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)?

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.

The Home of one of the Most Beloved Characters of All Time

221b Baker Street, London

Welcome to the home of Sherlock Holmes

Holmes' Violin

Dr. Watson's Desk

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.