How Many Characters?

[SirBurnInside]

I tend to keep my cast small... mostly just the people who are going to be involved in the sexy shenanigans, and then a few cursory people to fill out the story plot who get mentioned or have a line of dialogue in passing to move things along and make the world in my tale a little more real.

My stuff tends to be more stroke stories than long drawn out plot building so I keep the additional people to a minimum, but I do have verbal diarrhea when it comes to writing my sex scenes, using way more words than some people like... but then again others tell me they love it, so hey-ho!

 

[djrip]

I had 10 in the story with my largest cast. All the residents of a very small dorm, the RA, and a visitor.

Oh and there was the one in a classroom with about the same number of students, their teacher, and a volunteer anatomy model.

For the most part, the only characters in my stories are the participants in what goes down, so to speak. With a couple of small exceptions.

 

[HBuff]

I've noticed a lot of stories out there start bleeding in an ever growing ensemble cast and then forgetting or under developing previously major cast members.

I try to avoid that. I want readers to feel attached to the main cast, and to know them and their individual personalities. I will throw in people as needed as a story goes along, but I try very hard to keep a right focus around a central set of people and a main protagonist. I want my stories to be about that protagonist and the people close to them. And 'the people close to them' should not be the 'fetish of the week', but the people close to them.

I was guilty of this when I started out. It is easy to get tempted by the addition of new characters, and then you end up with a story that's "all over the place".

My first erotica story ever was non-consent (non on Literotica) and it was about a Belgian Major, his wife and his daughters in Congo when the garrison mutinies in July 1960. First of all, just one wife and one daughter would have been enough, especially for a first story. There were a profusion of rape scenes that were underdeveloped, and many minor characters such as a Lieutenant and his young and pretty wife, who gets bucked by the entire platoon.

The end result was a mess! It was all over the place!

The basic premise was sound for a rape fantasy story --- the garrison runs amok and the troops decide that it's time to get even with the elite. There was the potential for a powerful story, meant for readers with such fantasies.

I'm writing a similar story here, in French, and it's vast with many different characters, but it always comes back to the same cast of main characters, and most new characters have a relationship with some of the main cast. The Congolese garrison is a main character in itself. These soldiers are not faceless rapists. They have their motivations, their hopes and desires; they do not rape simply for the sake of raping; most of them usually prefer Congolese women, but the idea of forcing intimacy with white women is a very powerful aphrodisiac for a great many of them as they break a huge taboo. This story is set in 1960.

I'm not the one who will say "start out with a short and simple story". If you feel like writing a longer, more complex story, then do it. You will make mistakes and learn from them. Every writer makes mistakes, at least from time to time. Lol.

 

[AchtungNight]

This is intended to be another 'tell us about your work' type thread - no agenda, no particular help sought, just a lot of shooting the breeze about how we write.

Today's question is how many characters do you tend to have in your stories? If your immediate response was 'how every many the story needs', then do you often find your stories need large ensemble casts? What's the most characters you every put in a story (of how many words)? Have you ever written a story with exactly two characters in? (One for Toys/Masturbation). Really? Are you sure the barkeep didn't pour them a drink, or the hero's wondered what his mother would think if she could see him now? Of course, that's another discussion about what exactly constitutes a character.

A couple of possibly useful terms for types of character. (feel free to add your own or to wrangle my definitions)

A mentioned character - doesn't actually appear in the story, but is mentioned in passing. While it's possible for a mention to cast a long shadow, mainly they're just there for colour.
An influencer character - a character who actually helps shape or influence the plot in some way or acts at least slightly outside their expected roles - a barkeep pouring a drink cause the hero's down isn't an influencer, one who suggests that he talk to the lonely blonde in the corner is, even if that's his only line.
Sexual characters - those who take part in the the sex scenes of the story either with the MC or in their own trysts accidentally or intentionally witnessed by the MC.
Allies - those who help the main character(s) acheive the goal of the story.
Antagonists - those who prevent the main character(s) achieve the goal in the story.
Rivals - those who compete alongside the MC for the hand of their beloved.
Choice Characters - or maybe the MC needs to figure out who their one true love actually is as part of the story - it could be anyone?
B-Plot Characters - characters who are important enought in the story that they get their own encounters, growth and resolution arcs.

My own record for maximum named characters is 12 in the space of 8,500 words (including the male and female MCs) - This was in the context of 'business hospitality at a strip club' so I ended up with 3 men from the main firm, 3 men from the customer firm and 6 female strippers to accompany each of them. Within that word count, it's impossible to draw everyone in detail and inevitably a lot of words were used on the physical descriptions of the ladies. It worked okay and was necessary for that shape of story, but did persuade me that I needed to be really careful about how many people I let into my stories.

From the opposite end, I've done a fair few stories which have featured only or nearly only two characters, but other people creap in round the edges (a best friend who communicates only with text messages, another customer in the late night shift). I'm not sure that completely isolating characters is desirable (but maybe for certain stories it can be), but in writing this thread, I've found myself thinking 'that story only has two' only to remember a few seconds later that there were more people featured.

This is an old thread I'm bumping and time is limited, so I won't say much. My biggest single ensemble story on Lit at this time is probably Counseling, what with its cast as follows-

Protagonists/Sexual Characters/Main Leads- Erika, Alicia, Evan, Marisol, Jodie Lee.
Allies- Asher the Gypsy, Manson (supporting Evan but actually hurting her with abusive relationship, per her fans and her own later assessment), Dane once he wised up, Brando, Doug Ramsay as offscreen ally slash writer, Baxter and Nadine, Melissa helping Erika take down Jessica; Leah and other friends of Erika who infiltrate party to work against Proposition 8, Josh Brolin on TMZ, Nathan Fowler dating Alicia, the party security guards and staff.
Antagonists- Gary the idiot tabloid junkie, Jessica and her three minions, Kirk Cameron, Mickey Rourke.
Greater Scope Antagonists who don't get punished much in the story but hopefully will in other stories or real life- Manson, Miscavige, Joe Feshbach, Ted the tabloid promoter, Harvey Levin, Jenna Elfman, Tom Cruise.
Side Plots- Brangelina vs Jennifer Aniston, Madonna's failed marriage, Lindsay's drug troubles, Michelle's grief over Heath Ledger, etc.
Influencers- Erika's family helping motivate her as they did in my ficverse, Evan's brother Ira supporting both her and their mutual friend Dane in their bad situations, Kirk's family asking Erika to get him off the God shtick and drop his ego, others.
Cameos- the cast of Dork Tower and many other characters at the costume party, many of whom are co-splaying as other characters so I can mention them as well. Let us not forget Chuck Norris teaching my characters martial arts they may never use but it's still awesome to include it and thus give that giant some fan appreciation!
Many other characters and situations are woven into this, too many to count the complete number of characters used or note everyone's role nearly 15 years after I published.

Fans can go read the story for how I wove this all together, and know that it is connected to my other works also (link in my profile), if you want to read and review those please do. I must go now, other things in my life need me. Please answer this thread if you like. Farewell.