: Re: How should I introduce multiple characters without it being repetitive? In my story, I have 8 characters I really want to focus on, which is already a pretty large cast to begin with. At the

@RJPawlick285

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Okay, it is a difficult problem. I think I would group the characters into groups of 3 and 5. The human brain likes patterns and grouping things together. That's also how some people can count really fast. Or think about how people have a certain pattern for remembering their phone number.

So, you could start with 3 friends and then have a certain event happen. Something out of the order (sci-fi event) happens which gets the story rolling and catches the reader's attention. You can start giving context through dialogue. Also, telecommunications can be useful to link two different events at separate locations sharing the same time window.

I think you could describe your characters by describing the world and point of view of the main characters. Indirectly, by shaping the world, you're also defining the characters (in the philosophy of Alan Watts). The outside world is as much part of the characters, as the characters are part of the outside world. At some point in space and time you can have the storyline overlap with that of the other 5 characters, whether they meet or not. By already having described the world you can reduce the need for adding extra context later on.

It's all right if you wait a few chapters before introducing the other characters, even when the are part of the conflict. I think withholding certain information can make it more interesting. Timing is important.

Let's say each of your eight characters get some superpower around the same time. The three friends do not have to know about the other five guys. They may get persecuted, but they do not have to know by who exactly. This way you can share storylines without the reader knowing yet that there is an other storyline. This is one way to give information without being repetitive.

So interweaving storylines by a shared world is a possibility.
Another possibility I can think of is teleportation or space-time jumps where a character moves between different worlds. You can use that character to switch between storylines or settings.

Eight storylines might be difficult. I think Lord of the Rings had three storylines. Cloud Atlas had six storylines if I remember correctly, but the timelines of the stories were separated.

So, eight characters is doable and eight events is possible too. Eight parallel storylines might be asking too much.

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