Little help? Group dynamics.

Vincent · Aug 14, 2007

Okay, I'm just at the barest beginnings of working out a plot for a story idea I've had, and I find I can't continue without working out a little problem. The problem regards the number of characters.

Basically my idea has several men, loggers, pushing into the uncharted wilderness of Tasmania's western highlands in search of more profitable pickings, in the 1930s. They will spend several months there, living rough, isolated from civilization, and slowly losing their grip on reality. There will be supernatural undertones.

That about enough of grounding for ya? Okay. Well, as I originally conceived it, the story had six men, and I'd already begun to work out their characters, their personalities, histories, etc. Then I started to worry that six was too many. I do plan on focusing on one main protagonist, I've also got a 'mentor' figure, and an antagonistic figure... the rest I'd focus less on, though very occasionally skip over to their POV to keep the plot moving along. But is it just a little much? Could I be diluting the power of my primary characters, by adding a handful more? I then considered reducing the number to four men, but I'm not keen on this either, as it restricts some of my plot options (basically how many minds I get to twist, and who I get to kill in interesting ways

).

Or am I worrying over nothing?

Tracy · Aug 14, 2007

I don't think six is too many at all - you could even have more if you wanted ... going into less and less detail about the peripheral characters, and having the reader identify less and less with them. They could be just fodder to be killed etc. Once you write the characters well, the reader won't get confused.

My only doubt would be going into the POV of the minor characters. It's my own personal preference, but I think limiting your POV characters is much better.

Good luck with it - it sounds like a fantastic story.

CaroGirl · Aug 14, 2007

I don't think six is too many at all. Remember Lord of the Flies? It had a similar plot only with grammar school children. How many characters were on that island, anyway? The novel focused on only about six of those. The rest were peripheral.

Good luck with it. Sounds like an interesting story.

AdamH · Aug 14, 2007

I agree with everyone else. Six is entirely doable. As long as you can clearly tell the difference between which character is which, you're okay. Sounds like you've got a start with the protagonist, the "mentor", and the antagonist...maybe consider putting character "hats" on the other three (i.e. The Dopey One, The Sleepy One, The Sneezy One...sorry about using the Seven Dwarves as reference...but you get the idea). If you can't, just let them blur into the background.

NeuroFizz · Aug 14, 2007

Make one an extreme introvert who hardly talks to anyone (although a good worker as long as everyone leaves him alone). You don't have to devote any significant dialogue to him, unless you want to really shock the others (and the readers), and you can have the mystery and intrigue of his background and his silence to play with. Such a character could come in handy in any story, and you'd really have only five-and-a-half characters to worry about most of the time. And you wouldn't have to worry about him disappearing in the reader's mind, because of his quirk.

Jamesaritchie · Aug 14, 2007

Six

I don't think the number is important, as long as each of the men is needed by the story. Each needs a reason to be there, each needs something important to do, each needs to contribute. But it is probably true that one of these men needs to be the central figure.

Stew21 · Aug 14, 2007

The functions within a group come in to play too. There is always going to be an informal leader (sometimes not the same as the formal leader). The way the additional men react to the antagonist and protagonist (as well as the mentor-type) will provide clues and lend merit to the character you have established as "good" and the character you have assigned as "bad".
You can reveal a great deal about your MC through the eyes of other minor characters. How they interact and react to him can help you form him more fully.
I'd say go for it. Six is a good number.
For more on the group communication/group dynamic do a little side research on group communication and the roles people take in groups. (My Communications degree coming out showing what a geek I am.) Fun things like Group Think, assignment of leaders, conflict resolution, filling personas that are needed, action and reciprocation, nonverbal communication, problem solving and a group's effects on critical thinking can make a huge difference in how your story reads.

BarbJ · Aug 14, 2007

In one WIP. I start out with 2 characters and end up with 8 in the house. I figure the best way to handle it is to continue to make the main focus on the two (which is a lot easier since it's in first person). One thing I had to - and need to polish even more - is give each a "voice", not necessarily entirely different yet still their own. Good luck.

Oberon · Aug 14, 2007

All good advice up there, and I think I will be taking it, too. In my first novel, SF, I started with one character, who inadvertently gathers fellow travelers as he goes through a strange world. By the end of the novel I had 16 people assembled for an expedition into the unknown, each contributing a particular skill. That left me with a small army to start the sequel with, and I have bogged down. I would much rather have three or four, or six, rather than 16, it becomes a different kind of story from the one I started.

III · Aug 14, 2007

Six or seven is totally doable (as mentioned above). Just make sure you really know each of the characters inside and out before you start writing them, then the dynamics will be much more natural.

Outline each character and list as many details about them as you possibly can and print out a page with each character profile and put it on your wall. Think about them. Dream about them. THEN once they're alive to you, write the story.

Jack Nog · Aug 14, 2007

Add more and kill them off.

Azraelsbane · Aug 14, 2007

Jack Nog said:
Add more and kill them off.

/agree

Then again, I've been called a borderline psychopath by more than one person. My opinion might not be the best.

I agree with the above posts. Totally doable.

arrowqueen · Aug 14, 2007

If there's going to be conflict, I always like an odd number. That way you've always got an imbalance when decisions have to be made.

III · Aug 14, 2007

arrowqueen said:
If there's going to be conflict, I always like an odd number. That way you've always got an imbalance when decisions have to be made.

Why does that make me think of Survivor? Maybe your characters could be Ruptert, Rob, Ambuh, Colby, Rich, Alicia, and Jeff!

KTC · Aug 14, 2007

six is so doable...just make them clearly identifiable. I have come across novels with even more characters that work wonderfully. I have come across novels with less that are disasters...because the characters are interchangeable and you can't tell who is who. Concise characters work for me in whatever multiple.

Vincent · Aug 14, 2007

Well, it looks like we pretty much have a consensus. Fantastic. That really puts my mind at ease.

Lots of really good points made here today (some privately). For sure, I need to know these men inside and out, what makes them tick. They have to be individuals, clearly distinguishable from each other; I can’t have half a dozen clones stumbling around a forest for 400 pages. They must all be there for a purpose, each must contribute to the story. And, yes, my avatar makes me almost impossible to take seriously.

Thanks all! Rep points all round!

Stijn Hommes · Aug 15, 2007

Nothing wrong with having 6 characters. Just don't try to give em all equal screen time. You're gonna need some of them to make the group sound believeable, but that doesn't mean you need to go into detail about them or use their POV.

Little help? Group dynamics.

Vincent

Cheers

Tracy

CaroGirl

Living the dream

AdamH

Pumped Up Kicks

NeuroFizz

The grad students did it

Jamesaritchie

Stew21

BarbJ

Oberon

III

rockin the suburbs

Jack Nog

Brain-farts are useful too.

Azraelsbane

Agony is defeat

arrowqueen

RIP, our sarky besom

III

rockin the suburbs

KTC

Stand in the Place Where You Live

Vincent

Cheers

Stijn Hommes

Know what you write...