Ensembles?

[Project nachonaco]

Is there any room in today's world for ensemble novels?

[blackbird]

I hope so, because that's what mine is!:D

[victoriastrauss]

What's an ensemble novel?

- Victoria

[Project nachonaco]

Basically, a bunch of diffefrent plots that occasionally come together in the end.

[blackbird]

I'm probably thinking more in terms of novels in which it is not any one MC's story, but rather, that of many players, all of whom have an equal share in the spotlight. I suppose having separate stories for these characters, all of which somehow tie together in the end, is one way of doing this (The Hours is one such book that comes to my mind).

I certainly, for one, believe there is an audience for this type of novel. The tricky part (as I've often found) is being able to successfully describe such a story in a query, without making it sound convoluted. Agents usually like to have some idea of the novel's arc, but where there are multiple arcs, it can get a bit unweildy.

[JanW]

Thanks for asking this one. Our first novel has three main families in the story, each with a key character. I have always described it as 'an ensemble cast'. Each MC is critical for the story. I was advised elsewhere in AWC to pick one as the 'star' in the query, just to simplify things. Eventually the story will show how they all fit. As others have said, it's getting the evaluator (agent, editor, etc.) past the first few words that is the first goal. The rest is even harder!:)

[Carmy]

Thanks for the explanation of ensemble. So that's what I have, when I thought it was a collection of short stories all along.

So, are any being published these days?