: Re: How much can a reader remember? I've been writing some fantasy. Now, inevitably because its a big piece of fantasy, its all very involved with the world, culture, story and general bits. Personally,

@Goswami879

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Use epithets like the stories in the pre-literate oral traditions. by using a name or phrase that reminds you of a character's defining characteristic, it becomes much easier to remember them. The more unique or outlandish the characteristic, the easier it will be to remember the character. So, for your main characters, you can just use a simple common name like "Joe". But for some minor character who only shows up every 200 pages, call him something memorable and graphic like "Barfie the pirate" every time he is mentioned. You would be surprised how natural that writing style can feel after a few chapters. Look at the epithets of Homer for inspiration.

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