One of my personal writing issues is I tend to pack my books and stories with way too many characters. If a fascinating person walks into one of my stories, I feel it would be rude not to let them join the party. I suppose my inner Manners Doctor takes over. 🙂
This drives my editors batty. They think confusing the reader is worse than being rude to fictional people. And of course they’re right. They usually tell me I need to consolidate minor characters or eliminate them altogether. Someone even told me there’s a “rule” that a novel should have seven characters or less.
I’ve always been annoyed by all this. But this week I saw a thread in a readers’ Facebook group that helped me see the reader’s point of view.
Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog 
Reblogged this on Claire Plaisted – Author and commented:
My very first story had …from memory 8 couples. It was a bit like Downton Abbey, showing the different sides of life and love. Still unpublished, though maybe one day I’ll dare. Meanwhile, untangling them a bit more sounds like a good idea.
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Reblogged this on Monique L. Desir.
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I have lots of characters in my Science Fiction Series, but the theme is ‘building community’ so it is hard not to weave them all into the stories … I kill characters off, but that backfires because they keep cropping up in the story. I agree that a list of characters can help the reader and it is an opportunity to add some bits of character detail that have no place in the main story.
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lol I have to admit I am a bit of a character hoarder. I seem to always have a large cast of characters and I blame it on the fact I write trilogies and series’ but it’s important to keep your reader from getting muddled. Great article!
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Glad you enjoyed it, Ari 😃
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I loved this! Thank you for sharing Anne’s character list of rules. Had to reblog!
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Glad you found it useful, Darlene 👍😃
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😀
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Reblogged this on Darswords and commented:
As a creator of the Havenverse (about 16 books now–none published), I needed this and will refer back often as I write and edit. Take the time to read the continuation on annerallen.com. Super helpful!
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A great share, Chris.
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The article is so cleverly written and makes terrific points. Thanks for sharing! My ‘teacher mind’ can see all sorts of possibilities.
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