by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
I always like studying reader reviews of my recent releases to see what readers are saying about my books.
Okay…correction. :) I always study my reader reviews, I don’t always like this process. But reading reviews is vital for me. I’m writing for my readers and they provide an amazing data center full of compliments and complaints. If enough readers are unhappy about some aspect of a story, I will change my approach moving forward. As I explained in my post last week–this is my day-job and my career. I aim to please.
Occasionally, I’ll read something in a review that’s baffling to me and makes me analyze my manuscript again. I discovered one of those types of reviews last week.
The reader (a regular of mine, apparently), mentioned that the book in question had ‘too many characters.’
I found this puzzling because the book had exactly the same number of characters as the rest of my books. All of my books have the same number (and there are plenty). I have 10 recurring characters (including my sleuth and sidekick) and then 5 suspects and 2 victims. This particular book didn’t deviate from that pattern–I’m not a writer that enjoys much deviation.
But looking back over how I handled the introduction to the five suspects and two victims, I saw the difference. The new characters were in a group and I introduced them at once near the beginning of the book.
My usual pattern (again, I’m fond of a pattern) is to open the story with my recurring characters and reintroduce readers to my story world. (In fact, I use a mirroring effect where I both open and close the books with the recurring characters in a similar place and situation.) I then gradually introduce the suspects.
Sometimes I do introduce them all in a group (a book club meeting, a party), but I’m careful to use various ‘reminder’ tags or dialogue clues to help readers keep them straight.
There are tricks I always use to help keep characters distinguishable from the others: quirks, speech differences, physical appearance, and names that are very different from the others (especially important are names that start with different letters).
But my tricks this time didn’t seem to work that well, at least for this particular regular reader. As well, I didn’t use as many of my reminder tags/dialogue clues.
Going forward, I’m thinking I’ll either start with a group of characters or introduce them near the beginning of the book. I won’t do both again. And I’ll make sure to increase the tags if I use either approach.
For further reading, there’s a nice Black Gate post by author M. Harold Page (note his third point on character tagging) and a helpful post from writer Zoe M. McCarthy.
How do you manage a larger cast of characters?
Tips for Managing Crowds of Characters: Click To TweetPhoto credit: Duda Arraes via VisualHunt / CC BY-NC-ND
I use a family tree for the main family of sleuths and make a list on a separate outline as I go along of the many others that come along, to keep track of “page-time”.
Lady Adellandra–I think that would be a very effective way to manage it!
Thanks! It works for me but may not for others. I try to experiment with different ways of every aspect of writing. I used to outline but now, that doesn’t work for my new way of writing. Try everything at least once. You may find a combination that works.
Lady Adellandra–Sometimes things that *used* to work for me stop working at some point down the line. Always good to experiment with new methods!
Hi Elizabeth – how interesting to read … I guess if one was writing regularly you’d need to have these sorts of things to hand … but so enlightening … I just read and enjoy – cheers Hilary
Hilary–Thanks! Hope you have a great week.
I two secondary characters from my first series (genre mystery/romance) and gave them their own cozy mystery series that’s now two books in. The first book in the new series got less than stellar reviews with most people – primarily new to me readers – complaining that they couldn’t make sense of some of the character relationships. I thought I’d covered it pretty well but the readers have spoken and they’re continuing to pile on.
I hope I did better with the second book but I’m thinking of adding a character list for the primary characters to the first book. I’ve gone back and made a few little tweaks but I can’t do more without a major rewrite.
Anne–So sort of a spin-off? I bet that was fun for readers.
I used to love Agatha Christie’s use of a cast of characters at the start of her books (she was also fond of a large cast). She had these pithy descriptions of each one that I thought was so funny and smart.
I try to space it out. Although with my second book, I had no choice but introduce several new characters right away, as only the main character returned. (Third was easier as I had several returning characters.)
Alex–Spacing can definitely help, although if the characters are ‘offstage’ too long, that creates the opposite problem. I think you always did a great job with your character introductions.
With mysteries, I think it can be tricky. My editors liked to see a body by page 50, so stuffing those characters in there to die and be suspected gets challenging!
I’ve seen a couple of books where there were numerous characters and the author put a list at the beginning telling who everyone was. A list can be helpful if there an excessive amount of new characters but introducing a few at a time works too. The only time I’ve really had trouble keeping up with characters was in a book where the characters’ names were all too similar. I’m not sure why it made it a bit confusion, but it did.
Mason–Aren’t similar character names hard? Sometimes, for me, this is a major challenge in reading translated fiction. Lots of names starting with ‘s’ in Scandinavian fiction, for example.
It’s so interesting, Elizabeth, that you have a pattern for introducing characters and for closing a novel. My guess is, that helps you to keep everything straight. And I know just what you mean about keeping the characters distinct, too. Physical descriptions, speech patterns, the whole thing, can help to remind readers who everyone is. It’s also helpful later when you’re looking back (e.g. prepping to write a new novel).
Margot–Yes, it makes it all *so* much easier. So easy that writing is almost like muscle memory. Who knows why I deviated from my norm with that one book? I must have been distracted by something!
I don’t really have a set pattern for introducing characters. For series writing, it would really help. Obviously the fans get used to that pattern.
Diane–It definitely helps the writer, and I think it usually helps the reader to know when they need to pay attention and learn the important players. Obviously, though, we might get stuck in this pattern and it could get confusing when we move out of it (a good reminder for me).
I rarely have a lot of characters, but when I do I try to give each one a quirk that shows up often during normal conversation.
Hi Ken! I think that’s an approach that helps readers a lot. Thanks for coming by!
Good tips. It’s a tricky business keeping the characters straight.
HR–It can be! And thanks. :)
I have a large cast of characters with my two Egyptian Steampunks and now with my two NOT-SO-INNOCENTS fantasies. I try to have only a small cluster of characters in each chapter. All four being journeys of sorts, they allowed me to break up the group into easily digestible adventures.
Having recurring characters makes it easier as the reader knows the personalities of many involved. Take a look at how it was done in LORD OF THE RINGS and TITANIC. :-)
Roland–I like that…focusing on a small group in each chapter and breaking it all down. It definitely makes it easier for our busy readers.
Good point about shared character goals, too!
I forgot to add: several characters having shared goals which conflict with the shared goals of others seems to help, too. :-)
That is an excellent example of how reading reviews can really help an author! Awesome!! :)
Jemi–As hard as it can be, it’s good to read them and use them for our own benefit!
Have you ever been at a party or professional event where you have met a small group of the attendees some time back so you barely remember them, and there are dozens of other people attending as well?
You stood there with a glazed look in your eyes as you struggled to remember the names and relationships of the people you’ve already met while even more people are introduced to you, and you have to figure out how these people fit in with the first group.
A nightmare, wasn’t it?
That’s what readers face when too many characters are introduced at once.
Needless to say, I’m not a fan of your suggestions.
Marilynn–I have a feeling I always have a glazed look on my face at a party or professional event. :)
You’re right–it’s always important to view things from the readers’ perspective. Thanks for coming by.
Great tips. I particularly like keeping the characters distinct from each other and giving them names that are very different. No Cat, Catherine and Cathy all in the same book (which I read once and it got soooo confusing–yes, they were all different characters).
Lynda–Wow…I’d have been completely lost! All female characters, too…not a Chris and a Cathy, which is at least marginally better.
This was a very interesting post to read. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Gina!
Great post, Elizabeth. I’m still early in my novel writing career – and ploughing through the rewrites of my first. To keep my characters in check, I did a lot of ground work: c.v.’s, interviews, photoshoots etc – information filed – and have a charater board where I can see diagramatically how they interact with one another. It’s a long process but I’m sure it will get easier, the more I practise.
I love your positive and productive approach to reviews. I’ll be taking a leaf out of your book on that one, when the time comes :)
Nicola–It’s so true–it becomes so much easier the more we write. Your organized approach will pay off!
Reading reviews is almost like free crowdsourcing for our books…it can be so amazingly useful.
Good luck with your book!