: Re: Balancing loads of equally-important characters If you have a dozen good guys, but four of them are the protagonists and the other six are more in the background, it's not that hard to skew

@Jamie945

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From what I've experienced, you don't need to give everyone equal spotlight.

Take Star Wars for instance. Darth Vader has considerably less screen time and fewer lines than Han Solo or Luke Skywalker, but nevertheless he's an icon and one of the most memorable parts of the film. It isn't about duration: it's about quality. A well-crafted character can make their mark in a tenth of the time it takes for a lesser character.

Trust your subconscious bias, but don't let it seize control. Your subconscious is biased because there's a reason to be biased: some characters may be legitimately more interesting than others. Make sure you're being honest with yourself: do all your plot threads truly have equal importance? Don't try to squeeze something out of it if it isn't there, just because you wanted it to be there. Your story may need re-envisioning. But like I said, don't let the subconscious seize control, or next thing you know you'll be ignoring other parts of the story. That's a bad thing :) Balance your intuition with your intellect.

Last tip, look at how other writers did it. Stephen King is renowned for managing huge casts of characters simultaneously. Then there's Lord of the Rings. Or, watch an ensemble-style tv show or movie. The same techniques carry over. Lost and Heroes are good examples, as are Grey's Anatomy and a number of other medical shows which follow a large number of hospital workers. 12 Angry Men is a classic courthouse movie which follows a single conversation between 12 people: this may be one of the best examples I can offer. Just look at the time allotment they give to different characters, and think about how that time allotment is used, and why it was used that way, which means thinking about how that time slot contributes to the overall storyline. Nothing helps better than carefully soaking in the techniques of a more experienced author over time. Skill is never gained instantly.

Good luck!

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