How many "main characters" should a story have? - Page 2 - Writers Forum

FMK · 11-22-2007, 08:39 AM

There's really no limit to the number of major characters. Yes, as has been said, it's probably a good idea to focus more on one or two, but that by no means is an advisement to downsize the rest of the cast. I myself love having several major characters, both good and bad. Take my novel-in-progress for example; I have a total of eight heroes, seven anti-heroes, two big villains, one minor villain who eventually redeems himself, and a sort of neutral character who doesn't do much but is still central to the story. And despite this kind of sizeable cast, I'm having no difficulty writing the thing. This is just a realistic number of major characters for my storyline; if I took any of them out, readers would say, "What the hell happened to this story? That's not believable at all!"

But that doesn't mean you should go crazy with character creation. Just as it should be with the length of the story, don't make any more or fewer characters than you need. If you only need a hero and a villain, great; if you need a dozen heroes and a dozen villains, go for it. Whatever makes sense.

dhyre · 11-22-2007, 08:49 AM

Hey,

I see what you're saying and often find myself running into the same problem. When I read works of fiction that I love I always feel like the author has spent months developing their characters, but I have come up with a shortcut because honestly, not everyone has months to spend working up character bio's.

The shortcut is that you remain consistent with each of your characters, I always try to keep a file on what I have written about them. If your character talks and tends to mispronounce something, then make sure you carry that through in everything they say. You may want to know why, but chances are if it is not one of the main characters, protagonist or semi-protagonist or antagionist for that matter, then no one really is going to have the same level of precedent that you set for your characters.

The point is to come across looking like these characters are real people and in fact Jenny does pick her nose when she thinks no one is looking. And by keeping track of everything you have written you do develop a bio and that will help in the editing stages of the novel.

Remember, nothing is written in stone. Even in the final draft you can always go back and change something.

good luck!