Ah, hello everybody. It's been a while since I posted anything on here: I've been busy with both life and my writing, the latter being the reason why I'm posting my own thread. This inquiry has likely been asked before, but I felt the need to start my own because, tbh, this is one of the problems holding me back.
From a reading standpoint, I love stories that involve Loads and Loads of Characters: from the Redwall series to the Alien Chronicles (the one starring Kitty Katt, not Ellen Ripley) to the Homestuck webcomic, I'm drawn to large casts, mostly due to the variety of personality, character growth, relationships, and the network of talents such a large group of people can offer to the plot. I think this started way back when I was little and saw a movie that had a big cast and pulled it off to awesome effect, becoming a family unit surviving on their own. And so I thought, "If they say right what you like/know, why can't I pull off a story with a big cast?"
I've got a cast of main characters and their supporting cast, that's not the part that's plaguing me: I am really good at character creation. My problem, unfortunately, is that I don't know how to apply those characters to the plot I've crafted. I mean, I know who they all are, I gave them all names and ages and talents, I know their relationships with one another, I know where they live (Setting and Antagonist have already been figured out; they were the first things that I focused on going into this idea), and I know their likes and dislikes.
But what I don't know is how to manage all 30 of them My sister says it's because that that's way too many for a main/supporting cast and maybe she's right, but I love all of them and I don't want to cut them out of the story. 16 of those 30 are the Main Characters, who most definitely can't be cut out of the story. The rest are the Support, who range from family members and best friends who stick by their loved ones amid a crisis to public officials who get sucked up into the events kicked off by the Inciting Event, including military (the knowledge of which I only know through movies and NCIS, hoo boy).
I...need help Does anyone know any Cast Management techniques? Am I in over my head?
From a reading standpoint, I love stories that involve Loads and Loads of Characters: from the Redwall series to the Alien Chronicles (the one starring Kitty Katt, not Ellen Ripley) to the Homestuck webcomic, I'm drawn to large casts, mostly due to the variety of personality, character growth, relationships, and the network of talents such a large group of people can offer to the plot. I think this started way back when I was little and saw a movie that had a big cast and pulled it off to awesome effect, becoming a family unit surviving on their own. And so I thought, "If they say right what you like/know, why can't I pull off a story with a big cast?"
I've got a cast of main characters and their supporting cast, that's not the part that's plaguing me: I am really good at character creation. My problem, unfortunately, is that I don't know how to apply those characters to the plot I've crafted. I mean, I know who they all are, I gave them all names and ages and talents, I know their relationships with one another, I know where they live (Setting and Antagonist have already been figured out; they were the first things that I focused on going into this idea), and I know their likes and dislikes.
But what I don't know is how to manage all 30 of them My sister says it's because that that's way too many for a main/supporting cast and maybe she's right, but I love all of them and I don't want to cut them out of the story. 16 of those 30 are the Main Characters, who most definitely can't be cut out of the story. The rest are the Support, who range from family members and best friends who stick by their loved ones amid a crisis to public officials who get sucked up into the events kicked off by the Inciting Event, including military (the knowledge of which I only know through movies and NCIS, hoo boy).
I...need help Does anyone know any Cast Management techniques? Am I in over my head?