: How do I introduce a large cast in an interesting way I am currently writing a story about eleven college friends and a child. I don't want to just introduce them as "The Jock" or "The Delinquent,"

Vote Up Vote Down

@CrisSunami is spot-on: don't introduce all your characters at once. Don't start with a scene where they are all present - start with a few characters, then bring in more. Having a great many unfamiliar characters all at once is extremely confusing to the reader: imagine walking into a room with 12 people you've never met before, and you're expected to remember their names, who they are, what kind of people they are, within 10 minutes of conversation. Oh, and you can't see any of them. It's going to be very hard for you, won't it?

You might find it helpful to watch the first episode of any series with a large cast, like Star Trek - Next Generation or Firefly. Note how the main character(s) are the ones you start with, while the others are slowly introduced as the episode progresses. The episode is almost contrived in how it's structured - there's whatever reason for the characters not to start together.

A literary example could be G.R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, a series notorious for having a great many characters. In the first chapter of A Game of Thrones we are introduced to the Stark family, but not to all the Starks. In what is almost a contrived coincidence, the first scene takes place away from Winterfell. We are told Lord Stark has five trueborn children, but in the first chapter we only meet Robb and Bran, plus Jon and Theon. In the second chapter we meet Catelyn, but still not the other Stark children. In the third chapter we jump to Daenerys, but do not yet meet Khal Drogo. We meet the characters a few at a time.

Even if your characters all share the same environment, the same living space, etc., split them up. Find a way to introduce them slowly, let the readers get to know two or three characters before you introduce the next two or three. That's the only way the readers will be able to take it all in.

It's great if you can do like @MarkBaker suggests - introduce each character when the plot demands their presence. But if the plot "demands" the introduction of too many characters at once, tweak the plot, add a scene, split up the character introductions.

(0)

Vote Up Vote Down

Make them all participate in a game.

This can be any kind of a game - a recreational sports game (but no face masks please), a card game or a funny game at a party. Every participant should get in a spotlight, the spotlight can be moved quickly, and the gameplay hopefully should make the whole scene interesting rather than boring. As the game progresses, every player would get additional chance to get in a spotlight and have his or her character further developed.

(0)

Vote Up Vote Down

Don't introduce them all at once --that's not a story, that's a cast list. Bring them in one at a time, or in small groups, when needed by the storyline, and describe them in ways that illuminate their importance to the protagonist and the narrative:

There, standing outside the door was Rachel. Her once flame-red hair was now tinged with gray. As I saw her there, looking so much older, that torch I'd carried for her all those years flickered and finally went out.

That's only a couple of lines, but it tells you a bit about Rachel's physical description and her history with the narrator --and something about the narrator as well. If you do it this way, you can introduce the characters without bringing the story to a screeching halt, and all the descriptions will be unique, because they won't be following some cookie-cutter format. Each person will be described in a way that stems from his or her unique relationship to the protagonist.

(0)