I got to thinking about something that may or may not be completely insane: chemistry amongst characters in a story. And what I mean by that is: how well they seem to go together, the feel (for the reader) of how they play off each other, and how natural the cast feels - like do they feel like they belong together? That sort of thing.
As a writer, do you ever wonder / worry about this? As a reader, do you even notice this? Does such a thing even exist in writing, or do I sound like a nut?
I'll tell you why I was thinking about this: I honestly believe that the best cast I ever put together was for Knowledge Can Be A Dangerous Thing, my novel. I cannot tell you how nicely I feel Tracy, Michael, Raven, Alexis, Kiara, and Callie work together as characters. And I've said a zillion and one times, I feel that the characters are the single most important element in any story. I think chemistry among the cast is part of that. I have a series of shorts I'm trying to get off the ground based on the Knowledgeverse, and while I am happy with the cast . . . . I don't really feel that cohesiveness that I feel with the Knowledge folks.
I think they're all solid characters with great backstories and intriguing on-camera stories, but for some reason that I can't quite pin down, it still feels like a throw-together bunch, not a well-oiled machine.
Don't know why.
So, that's what brought the thought to my mind. I doubt the situation is going to get resolved, because I certainly have no plans of changing the cast at this point. But, I did think that it would be worth discussing if anyone else even thinks about such things.
So
As a writer, do you ever wonder / worry about this? As a reader, do you even notice this? Does such a thing even exist in writing, or do I sound like a nut?
I'll tell you why I was thinking about this: I honestly believe that the best cast I ever put together was for Knowledge Can Be A Dangerous Thing, my novel. I cannot tell you how nicely I feel Tracy, Michael, Raven, Alexis, Kiara, and Callie work together as characters. And I've said a zillion and one times, I feel that the characters are the single most important element in any story. I think chemistry among the cast is part of that. I have a series of shorts I'm trying to get off the ground based on the Knowledgeverse, and while I am happy with the cast . . . . I don't really feel that cohesiveness that I feel with the Knowledge folks.
So, that's what brought the thought to my mind. I doubt the situation is going to get resolved, because I certainly have no plans of changing the cast at this point. But, I did think that it would be worth discussing if anyone else even thinks about such things.
So
And I'm trying not to make my first thread boring. 