How many characters do you have?

In the fantasy I'm working, or should be, I have two main characters. There were four other characters, but one died. Sad. Now there are three who are important but not main characters. I know there will be more appearing, but who they are I'm not sure yet.

I start out choosing one or two characters, although they really decide to just show up and say they have a story to tell.

It seems that, generally, my characters are always moving around, so it's a nice surprise when a new ones show up unexpectedly. I like that "ooh" moment. Guess that puts me in the "letting the story dictate" category.

Let's see...

In the WIP I'm working on tonight, there is one MAIN character, but about a dozen major characters. In another WIP, I have 2 main characters, and probably 8 or 9 othe major characters. I'm working on a novella that only has one major character. I'd say the vast majority of my books have at least 20 named characters of varying importance, with anywhere from 1-8 main characters.

Keeping track of all of my characters -- even the minor ones -- is easy for me. I can sort them (and their personalities, roles, etc) in my head the same way I can tell my real life friends, family, and acquaintances apart. I do, however, keep a spreadsheet for each story that lists ALL named characters and their physical traits...this just keeps me from saying a person has blond hair, and then later having him run his hands through his red hair. LOL

So...for me, I allow as many characters as the story dictates, and keep track of them with relative ease.

Currently four main characters and an expanding cast of secondaries and walk-ons.

I dunno, though -- there's a fifth character who may have a larger role to play than I expected, so ...

In my historical / supernatural thing I have one main character, and about a dozen minor ones. It involves him going into a village, so I wouldn't really call the village folk 'main characters' but they're bigger than bit parts. I have about maybe half a dozen little walk-ons.

For the fantasy one I'm trying to write, I have two main characters, maybe a half dozen minor, and goodness knows how many walk-ons.

Fantasy / Alternate history - two main characters (or main character and sidekick, more correctly), main character's love interest, who is also one of the main villains, and another main villain, with about six or seven minor people.

In the novel I'm about to finish I have three main characters and three more playing secondary roles. I do have several others that come into action here and there.

I have at least 15 major characters and a couple of dozen other minor ones, but they're spread over six books and 700,000 words.

Four major characters (protag, antag, protag's love interest and key character to the plot, and lastly another key character with two personae), 2 important characters (protag's partner, antag love interest) plus a myriad of minor and semi-important characters.

I can't give you an exact count - but one Main POV Character (the entire book is based around him), about six secondaries (including one who's dead) and a hella load of others.

In the wip I am currently working on I have one MC, two major characters (one of whom is my villian), and one minor character, aside from peripherals.

I also have an assortment of ghosts, one of whom is a main character as well, in a paranormal sort of way. So if he counts, being dead and all, I have three major characters. The rest of the ghosts are currently in the peripheral category.

As I embark on my first major revision I am contemplating adding another minor character who could become a second MC if this turned into a series. (Hey I can dream, right.......? No.....? )

instead of counting sheep, i count characters - which is why i know. the manuscript i just finished has 73 characters. not all of them have names, obviously, some are just the leering sailor

but there is one main MC and four sub-MCs. the others are just the frosting. lots of it.

In the Evernight series there are two main characters (the protagonist and her love interest), three very important secondary characters (the protagonist's best friend, the guy who would like to be her love interest but isn't, and the primary antagonist), and about another five secondary characters who have a role to play.

I have *counts* 9 POV characters in my series. I do have one I'll concretely point to as my 'MC', because the stories all focus around him to one degree or another, but all those POV characters are major characters. I have another dozen or so non-POV major supporting characters and probably 100 (not exaggerating) total named characters counting all the bit-roles from all 12 books. I have no trouble whatsoever keeping all the major characters straight (though I do tend to forget bit-part people's names). I don't have a system for this, I just . . . remember, lol. I'm used to writing scenes with a lot of characters present. It's not very difficult, even juggling 10-20 characters, because when you get into a group that large either 2-4 people dominate the action and conversation, or the conversation/actions split into smaller simultaneous groups, in which case I focus on whatever my POV character is focused on. I find groups of 5-8 characters to be the hardest to write clearly, because it's too many people to show every detail of what everyone's doing, but too few people to split them up or let the leaders completely dominate. Anyway, according to my betas I manage OK. (It helps that I introduce the characters over 6 books)

Now my contemporary (mainstream fiction? Romance? Horror?) novel only has two main characters. They are the only POV characters and the exclusive focus of the story. Even the villains have been relegated to bit-roles. There's probably 30+ walk-on/minor recurring roles, however. I'm constantly losing track of who all those minor people are too. (Hard as it is to believe, I have an easier time juggling the massively complex character web in my series, mainly because I have fewer walk-ons per a chapter). Written notes have been my friends with this one.

2 MCs, one character with a large part that's just there for comic relief and to give reason to certain events, 6 that have small but important parts, 2 that have important prologue parts, 6 important bad guys and a large number of nameless crowds and bad guys.

Holy moly, I can't believe how many people have multiple MCs - including me. I always thought I was all alone in a sea of first-person MC novels.

I have three POV MCs (angel, bounty hunter, fallen angel), two non-POV MCs (female angel and functional zombie) and two named secondary characters (a cop and a landlord). Everybody else is just a one-shot.

Three main characters, three other major characters, and a whole host of minor characters that believe they are the center of the story

When I read Tolkien's Silmarillion, keeping up with the Characters was a nightmare. I kept that in mind when I did my story. But even so, I wish I could color code transitional characters who are merely a blip on the radar.

The gatekeeper, the merchants. In a sense, it's like the early startrek where they sent a party down to the planet, and that one odd member was the one the alien was going to eat. "Oops, they're not a regular; they're going to die before the episode is over."

Four main characters and a supporting cast of ten so far (not including one scene type characters).

Let's see. Ghosts of Ivy House...
Main characters: Tim, Ellie, Roger
Secondary but key characters: Connor, Pamela, Owen
Named minor characters: Lanzo, Alessandro, Gracie
Minor characters: 4 operatives, library dude, girl at cafe, guy at cafe, bodyguard, 7 henchmen, Tim's parents.

So in all, 25 people appear in the course of the novel.

2 main characters.

10 supporting characters.

I'm starting out with 1400 characters but that is before my novel starts so I'll let you know.

It's science fiction with people going to a different planet to colonize it. So there ya go.

I really need Family Tree Maker so I can keep track of who is related to who.

What a fun thread!

I've four main characters. I've...at last count...6 or 7 additional POV characters. Then there's a very large cast of secondaries, including my villains.

I'm sure some of those won't survive the editing, but my novel is a big messy sprawl at the moment. Keeping track isn't hard...it's rather like keeping track of all of your relatives. I know who they are.

6 main characters; 5 POV's and a support cast.
And they're all killing me.

Wow... I just counted all the characters I currently have in my primary WIP.

83

Most are minor, though. Only appearing in one or two chapters.

8 of them I would classify as main characters.

I make a list of all the characters who appear or are mentioned--all the characters that are named.