There's an old writing adage, I believe from Raymond Chandler, that says if you're stuck have a man with a gun enter the room. What made me think of this? I just finished reading John Grisham's "The Broker" and I was struck by the fact that every time the story slowed he tossed in another character, and not all of them had guns or even a good reason for being in the story.
Which brought me to wondering about how many characters do you really need in a story? For flash, the rule of thumb is two, maybe three tops. And yes, I've seen it done with more and it worked but I've also seen it fall flat on its face. Shorts, depending on length, you can probably get away with three to five.
Now some novels are populated to the point of being an entire city while others keep the character numbers well under a dozen. What's your preference when reading? Do you like a lot of characters or do you get lost trying to keep track of them.
7 comments:
I found that if the amount of main characters goes over 4 (be they singular or a family unit), I have a tendency to lose interest.
Among the many reasons I gave up on Robert Jordan and his Wheels of Time book series, was the fact that he had too many main characters (about 15 I believe) for the reader to keep track of.
I thought it was just me, G! I ususally give up on a book if there becomes too many characters and if their names are to similar. Nice to know I'm not alone!
You need three characters. The first two create the conflict, while the third is the Trickster who ... well ... moves the plot in a new direction. That third character btw can be the weather, or the geology, or ... the City we are in. Three characters give you options.
Great advice, Fred!
When it comes to characters in a story... less is often more! Unless a book is divided in to parts (Jake Arnott's THE LONG FIRM, for example), five or six works for me... more, and I start to lose track... followed by losing interest.
I like your rule of thumb, Sandra... using story length as a guide. (and, another little yellow Post-It goes up on the corkboard!)
Good advice from Fred too!
It's a place to start. Veronica, the story itself will let you know if you need more characters or not.
Yes, a start. That's a good point, Sandra... as the story progresses, it will tell you what it needs.
When I wrote my first flash fiction story, PENANCE, I had three characters in mind. By the time I finished, there was a total of seven... a lot for an 800 word flash fiction, yes? But, that is what the story "asked" for. I believe it worked because the story was divided into three "chapters", so to speak, and there were no more than three characters in each "chapter", avoiding (hopefully) clutter and confusion.
And, that "falling flat on its face" thing... :)
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