valhalla

sorry to ask such a stupid question,but i really have this problem:
i have,right now,four characters,more or less main.that is,fully developed.i'd really like to add two more,but would that be too much?
thanks for your time

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In the beginning, the universe was created. This made people very angry, and was widely regarded as a bad move.

TimK

Well, Mike Stackpole says one character per 30,000 words. So 4 would be on the high side already for a novel. He recommends 3 viewpoint characters for a 100,000-word novel.

-TimK

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lisajane

I say as many characters as needed, just make sure you need them all and it's not confusing for the reader.

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JPPLAY

Make it easier by giving them names people will know. If they have exotic names readers will not be able to follow as well. I hate books where you have three pages at the start of just the characters names and who they are.

Rhea

I don't think it's too much but make sure the reader doesn't get confused. Personally I prefer fewer characters, but Lord of the Rings has quite a lot of main characters and I love that book.

Nickie

I think it's not the number of characters that may be confusing, but just the way the novel is written. When written well, the reader will easily follow and never confuse one character with another.



Nickie

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elizabeth_472

Six would probably be too much for main characters. I'd have about 3 main characters maximum. However, if they aren't main, I'd say go for it. Lots of characters make the story more interesting.

kellykat60409

I would have one character that is the main focus, and gradually add in the other, but have the main one still the focus point. but that is just my opinion

kalibantre

If you ever get confused within your story you've got too many.

I tend to keep my stories fairly simple. that said my graphic novels range from 2 main characters to seven I think so, it all depends.

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AnalisDestiny

As many main characters that you can write with and it still makes sense.

There isn't a real law, and if there is people break it anyway. It just comes down to whether the writer is comfortable, and whether the reader can still comprehend.

Lord of the Rings was a good point (Nice job Rhea), and look at Charles Dickens! This are books that have been around for a very long time and are still read today even with the amount of characters they have.

Dephere

Well considering that one of the most famous books ever (War and Peace) has about 30 main characters, I'd say six isn't bad.

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Talia_Brie

Without knowing the genre etc, it is hard to say how many are too many. Something to consider though is how quickly you introdiuce them. Are you whacking the reader with 4 main characters all in the 1st 20 pages? If so, that's too many.

It really is a matter of answering the question, "Are the readers going to be able to follow these characters?"

I had an agent read one of my books and they said I introduced too many characters at the beginning (around 10 over 2 chapters, but all but 2 of them were horribly mutilated by the end of the passage).

Also, maybe define what a main character is. A main character, in my view, carries their own story, which supporting characters assist with those stories. Are these all main characters? Maybe they are. Robert Altman seems to be able to do it, so why not?

Just decide if the collection of characters you have is too confusing for the reader. If not, feel happy and proceed.

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CroZ

Soap operas can have more than 30 characters, and usually every character is equal to one another with no one main character, so I guess if you can work out how to write so it dosent get confusing then any number would be alright.
But really the reader would have to understand that you're trying to write like that on purpose, or they'll just pass it off as sloppy writing.

You could also have different characters on different sides -
five good guys
five bad guys

So then they'll know where each one is ...
If one bad guy is speaking you'll know he's talking to the other four bad guys because the good and bad don't hang around together unless they're fighting each other.

Ubeenbinladin?

Read Thomas Pynchon's "Gravity's Rainbow" that has too many characters...

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ODaley

I agree with the others that state that if a reader is confused while reading your work, there's too many characters. If you can, have someone critique it. If they're confused, you will know a change is needed.

Also, a pete peeve of mine are characters that have similar names. Unless there's a reason behind the similar names, I suggest having distinctly different names for your characters. That's just my opinion, though.