. This can be done by having some of the characters present without being in the lime-light so to speak.
Not sure if that makes sense, but I like the idea of talking about this a bit.
posted
I hope I'm right ... anyway, my WIP has 6 major viewpoint characters, maybe 6 minor ones, and maybe 3-4 that get to be viewpoint characters for one short scene.
Since I was trying to cover a major event from different perspectives, I didn't know how else to do it. Critiquers so far have said, "You sure are giving us a lot of characters to start out with!" like that's a problem, but then added, "but after something like the 4th I got ok with it." I think the cost is that when you get interested in a character, you don't want to have to go to another. (I'm guessing.) Once I got them all set up (the major ones), I dont' think there were problems, since they'd all been introduced . . . except for the problem of remembering! So I tried to drop in reminders of the situations with the prev characters, as in, "Joe worried about Michelle, whom he hadn't seen since their failed experiment," so people wouldn't say, "Michelle? Am I supposed to remember a Michelle?"
OTOH I tried to read Crichton's latest, about bad environmentalists. He kept flipping between characters, none of whom I really liked, too many of whom were middle-aged white men with names starting with M, and I had to put it down. Maybe a good rule is: if two characters are hard to distinguish, maybe you don't need both?
I write so much about this because I was a little nervous having so many viewpoint characters.
posted
Gee, I hope having multiple viewpoints isn't bad. Two of the stories I am working on now switch viewpoints between two or three characters (protags and antags).
Posts: 579 | Registered: Mar 2004
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posted
As readers do you mind expanding your sympathy to many characters, or does it feel like you are just dividing it up?
My thing is, I fall in love with my characters and can't see straight as a writer. I didn't want to delve into my novel and go crazy. For me, I am trying to restrict to characters that are integral to the main plotline. I agree with HSO that it would seem pointless to detail minors. Others may take a viewpoint here or there, but it will be to continue the story flow and to shed more light on the protagonists. So, I am not talking viewpoint characters because these can be anyone really, though that is obiously a tool to point out key players. My thing is, I worry about too many hogging the spotlight-- My readers sympathy getting stretched thin, so to speak.
Here is when my worry started--I had heard someone mention that one character ought to take the lead, and when I started making my character sketches, I thought..."I don't want to pick just one" because I will miss out on this guy or that girl, and it is them combined that makes the story flavorful, and they make the end together, not just one or two in paticular. Anyway, that is where this sprouted from. I am glad I wasn't the first to worry about this, Robyn_Hood. I should try collectiong some examples of my own.
perhaps I should be more concerned about making those characters interesting, and as you said, wbriggs, making sure none of them are near copies of eachother, or stereotypes.
[This message has been edited by catnep (edited March 16, 2005).]
posted
I think 'length of story' is an important consideration when dealing with POV characters. But otherwise, just write it out however it feels natural. Add everything you want to put in, and every character you feel is necesssary.
Later, when editing your story (preferably after a short time has passed since finishing the writing phase), you may find that cutting out those scenes is necessary, or summarizing them in another way would best serve your story. You may also be attempting to lower your word count to meet a guideline... things happen.
There is always the infamous hatrack critique, too, that may set you on the right path.
But don't stifle your creativity by worrying about stuff during the all important writing phase. Just put it in for now. Deal with it later.
That's my advice. All in, decide and cut later. We always have to make hard choices and kill the parts we love. It's part of being a writer, I suppose. Maybe it's why so many famous authors hit the bottle -- they had to cut their favorite parts out and never quite got over it.
posted
The writer Tad Williams has a series of books that have several main characters. Each character had an extremly engrossing plot. It would make me mad when he would switch veiwpoints at some kind of cliffhanger, but then I would get drawn in right away, with the next character. Also, a couple good shows on tv that switch between characters, Law and Order, and The Shield. Each character is recognizable and easy to empathize with (or hate). Posts: 5 | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
I would much prefer to see multiple characters than see one character trying to do too many different jobs. Which I see too frequently.
Posts: 451 | Registered: Dec 2004
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posted
and actually, splitting a single real person down to two distinct characters can have very interesting results. that's exactly where my all-time favorite characters i have ever written came from. myself. i took my own personality and found a way of splitting the elements of it down into two distinct characters.
Slicer is my more outgoing part, he enjoys a little sport (both in the physical sense and in the sense of the cat -- playing with his prey), he has a woman-pleasing complex (as in, he can NEVER bring himself to harm a woman, and he does everything in his power to protect women), and he is not as intelligent as his brother Viniece. in him it is a facet of his person, he IS stupid, in myself i occasionally like to act a fool for the sake picking at someones brains :P
Viniece is the more serious, he does not participate in sporting of any sort, he could care less whether you were female or male, if he liked you, he'd be nice to you, if he didn't, he'd ignore you. Viniece is also something of a genius, but he never does anything to bring it to your attention.
i really love playing them against each other in sibling rivalry, it's fun. it causes me to think of myself in a very different light.
i highly suggest that you try doing something like this yourself if you don't already, it's the recipe for a very dynamic team, because, no matter how much Slicer and Viniece love to pick on each other, when they work together they make a very good team... i mean, unless your own personality is flawed to where you can't get anything done, what better team can there be than yourself? heh
posted
Actually this brings to mind something else I was having a hard time with-- Rounding out characters.
With several I do what you said, dpatridge, about using oneself. Especially with weaknesses I do this since I have the ability to make them more believable. However, I have this one character in paticular that I am not sure what to do with in regards to weakness/flaws. I think I need to get more inside her head, but I am not sure how to do that really. Are there good excercises for that? So far I have been trying to blank my mind of pre-conceptions and interfering thoughts then jotting down what comes to mind when I envision the character.
Maybe I ought to post this on its own line, we'll see. Or perhaps a link to an old thread would help if this has been discussed here...anyone know?
posted
well, one exercise is to recognize a trait in someone else -- perhaps a bad habit -- and make a note of it. Compile a list from people you know if you have to do that... or one of your own.
It doesn't have to be a bad habit, it could be a good one. Then turn it on its ear and make it a weakness.
For instance, what if someone likes a really clean house -- spotless. Nothing wrong with that. But what if it's obssessive compulsive? They can't stand to see anything dirty, ever. If they see a dirty dish, they have to wash it. Well, that could make for an interesting weakness in a protagonist. Superhero needs to save the world, but first, the dishes and laundry need to be done or they'll go mad... oh, the dilemma.
That's one way of approaching weaknesses and flaws anyway.
[This message has been edited by HSO (edited March 17, 2005).]
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