Dealing With A Large Cast

One of the things I have always found challenging is dealing with a large cast of characters. Unfortunately, all my books tend to have a large cast of characters. Even after eliminating several, there are still plenty of people. They are not necessary. Each one is supposed to add something important to the story. Each one is supposed to contribute to the growth of major character(s). The key words here are: supposed to. When I think of the plot, I have some clear scenes in mind where these characters are important. Those are the scenes that go in the outline. The difficulty then is to tie these characters all around the story, and not just have them disappear after the first scene. I always get confused about where to set the scene? If there are several characters, and if they are just sitting around, talking, that would drag the story. And yet, what kind of action scenes can I possibly create with these characters? The importance of these characters often comes from the things they say to the main characters, or the things they do to the main characters, and this is more often emotional rather than physical. So all the more difficult to show with action scenes. Having too many people in one scene is a common problem for me. Unfortunately, I am still figuring out how to fix it, and how to handle a large cast of characters without turning the scene into a circus or a set of a soap opera. How about your cast of characters? Are they small, medium, big? How do you deal with LCS (large cast syndrome)?

Changing Characters Names

You think about names, like you are expecting to name your own child. You troll through baby-name websites, look through baby name books, try to come up with weird and wonderful names, and suddenly something clicks. The name fits the character.

Sometimes, the whole character starts with a name. Oh so you are John and that's what you are like. That happens to me a lot.

What the hell do you do then when months later - when you are so used to thinking of John as John - that you realise that if you have John as a hero, you really shouldn't have Jane as your heroine? Or if you have a John, you shouldn't really have a Ron. You know what I mean. Following all those unwritten rules about making character names different.

This has happened to me a few times when either major characters have similar sounding names, or they all start with a same letter. And I always HATE changing them. Because usually by that time, I have come to think of them as people. And people (at least normal people) just don't change their names half-way through their life.

I do change them, because it will be hard enough getting published without giving your agent/publisher a reason to get confused with who is who. But still, it is annoying. And it always takes me a while to find that second perfect name that suits my characters' personality.

The way I deal with it is I decide who are the characters in question. If one of them is a lead and the second one is just some other non-major character, then no contest. The lead keeps his name. But usually (sod's law) I get two major characters with similar names. In that case, I try practicing calling them with different names as I come up with them. And whoever finds another name to suit their personality, gets a new name. Sooner or later, one of them does find a name that they like, so in the end things do work out.

How about you? How attached are you to your characters' names? How do you deal with changing them?

How to make one character MC?

As I have mentioned in few posts before, I am totally revamping my Fantasy WIP 2. But here is the dilemma (some good questions were raised after reading Lady Glamis' post on MCs over at the Literary Lab) - I don't know whether to have one main character or three. I did decide to make the hero my central character instead of the heroine. But the hero will be working with two other people (one of them heroine). All three of them have equal status, and there is a valid reason for three of them being together. But I feel as if having 3 MC is too much. Should I just have the one MC and make the other two simply two major view-point characters? I think one of the problems is that in the first version the heroine was the main character, and I am finding it really difficult to move her down. Her role is important, but the only way to make the hero a main character is to make her less important. (I don't mean important in terms of who she is, but rather what actions she will perform in the story.) Unless I make it multiple MC story. Any suggestions? I can't really think of many good stories (except for literary novels) where there is more than 1 MC. There are great major characters, but in fantasy especially, usually just one main character. All opinions appreciated.

What Gender are the Characters that Speak?

Are your lead characters and/or POV characters, same sex as you? Did you choose that particular POV on purpose? When I first started writing, all my leads were females, but I nearly always used to use multiple POV so the writing would be done from both a male and a female POV. Now, to my surprise, more and more of my men are taking over stories. WIP 2 for example, which has a first draft with the woman as the lead is going to be turned into the man's story. He is going to be the MC. I may use multiple POV - not sure yet - but the story will be a man's. What I have found is that for the most part, it makes no difference. I feel that the exercise of getting into a character's head depends on how well you understand that character, regardless of the sex. But what I do find is that for the most part, I am very reluctant to diminish my female's role as the main character. So I find myself wondering if they could both be main characters. It's very tempting, but quite doubtful, because while many stories may have many major characters, there is nearly always, just one main character. It has to be clear, whose story it is.

The psychology behind that reluctance is quite clear. I am a woman. I like strong, female leads. I like strong male leads too, but I suppose with a female lead, it's somehow feeding the inner dream that hey, that could be me in some alternate univerise, kicking ass (alas, in this life, I can only throw verbal punches.) Though I must say that my male taking over the lead in no way diminishes the strength of the female characters. In fact, most of the time, it's because those poor men must suffer so they have more to tell. How do you feel about switching sexes of your main characters? Does it matter to you whether they are male or female? Whoever has the best story to tell, that's my main character. Regardless of their gender.

Waiting, Waiting, and Waiting Some More...

Not me, it’s my characters that are waiting. Impatiently, I might add, while I get my act together and give them something to do. I am trying to plot a short story for one of my Writers Bureau Assignment, and also plot a Novella. For both of them, I have got main characters, I have got the setting. I even have some conflict, and vague ideas about the beginning. What I do not have is a plot. It is rather frustrating, because I can see these characters sitting there, getting antsy to get some action. None of them are very patient, and none of them like waiting. Occasionally, I have times like this, where things just take their time to fall into place. The best way that works for me is to sit down with a pen and a notepad, and start writing. I start writing what I know, and then keep repeating it in a different way. Once the process gets going, bits and bobs of information start coming in. If I manage to have a good brain storming session then I end the session with much more information than what I started out with. Sometimes the whole plot just comes to me randomly, but at other times, like now, the plot just doesn’t stick. There is no good or bad about either case, because when the plot comes easily, there is usually something else that becomes a pain. In any case, if it goes smoothly, brainstorming is a wonderful process. But if it doesn’t, then it becomes incredibly frustrating. Because I just want things to HAPPEN. So today is the day for making things happen for at least one set of characters. I am devoting entire day (not the evening) to only thinking about them. Ok, sometime, I may have to think about work that I am doing, but for the most part, I think I can keep these people in the background and find something for them to do. So get ready my little darlings, because your days of peaceful lounging are numbered.