Doing it multi-main char style

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ashes2jewels

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Hello, all! Fresh fish but I promise, no one-as far as my checking has gone-has asked this one in this forum. If it's in other forums then I shall humbly ask to be redirected.

Right.

I have a fantasy I already know will be a series. The other two books of the series are already outlines with a touch of WIPing. Now, my first one is in the 120K+ range and it has a lot of info dumps integral to the story. There are multiple mains in the series overall but I have only introduced a few in the first and planned the rest for the other books. Since I have joined this forum, I seen the evil of info dumps and am now wondering if writing what might appear to be mini stories would be a lesser evil. See, my main characters come from all over the map. My original idea was to have a bit of story hopping to introduce them until my main finds them. Currently, my world is complex, with rules and ways foreign to my first main who is pulling the story forward...and unfortunately dragging it out.

Now, this is what I want to do. I see my main plot interwoven with my other characters' tales as a way to move through time, SHOW instead of DUMP information to build tension and add depth as well as bring those characters out from the gates instead of simply finding them like a treasure hunt. The downside of this is the fact that, but for one character, none of these separate main characters will meet in book one. I am arguing with myself on this because I don't want it to appear as if I'm piecing short stories together. I think, if I can do it right, I can make the reader become invested with each of these main characters. Done right, I can leave the readers with this omnious feeling that something big is going to happen in this world and these characters they're hearing about are the catalysts.
What do you think, kiss of death, huge if-you-can-pull-it-off or...?
 

TheIT

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Welcome to AW! :welcome:

Might want to go to the Novels forum and check out the "Learn Writing with Uncle Jim" thread. Search for his "Celtic knotwork" theory of plotting. What you're describing about different character arcs interweaving sounds like something he did for his books. Different books followed the story as a whole from different character's POVs.
 

Smiling Ted

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What do you think, kiss of death, huge if-you-can-pull-it-off or...?

Welcome, welcome.

As a reader, if I had a book with a dozen different main characters who never connect with one another, I'd feel cheated. I certainly wouldn't buy book two, where they all meet.

It's okay to write separate books with different main characters set in the same universe. The books can even be internally simultaneous - their stories can run concurrently.
 

Nivarion

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Welcome, welcome.

As a reader, if I had a book with a dozen different main characters who never connect with one another, I'd feel cheated. I certainly wouldn't buy book two, where they all meet.

It's okay to write separate books with different main characters set in the same universe. The books can even be internally simultaneous - their stories can run concurrently.

I quote this because it is important to have something that ties them together. If each of them is on his own adventure, with his own happenings and never gets wind or word of the others then it may fall apart. Something needs to make them hold together.
magic swords, ancient artifacts, bastards of a good/bad guy, decedents of a good/bad guy. But they need to have something in common.

Another important thing I want to tell you about a series. The first book has to, HAS to be good enough that readers don't know its got a sequel until the last page that says "The story continues in "X"

I'm working on a longer bit of series right now and paid a lot of attention to making sure of this.

Another bit of advice, Write the first book in a part of the story line that readers don't need, but would enjoy. There is a large chance that your first book is going to be a "Trunk Book" and not be published until later when you re-write it and release it as a prequel.

A third bit of advice.
Info in book may not be as important as it seems.
Readers are going to want to throttle you if you keep giving them a bunch of information that is basically "Remember this until the next book in 'X' time." if the next book isn't out. Hell a lot of people are going to be mad at you if you have that kind of stuff in there at all.

Most of that stuff seems important to the author, and for the author it is. But to the average reader, not so much. Write all of that stuff in an encyclopedia of your work, if you come to a part where your reader must know it to understand then put it in.
A couple of nice things about that encyclopedia is that it can help to keep your facts, borders, countries, legends, etc. accurate, helping to suspend readers disbelief. The second use is that it can be thrown to the ravenous wolves fans to keep them off of you while you work on the sequel.
 

ashes2jewels

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Thanks!

Wow, you all are awesome and quick to respond. Thanks for your advice, it's loads better than my own thoughts have given me, as well as various how-to books. Since my name belongs and is known only to me, I have the advantage of trying it both ways for I have a deadline set only by God himself. I shall try knotting it on another document.
*Rubs evil hands together*
Then on yet another I shall fold it like a sword maker, heat and then pound on it until the sparks fly. When I am done forging the lil bugger...hehe...

Whichever one I like best, I'll go with!

Merci, Gracias and thank you!
 

ccv707

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Each of the last three novel-length manuscripts I've completed contain several main characters, the one before the last one (my fourth ms I believe) had somewhere in the realm of twenty main/central characters who narrated the story. They're all interrelated in one way or another, either by acquaintance or vicariously through other characters--like with yours, many of these people never physically meet one another. However, they all play an equally important part in the unfolding of the story. Of course, these are monstrous manuscripts, but I've divided the story arcs so that each ms can be printed as two, three, or four parts (depending on which ms it is). I like it when writers throw caution to the wind and employ multiple main characters, because it's one way to truly give a completely objective telling of the events of your story. Of course, there should always be a reason behind the madness of using multiple MCs.
 
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Patrice

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I like it when writers throw caution to the wind and employ multiple main characters, because it's one way to truly give a completely objective telling of the events of your story. Of course, there should always be a reason behind the madness of using multiple MCs.

Ahhh, a reader after my own heart. Some people dislike multiple MCs (vociferously dislike them, I've discovered), others like them. I like the way they give depth to a story. Whatever you do, decide what you personally like to read and write it that way.
 

knight_tour

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I'm with you people - I love multiple main characters and I am doing the same with my novel. ashes2jewels, if you have not read them already, I urge you to read the Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin, because he does this style brilliantly over an enormous story arc.
 

Karen Duvall

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Multiple main characters is fine, but I wouldn't introduce them until they play an actual part in the story. So if book one features one main character, that's the one you play up. Readers won't remember dumps of backstory on characters they're not even going to meet in the book they're reading. Be careful not to make your plot overly complicated.
 

ccv707

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Of course, there's no need to introduce a character that doesn't effect the plot for another fifty or a hundred pages. I have some main characters in the third and fourth ms that don't appear for several hundred pages.

You could also divide the ms into several sections, where in one section of the book is narrated by one character, and others are narrated by other characters, who at first served only supporting roles, so that you can explore each character from vastly different points of view--from one charcs pov, Sally might seem like the antagonist, but from hers, she might be doing things that serve a greater purpose that the other person doesn't realize, and so forth.
 
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