Suzie’s House 453 : Entirely Too Many Characters

I tried to resist, but the rice crackers weren’t cutting it. I filched a cookie off the plate in the middle of the table.

“Lisa, before I say anything more about your writing, help me eat these cookies. I really shouldn’t be eating them, but they are too tempting.”

“You don’t have to make them for us,” Lisa said, but she dutifully crunched into one. She may have done it to pacify me, but seemed to enjoy it once she started.

“Maybe I shouldn’t.” Especially if they left any behind. I’d gain ten pounds just breathing in the sugar-laden air.

“No, no! They’re great!” Ben gulped down some milk before grabbing another cookie as though they might suddenly become scarce and were all the rage.

“Alright. Where were we? Right. Party scenes can be a bit trickier than battle scenes because the individuals tend to stand out more with less excuse to ignore them.” I paused while savoring the rich, ginger and molasses flavor. “Still, there are techniques for handling them.”

Lisa nodded, looking up with earnest interest. Ben had his attention bent to his manuscript so tightly that he didn’t even notice the cookie crumbs gradually coating it. I tried not to look.

“Having Isabella survey the room as she enters is fine, but this inventory list of who is there will not substitute for an anchor.” I pointed to the top of the first page. “If you have trouble figuring out what details you need, look to your emotional arcs.”

Lisa bit her lip. “I still don’t get emotional arcs.”

“Okay, look.” I pulled the print out closer. “Always give the reader something to have an emotional reaction to. It can be as little as an attitude like “This guy is a jerk”, or as big as a crying jag. In your scene, I recommend picking one overall feel. Is this supposed to be a fun party? Is it getting out of control? Is it quiet but pleasant? Is it tense and sullen? Is if filled with false gaiety? You’ve got a mish-mash of everything. I can’t decide which to react to.”

My questions, meant to be examples of how to look at it, were too much for her. Lisa burst out with explanations.

“It all started with Giles asking Hope to the prom. But Hope is secretly in love with Derek, so she says no. And then Eba overhears them and she likes Giles, so she buts in and tries to get him to ask her to the prom, but he’s really dense. And just when she’s asking, they get interrupted because Grantley walks right into the lockers right in front of them and bumps Gram, who whips out some brass knuckles, but Ginger stops the fight. That was in a part of the book I haven’t shown you yet because it’s not all the way written yet.”

“That’s an awful lot of characters whose name starts with ‘G’. Any chance one or two could be changed?”

“Oh. Um. Change their names? Can I do that?”

“You might want to consider it. I’ve had books slip completely out from under me or get blocked when I tried to change a character’s name, but none of these sound like the main characters anyway.”

“Uh, yeah, but they’re all important to the story. Like with Marcial and his motorcycle. He’s this guy who tries to come off as tough but really Gram is a lot tougher. And then there’s Brianna who’s in love with Marcial but rides with a bicycle group, which is where Dulce and Lotte come in, not to mention Ticho with the basketball club who’s in love with Dulce.”

“Wait. Who did you say this book is about?”

“All of them! So, you see, every character in the party has to be there.” She gave me the kind of self-satisfied smile that said the problems with her writing were all in my head. I ignored it.

“Even if everyone in the party is important to some other part of the book, not everyone has to speak or do anything of particular interest here.”

“But…”

“What you’re saying is these are all close friends, but the party is a little tense because these two have been fighting.” I pointed at a couple of names and hoped I wasn’t too far off.

“Right.” Lisa nodded firmly.

“Then when Isabella walks into the room, she should be able to see something that says how everyone feels about each other. Maybe… what were their names again?” I pulled the print out closer, but the page was chock full of names.

“Giles and Marcial.”

“You’d think such unusual names would stick with me better, but I swear it’s the other way around. I’d have a better connection with John and Frank.”

“So I have to change their names now?!” Lisa’s voice rose sharply.

“No, no.” I shook my head quickly, praying she didn’t go into a full-blown, frustrated-author melt down. “I was just thinking out loud.”

“All right. Okay. So, it’s fine.” She stared at the table.

“So is Giles the one who tipped over the motorcycle or was it Marcial?”

“It was Rudy.”

“Then why are Giles and Marcial arguing?”

“Giles made Rudy do it.”

I sighed, and leaned into the table with hand cradling the side of my head. “Does it really have to be so complicated?”

Lisa shrugged. She slipped another cookie off the plate.

Sometimes just handling one character was more than enough work.

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