Storyline's - How much is to many? - Page 2 - Writers Forum

Shianra · 06-25-2004, 07:14 AM

oh yes, i always love the villans too! They're always so uber-sexy and evil.

sweet.

hehehe

Gladiator_008 · 08-09-2004, 12:31 PM

Believe me, if you have a lot of plots, it won't really make it confusing unless you really make it confusing on purpose. For me, I wrote a book where there are three main plots and about five or six mini-plots in the background as it all happened and it wasn't confusing whatsoever. The characters did what they had to and everyone came out in the end with a reasonable ending.

Too many stories in one story is nothing to worry about, because if you can juggle all of them and come out in the end, you're truly a good writer.

gabriella · 08-09-2004, 02:20 PM

Hunh, I just realized that I have something to say that's relevant to the main question

Nope, you can never have too many story lines, just so long as they all tie into one main thing.

"Eric wants to take over the world thing" is the main plot in my novel. In order to stop him, I have a gang of people (Brandon, Mei, Jaysel, Max, Trixie, Lo'ri) who are heading straight to his castle - that's one spoke of the wheel. Malaline has to reclaim her country and her people from the control of the Orcs. Casmir needs to unite all of HIS country, othewise nobody stands a chance against Eric's army. Celena is trying to prevent the elves from rallying against Eric, too. More spokes on the wheel.

Brandon and Eric are the two main characters though, even though Malaline, Celena, and Casmir get at least ten chapters each strictly for them, even though they have no relation to Eric or Brandon - but I need them to show how their continent managed to unite and raise an army that's actually a threat to Eric; and Jaysel and Mei get a few chapters too.

But, like I said, so long as they ALL are relevant, necessary, and lead to the main plot, keep 'em, and don't be shy to add more (but the more you add, the more pages you have to add in order for the reader to understand what the heck is going on.)

Also, listen to what Kat said. That's wonderful advice. Better yet, if it's fantasy, make them different races - that way it'll be easy for the reader to forget about Bobby the human, and focus on Willy the Elf. But the distinct personalities is most important - for example, when I was reading Lord of the Rings, I was never able to distinguish Merry from Pippin. After a while, I gave up.

stiltzkin · 08-09-2004, 05:08 PM

Having a complex string of storylines can be a truly gratifying experience for both the writer and the reader - BUT - I remember I was writing a story once with several characters having several storylines that often interweaved and my god did all that go horribly wrong! Correlating all the facts about character's previous meetings etc was more time consuming than it needed to be, tweaking the story to make sense and balancing the pace was difficult.
If you're planning on juggling more than 3 or 4 main characters then I'd advise making a quick-reference guide to ur characters as you go along - something which I've learned makes my life so much easier than having to back-track through pages.

Novicewriter · 08-09-2004, 05:17 PM

I think it really matters on the story you're working on. I personally like to keep it to one plot....but sometimes I will have several sub-plots in the stories I write. Again, it all depends on the kind of story you're writing.

Twiddler · 08-10-2004, 01:44 AM

I have like...three seperate "journeys" for my first book in the series. Each has their own main characters and such. For instance...one story line is the journey of Omar Fradoo (An egyptian magi), and Rasheem Haffoo (An abethian(Half-zombie arab dudes) camel herder), and the people they meet with. The second, is about Dex Keeper (A yolkum (A race of genius eggs) and son of Buk Keeper, the librarian of the Library of Degaudz), Twiddler, the Funky Fish (A superhero shark), Funzo (A clwon. Not much else.), and Timtim (A dwarf pirate with a, with a, with a, with a speech impediment), plus the people THEY meet. The third is about the Wow family (fucked up genetics, is all I am gonna say.), and the people they meet. Eventually, all the journey's end at the same place; Lord Mef (A shapeshifting psychic with a love for orange juice).'s castle where, for the second time in the history of Warth, Pandora's Box is opened, and demons are unleashed. All that is just for the first book. Yep. Gotta love it, eh?

MisterRaziel · 08-10-2004, 02:28 AM

My background's mainly in short stories, so I like simplicity.

I'll take Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series as an example: There are something like twelve main characters who used to travel together, but now they're scattered all over the world, and the story jumps between them. I could do without it. Unless the author is going to hit me with a real zinger once the characters come back together, I really don't want to have to remember what traumatized one character in his youth, which will come back to haunt him only if he's in the same room as another character on a tuesday.

MisterRaziel · 08-10-2004, 02:31 AM

My background's mainly in short stories, so I like simplicity.

I'll take Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series as an example: There are something like twelve main characters who used to travel together, but now they're scattered all over the world, and the story jumps between them. I could do without it. Unless the author is going to hit me with a real zinger once the characters come back together, I really don't want to have to remember what traumatized one character in his youth, which will come back to haunt him only if he's in the same room as another character on a tuesday.

gabriella · 08-10-2004, 07:09 AM

Quote:

(Twiddler's Entire Post)

I NEED to read that book.

NOW.

So finish it. Quick. Please.

Twiddler · 08-10-2004, 07:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gabriella

Quote:

(Twiddler's Entire Post)

I NEED to read that book.

NOW.

So finish it. Quick. Please.

Heh heh heh.....but THAT would mean that I'd have to stop working on all the background stuff for it, wouldn't it? Mmmm.....probably.

And, if ya want a REAL good scope of how big my novel's are gonna be, check out this list of all the character's introduced in the first four chapters (as well as the prologue.)

Character Introduction List.

Prologue: Maximus “Max” Gluttinous, Jeff McMefferson, Omar Fradoo, Mike the Mummy.

Chapter 1: Rasheem Hafoo, Ol’Betsy, Joe, Lord Mef, Holes, Kunal, Hermie, Carcer Corkins, Songbot, The F.B.T.S., Wunkul Arub, Ol’Gadoo, Rahj Hafoo, Cori the Gecko.

Chapter 2: Fuzznot the Seagull, Buk Keepar, Dex Kepar, Funzo, Limbo, Mayor of Degaudz, The Boutman, Smuggins, Captain SmallJaw, Da Crew, Murlene Smalljaw, Timtim SmallJaw, Agent Red, Agent Lime, Twiddler the Funky Fish, Nitro the Retarded Whale, Levarthon, King Wetinarc, The Slimnubs, Ducky Prawns.

Chapter 3: Shirli, Stevi, Ingie, Skeldler, The Wow family (except the females; so…14 characters), Snarfum the Emu, Phugene Senior, Phugene Junior, Jacki, Zara, Auntie Wow, Summerbreeze, The Elf Sisters (Deadleaf, Amadicia, and Westwinds), Jalgard, Markee, Sonsh, Meowzor, Croznust.

Chapter 4: Were-Pope, General Roach, Seargent Bugrot, Hairzu the Mystic, Tek Nickel, Doug the Hippo, Greg the Singing Mole, Sparten Terry 69, Ghost of Max, Mikel the Third, Sheriff Adrian Dimneedles, Fraken (aka. Demon Kunal), Big Bubba Lizaedi, D-Dog.

.....and this is a list of the main races and sub-races.

Main Race: Dwarves

Sub-Races: Fra'gor, Red Dwarves, Mountain Dwarves, Dwarven Pirates, Black Dwarves, Zwarfs, Blawrfs, and Aquarfs.

Main Race: Nig'Dun

Sub-Races: Were-Wolves, Mummies, Ghouls, Ghosts, Vampires, Spiderog, Frankeths, and Banshees.

Main Race: Elves

Sub-Races: Shadow Elves, Mag'gun, High Elves, Dark Elves, Wood Elves, Half Elves, Sand Elves, and Sea Elves.

Main Race: Halflings

Sub-Races: Pickpockets, Assassins, Marshlings, Rangers, Maw'gork, Hobbits, Icelings, and Petalings.

Main Race: Humans

Sub-Races: Abeths, Avereths, Flam'dur, Nabidians, Barbarians, Hagorpes, Mutarnes, and Gigantes

Main Race: Spriggs

Sub-Races: Fungothi, Succulens, Blackbarks, Weearden, Bloominks, Garessecks, Pinereths, and Petarns

Main Race: Neliath

Sub-Races: Rumorians, Murmoths, Giberules, Parobels, Nurmels, Alpharbs, Probunes, and Extrorths

Main Race: Ogres

Sub-Races: Swamp Ogres, Tundra Ogres, Frz'Ok, Vol'Og, Mer-Ogres, Ogre Merchants, Demolishers, and Farogs.

Main Race: Trolls

Sub-Races: Bridge Trolls, Marsh Trolls, Bezerkers, Froz'shar, Se'gan, Troll Firestarters, Tronights, and Festrolls.

Main Race: Gnomes

Sub-Races: Tinkerers, Alchemists, Scientists, Inventors, Mechanics, Exploders, Toymakers, and Engineers

Main Race: Inanimar

Sub-Races: Snomarn, Mechanor, Garganits, Slimerks, Pereffts, Narcneets, Yiplaths, Nognars, Colomians, Rimaltes, and Quimpetens.

Main Race: Edibars

Sub-Races: Filats, Mazians, Ifruts, Rydai, Greds, Gevlabs, Serdesets, Qursinks, Chandips, Shecrips, and Mindonctems.

Main Race: Demons

Sub-Races: Carracitos, Misseliks, Blardens, Hurgos, Wingerolens, Knigstorens, Wreckarens, and Norgamels.

Main Race: Goblins

Sub-Races: Fire Goblins, Shard Goblins, Fernlins, Froblins, Hob-Goblins, Boomers, Arcelins, and Gizblins.

Main Race: Mammalar

Sub-Races: Elkanor, Jangurs, Ayilpes, Dretons, Squeabs, Rookanang, Phrunkeles, Sewalrels, Hoporsy, and Rashelams.

Main Race: Saurians

Sub-Races: Beoks, Elgewins, Honighwl, Odibums, Tropirot, Curmerics, Quonds, Domestor, and Peticheps.

Main Race: Amphiles

Sub-Races: Geckars, Mewantes, Groats, Turorts, Crogalltors, Snerpits, Zardils, and Naguais.

Main Race: Buzzorith

Sub-Races: Wourms, Flibuns, Pillapeds, Bitles, Smoriths, Spwars, Bezubs, Scronips, Hograps, and Ligubs.

Main Race: Aqurgians

Sub-Races: Shakrels. Bwhoules, Puctocts, Temeenas, Dolpoise, Karulsts, Marnteles, Smavish, and Larvish.

Yep. Huge as hell, ain't it?

Twiddler · 08-10-2004, 05:41 PM

Bump.

gabriella · 08-11-2004, 07:38 AM

Shhh, keep it down... you're embarassing my poor assemblage of races.

Twiddler · 08-11-2004, 07:43 AM

Sorry! Oh...did I mention that some of the sub-races have sub-races, as well?