Let's talk about... large and small casts of characters
I'm going to admit this up front: I have a shit memory.
For NaNoWriMo 2017, I decided to break out of my comfort zone and write a murder mystery. It's great. I'm tooting my horn like a mutha here, but it's great... because it turned into a drama/mystery/horror story instead of a formulaic Who-did-the-thing, Scooby-doo-easy, 3spoopy5me, romantic-sub-plot-goes-here fest... 520Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaRp9i6iFjw
But let me reiterate something: I have garbage for synapses. I can't keep my beckys and my bethanys separate. I can't remember if that one guy lost his gun or recovered it. Where is the fucking dog in this scene? Did I remember to drop that hint back in chapter three? Did I leave the stove on? Is my transformer still plugged in? Have I showered today?
If I took a shot for every time I have had to struggle to remember something, I'd be dead at half-passed seven... if I even remembered to wake up that early.
So, why the heck did I chose to write a mystery novel? Tis a trifold affair. One: because fuck it, right? Two: because I needed to practice actually ending something for once. Three: because I am not a mystery writer... and maybe, I figured, my outsider's perspective might help breathe some life into the genre.520Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWiPG6oMPwY
I researched... a lot. Holy shit, did I. I researched ASL, BSL, regional weather, and British/Scottish/Cajun/Midwestern-American slang. I saved picture after picture. I drew... a lot. I wrote poems to help me remember things. I outlined the plot (for the first time in my life as a writer), and wrote chapter blocks on note cards. I wrote on napkins, backs of business cards, on the backs of my hands, and on the inside of a bathroom stall (not my prettiest graffiti.) I utilized weird programs like Skriptify, Blurb, Google Docs, InkShadow, and Unifi... and ended up using Google Docs.
But here we are at the crux... at the point of all this rambling...
I hate writing more than, like, maybe five characters. HOLY SHIT, do I ever.
The Private Life of Devra R. Dragovich has 49 named characters in it.
I must hate myself, right? I had to use Microsoft Excel to keep track of all the dumb bullshit--like that one-guy-in-the-gas-station's mom's maiden name. Eye color, hair color, weird body marks, interesting features, their dog's family history, if they like traditional Pad Tai or nah, if they're dead... et al.
Grim Lil' Gay Goslings, I was banging my head open on any available surface.
Character rosters are the most harrowing thing I've ever had to design and then keep track of. And oh! The changes! What if a character has a massive appearance change? What if they got knocked in the noggin' and switch personalities? What if a handful of characters got killed off and I didn't want them popping up again by accident. What was I meant to do then?! Oh well, let's make another freaking Excel cheat sheet with all the dynamic characters... just so we can keep track of EVERYTHING I'VE ALREADY FORGOTTEN BY NOW.
Jesus Bologna-frying Christ. This is why I had never tackled a real mystery before. There's too much to remember! These characters are a delight, don't get me wrong... but it's like trying to write a dinner party murder mystery utilizing every fighter from every fighting game roster on the market--including the free-to-play, B-rate-anime, beat 'em ups on XBox Live Arcade (--Gosh, that really takes me back). *Rips out hair*
So... all this being written... I've discovered something about myself as a writer, and about writing in general. I've discovered that I can handle a large cast of characters and give each person their due, and still remain true to the themes, the plot, and the development of the main characters--who are ultimately the only ones who matter.
I've also discovered that this, like the last brownie I attempted to make and eat too, is incredibly hard. It makes for a satisfying reading experience, seeing everything come together in the end, but from a writer's perspective, it's like finishing a piece of complicated lacework. It looks pretty. It looks expensive. You just spent 235 hours creating it. But you know that within the first hour of someone wearing it, they're gonna drag it through some ketchup... and then blame you.
In conclusion, I've decided that whether or not you have a cast of five characters or 50 characters or god-forbid-George R. R. Martin-levels-of-in-excess-of-400 characters... you can do it. It just all depends on whether or not you'd like to go out on a Friday night... or spend three hours cycling through every instance of the name "Becky", just so you can change the spelling to "Bethany"... and then to "Betheny"... and then back to "Becky"... because you couldn't remember which one meant "Ties that Bind" and which one meant "House of Figs".
Cheers! --Blondie
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