Characters

[Justice4JC]

In your stories, how many characters do you have and do you ever wonder whether the reader will get confused at all the characters and names and possibly get them mixed up?

Because right now I'm writing a sci-fi story (so there're inhuman names), and so far I have ten characters. They're soon to run into three more, and then they're going to meet even more. Some are more important to the storyline than others, but I still need them to be there.

I'm trying to make all of the characters as developed as I can before I introduce anymore, but do you think so many characters will turn the reader off?

 

[Koryu]

Hum..your in a tough stop there. I'm not a writing but I'm an avid reader and I can tell you that personally I like it then there is a medium-range of character, not a ton but not to little either. Some authors (Robert Jordan comes to mind here), have huge character lists and constantly brings back characters expecting the reader to remember them. This tends to be annoying to most readers. I hope this had helped, I have a felling it hasn't but O well. Its the thought that counts! lol! Good luck with your story though!

 

[Achichem]

In your stories, how many characters do you have and do you ever wonder whether the reader will get confused at all the characters and names and possibly get them mixed up?

Because right now I'm writing a sci-fi story (so there're inhuman names), and so far I have ten characters. They're soon to run into three more, and then they're going to meet even more. Some are more important to the storyline than others, but I still need them to be there.

I'm trying to make all of the characters as developed as I can before I introduce anymore, but do you think so many characters will turn the reader off?

It really depends on the exact names you are using, and the amount of character development spent on each one.If you properly lay out characters, they are actually quite easy to remember. In cases of large character bases strategies should be applied to limit the distracting side characters.

 

[katelyn]

I think it depends on how vital they are to the story, or how often they are referred to. Off the top of my head, I have...12? characters in my story: 3 major, 3 medium, the rest minor roles. There are probably more whose names only come up once or twice.

I would say, just make sure to keep variety in your names, especially between medium and minor. For example, in one of my other stories I have a medium charater named Alice, and a minor character named Anna. This confused my husband and he had to ask me which was the one who had a role earlier in the story. So once I get back to that story, I'll probably change Anna's name, since most likely readers aren't going to have me sitting right there to explain for them.

 

[Justice4JC]

Thanks for your replies! Yeah, they helped!

About the readers remembering characters if the writer brings them back, well, when my characters leave the story, it'd be mainly because they died. So, they're not coming back. But there is one who's a double agent in the (for lack of a better term) "bad guy's" ranks, and he'll be feeding information to the good guys. And he's not on the quest with the rest of them.

I'll run my list of names down to you though. I already thought about changing the names that begin with "J". I don't know why I'm stuck on that letter. But any other names you think should be changed that the reader may be confused with?

(I'll try to separate them into major characters, medium characters, and supporting characters. Even though at this point I'm not really sure how much emphasis will be put on each character, so this may change as I get further into the story)

Major Characters-
Jargson (the narrator)
Kinz
Wak

Medium Characters-
Parson Dext
Jodac
Panthra
Jaks
Pudgy
General Lux

Supporting Characters-
Ushter
Ezeek
Tobor
Nikal
Shannix
Hyperbole
Illiterate
Lieutenant Boxrox
Am Nyrna
Jyerr
J.J.

NOTE: These are just the names that I've given to some on the quest. There are plenty more that aren't important and won't even be named, but they're on the mission with them, so they'll be mentioned more or less.

See all those J's? Jyerr, J.J., Jargson, Jaks, Jodac... too many, you think?

 

[katelyn]

Yeah, I was reading your story (really, I was! Sorry I haven't replied yet, btw) the other day and when Jodac entered the story, the first thing I thought that it was too close to Jargson. The other ones might be okay, but this one just seemed a little too close for me. (Then again, I realized the other day that I have "Andy" and "Andrea" in my story, so who am I to say...LOL)

 

[Blessed-one]

so long as you can tie all the characters in nicely.. and handle the character development evenly between your main characters.. check Robert Jordan's books, there are more than 20 characters!

 

[mbdeyes]

I have to say, I disagree with the earlier statement about Robert Jordan being annoying (but I'm quite a fan so you'll have to forgive me...)

I'm looking at the way people around me react to Tolkien, however. I'm surrounded by people who haven't read the books. They can't remember who Theoden is, let alone who Haldir or Gil-galad are. But, the character's roles stand out so well to them that they still thoroughly enjoy the story. If I refer to Eomer, they say, 'Who?' If I say, 'The guy who comes in with Gandalf at the end, on the horse' (Two Towers) then they can reference it and we can actually discuss it.

Lucas is another fine example of many characters with strange names. Most of the major characters have easily recognizable names (Luke, Ben, Han, Laia, and even Chewey), and the average moviegoer can enjoy it. Then you get the names only fanboys know, like Quigon Jinn, or Mace Windu.... Yet it doesn't detract from the enjoyment of the story as long as each character is distinctive and has a recognizable role. Something to think about.

 

[Blessed-one]

uh.. do you mean me? i think Robert Jordan is brilliant! when did i say he's annoying...

 

[mbdeyes]

uh.. do you mean me? i think Robert Jordan is brilliant! when did i say he's annoying...

Nope, sorry. I should have quoted. I think I was responding to Koryu?

 

[One Son of Many]

Hey, speaking of Robert Jordan, which, if any, other author(s) can anyone compare his writings with? I've never read any of his works and had thought about starting one of his series. I've recently finished Terry Goodkind's 'Sword of Truth' series and looking for another author to start. Suggestions?

 

[mbdeyes]

Honestly, I can't think of anyone who works at his depth in such a simple way. Tad Williams get very complicated, and I have a hard time following his story, even though his writing style is very good (thinking of the Otherworld series), and Stephen Lawhead's ideas and plot are usually great, but majors on one character at a time... Of course Jordan's Wheel of Time series (which most people are refering to) is 10 books long so far, so you expect things to get a little mixed up in your mind at times.

Terry Brooks has some interesting stuff, but by far, my favourite Fantasy/Historical Fiction author (contemporary that is) has to be Stephen Lawhead.

 

[One Son of Many]

wow.....not familiar with Stephen Lawhead either. (and I thought I was a fantasy buff.....geez) What are some things he has written?

 

[Blessed-one]

ok, mbdeyes.

i'm not familiar with Stephen's work either, but i've heard a lot of good things about him. Check in with the library and all his books are being borrowed...
but yeah, Robert Jordan's Wheel of time series is awesome. The sheer amount of details he gives on characterization is enormous. Anyway, name of book 1 is "Eye of the World." worth checking it out.

 

[mbdeyes]

Definitely start at the begining if you really want to get into Jordan (Eye of the World is probably the simplest of the WOT series, as well as starting it off).

Books I've got by S. Lawhead:
Pendragon Cycle: Taliesin, Merlin, Arthur, Pendragon, Grail
Song of Albion Trilogy: The Paradise War, Silverhand, Endless Knot
Celtic Crusades: The Iron Lance, The Black Rood, The Mystic Rose
The Dragon King Trilogy: In the Hall of the Dragon King, The Warlords of Nin, The Sword and the Flame
Avalon (not directly related to the Pendragon Cycle)
Byzanium
Patrick: Son of Irland (don't actually own, just got it from the library.)

Of those, some are earlier works and a little less developed (Dragon King Tri.) and many are more historical than fantasy (including the Pend. Cyc), and he's written a little SciFi as well (which I haven't read yet).
My favourites have been Pendragon and Albion. I was disappointed in the first Celtic Crusades book, but read the others anyway, and enjoyed them.

He's working with his son on a comic book called 'Hero' based on the new musical featuring people from Audio Adrenaline, DC Talk, Skillet, Sanctus Real, and also Rebecca St. James. You can check him out at http://www.stephenlawhead.com

 

[Lyle]

In your stories, how many characters do you have and do you ever wonder whether the reader will get confused at all the characters and names and possibly get them mixed up?

I have some 40 something main charecters.. Some tend to fade at my calling and chosing... I don't really ever mix them up because I alwasy keep track of them and what's going on where they are... I also tend to write the charecters on paper and take notes... So I don't forget..

 

[the_cloaked_crusader]

I write fantasy, and I understand where you're coming from. though I've found that my readers (family and friends) have more trouble pronouncing the names than they do remembering who's who. sometimes it's helpful to drop a hint; idioms and other distinguishing features also help. it might be a good idea not to have two of your characters have names that start with G, like I did: Gornel, Gilmorn . . . who'll remember that?
I'm digging through Doctor Zhivago and there's a list on names at the beginning of the book: a sort of Who's who. that's helpful especially with the confuzzicating Russian monickers . . .

best of regards
the_cloaked_crusader

 

[Vulgivagus hagiographus]

Ew! Robert Jordan! *burns Wheel of Time books* Do you want me to parallel Rand to the antichrist? Seriously, you shouldn't be dirtying your minds with those books. They might seem really well when you start, but if you're able to pull yourself away from them, you'll see it's faults. Sorry, I had a VERY bad experience with Jordan. I just don't want the same to happen to you.

Anyway, back to the character topic, when I find myself having too many characters, I tend to combine them. You might be too far along for this solution (as in the writing stage), but it works great for me. It also gives your characters more depth, and sometimes the seemingly conflicting personallities of the two characters combined will give you a richer final product. Orson Scott Card talks about this in his "How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy" book only he relates it to plots. I recommend that all writers try it at least once in their lives since it has had such good results with me.

 

[Buskanaka]

finally another lawhead fan!!!
/me shakes mbdeyes hand vigorously

I'm pretty sure I've read every book he's written, and I think I own most of them... anyway back to characters... I think it's important to plan your story, know who the characters are, that way you can develop the important ones and not worry about the others so much, I mean really who cares if someone forgets the name of a minor character? the action they were involved in should be close enough to remember, or they should have a really distinctive name. I guess I'm a fan of having few characters, I find it very annoying reading big books and not knowing who's who, especially if it's a really complex world that I'm unfamiliar with. So I think it's better to have a couple of major characters only, and so it's not really important to know who the others are, their involvement in the plot and story is explained each time they make an appearance.

just goes to show how important names are hey? time should be spent thinking about them, not just made up randomly as the story comes to that character.

 

[Blessed-one]

just goes to show how important names are hey? time should be spent thinking about them, not just made up randomly as the story comes to that character.

lol, you got a good point there, but it IS tedious to think up names for new characters! ok. just put a jumble of letters together.. jeidbk
nice name?

Ew! Robert Jordan! *burns Wheel of Time books* Do you want me to parallel Rand to the antichrist? Seriously, you shouldn't be dirtying your minds with those books. They might seem really well when you start, but if you're able to pull yourself away from them, you'll see it's faults. Sorry, I had a VERY bad experience with Jordan. I just don't want the same to happen to you.

sorry, just can't resist commenting on it since i'm a huge LOTR fan. I think the main problem with the books is the idea of reincarnation, but other than that, we can't disregard his quality of writing..

Anyway, back to the character topic, when I find myself having too many characters, I tend to combine them.

could you elaborate?