| Author |
Message |
    
Pacwriter
Unity Member
Post Number:
2523
Registered: 04-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, August 13, 2006 - 08:29 pm: |   |
Let's say a 300 page novel - mystery, thriller, romance -- how many characters can a reader care about and keep track of who is who?
http://www.perrycomer.com
http://throughablindeye.blogspot.com/
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Claudia Turner VanLydegraf
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number:
2828
Registered: 06-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, August 13, 2006 - 09:30 pm: | |
I would say: 12 or 13..... 3-4 for background-charcter building,
another 3-5 for compatriots, fellow primary subjects, which leaves 2-3 semi-main characters who balance the main one on his/her journey, but what do I know....
Claudia
MINDSIGHT MODERATOR
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Stephen Lodge
Wandering Member
Post Number:
211
Registered: 06-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, August 14, 2006 - 05:11 am: | |
However many the story calls for.
http://stephenlodge.com
Novels by Stephen Lodge:
"Charley Sunday's Texas Outfit!"
"Nickel-Plated Dream"
"Shadows of Eagles"
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Dennis Collins
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number:
2043
Registered: 06-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, August 14, 2006 - 08:57 am: | |
I was recently reading a murder mystery that I was supposed to review. The author is relatively well known. I was fifty pages into the book and there had been over twenty-five characters introduced (by name) and nothing had happened yet; no bodies, no blood, no loud noises.
Murder mysteries are supposed to have action or at least a murder or two but all this one seemed to have was people and it was really hard to tell which ones were going to be important to the story. And another thing; their names were quite plain and not very memorable. But the characters were even more nondescript than their names. I kept falling asleep.
I eventually asked Myshelf if someone else would be willing to have a shot at it. The lady who wound up reviewing it thought it was just fine.
Beauty is in the eye of...
Dennis Collins
Moderator
www.theunrealmccoy.com |
Tom Elkins
Wisdom Member
Post Number:
519
Registered: 01-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, August 14, 2006 - 02:50 pm: | |
Speaking of names...as a life-long broadcaster who had to know how to pronounce words, it is frustrating to read a book with obscure names, the pronunciation of which are unclear. They don't have to be plain, but I like to "hear" them.
Tom Elkins
NORTH of TEXAS
www.authorsden.com/tomelkins |
Stephen Lodge
Wandering Member
Post Number:
213
Registered: 06-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, August 14, 2006 - 04:11 pm: | |
I just changed the name of the main character in my new novel to Tom El-kins.
http://stephenlodge.com
Novels by Stephen Lodge:
"Charley Sunday's Texas Outfit!"
"Nickel-Plated Dream"
"Shadows of Eagles"
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Pacwriter
Unity Member
Post Number:
2528
Registered: 04-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, August 14, 2006 - 04:17 pm: | |
hee hee - and why not
http://www.perrycomer.com
http://throughablindeye.blogspot.com/
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Tom Elkins
Wisdom Member
Post Number:
521
Registered: 01-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, August 14, 2006 - 06:25 pm: | |
My lawyer will be in touch.
Tom Elkins
NORTH of TEXAS
www.authorsden.com/tomelkins |
Todd Hunter
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number:
3418
Registered: 02-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, August 14, 2006 - 07:56 pm: | |
5 characters...
Not 4, because that won't be enough.
If you have 6, that will be too many.
5 characters...all with varying lengths of first and last names (between 3 and 7, and 5 and 9 characters, respectively), each of which starting with completely different letters.
;-)
Mindsight Moderator
Aston's Blog
Midwestern Writer |
Joyce Scarbrough
Wisdom Member
Post Number:
897
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, August 15, 2006 - 06:53 am: | |
Right, Todd. Except all the heroines' names must begin with a "J"! 
~Joyce Sterling Scarbrough
True Blue Forever
ISBN 0-9722385-9-X
Authors Ink Books
http://www.authorsinkbooks.com
Now available . . .
Different Roads
ISBN 0-9722385-3-0
For first loves that get lost, hearts that call to each other, and the roads that lead us to the ones for whom we are meant.
Read the first chapters at http://www.authorsden.com/joycelscarbrough1
Senior Editor
Champagne Books
http://www.champagnebooks.com |
Sean D. Schaffer
Hunger Member
Post Number:
71
Registered: 10-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, August 15, 2006 - 08:36 am: | |
"Speaking of names...as a life-long broadcaster who had to know how to pronounce words, it is frustrating to read a book with obscure names, the pronunciation of which are unclear. They don't have to be plain, but I like to "hear" them."
I had to learn that lesson the hard way. I have people who tell me to this day, "I had to read past the names in your book. Otherwise I enjoyed it."
I hope never to make that mistake again.
http://seandschaffer.blogspot.com/ |
Todd Hunter
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number:
3420
Registered: 02-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, August 15, 2006 - 03:42 pm: | |
I attempted to put some pronunciation keys in Hero...some readers convinced me to do otherwise.
Now I cringe when people pronounce the names wrong.
The main planet at the center of Hero really has no resemblence to a Ford, for example...
Mindsight Moderator
Aston's Blog
Midwestern Writer |
T.G. (Unregistered Guest)
Work-in-progress guest
Posted From: user-0cdf1ft.cable.mindspring.com
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, August 17, 2006 - 11:55 am: | |
I usually use 8-10 characters, a few with distint background personalities so that the reader can relate to them just as well as the main characters. If characters stand out in a story(no matter how small their roll), they will grab the attention of the reader.
Tyrone Godfrey-author
Ledgend's Prophecy-1st Thoughts |
Frederick A. Babb
Hsympothai Member
Post Number:
449
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, August 18, 2006 - 12:21 am: | |
Let's see....
1 main character
3-4 characters that are the main interaction of the main character
4-6 background characters
So...between 8 and 11. Right now I am reading a book by Mary Higgins Clark and it has 28 characters. The one thing I noticed is how she has to keep repeating parts of the characters' lives or pasts to help the reader remember who they are. While I love her books, I think this constant reminding dragged the book down somewhat.
Preview books: http://www.frederickbabb.bravehost.com |
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