Writing a Playbill for a Complex Series

[MrPixel]

This has been discussed before, the creation of a standalone story or long preface outlining the characters in a story. IIRC, some considered it pretentious, others superfluous. However...

...the apparent need for a meta-story has raised its ugly head with the polyamory tale I've been writing for several months, starting with Barstow. It's a tale of two swinger couples who have joined forces spreading their interpretation of joyous, loving sex both at home and across most of the Sun Belt. The problem is the most recent stories about their hosting swinger parties at their home, where I have received criticism for "too many characters and too much action," the implication being that it was unreadable, duly rewarded with uncalled-for one-bombs which killed its red 'H'. My pushback, more or less, is that we're having a swinger party here, the more, the merrier.

Now the series may not exactly amount to War and Peace, but, yeah, there are a bunch of characters accumulated along the way, some appearing in previous stories and referenced in current writing. The most recent published example has 16 named characters. The next story, a sub-series of three chapters about to be uploaded about a big Super Bowl-themed swinger party, has by my count around 33 named characters, most in the action, a handful merely referential.

I would estimate the full story line has something in the neighborhood of 60-70 characters, probably more; I haven't counted yet. But I will admit that even I had to create a spreadsheet to keep track of the who's who at the big swinger bash. For the meta-story, I'm thinking along the lines of the TV series outlines we see on Wikipedia or IMDB, where there is a table or index of characters and which episodes they appeared in. A character index, in other words. I did this for a previous series and received no meaningful comment one way or another.

Suggestions? This is a big task, and if the real answer is "go back and read the whole series if it bothers you," I can deal with that, too. But that's a lot of reading just to catch up.

 

[joy_of_cooking]

The most recent published example has 16 named characters. The next story, a sub-series of three chapters about to be uploaded about a big Super Bowl-themed swinger party, has by my count around 33 named characters,

Can you write fewer characters? Reduce more of them to less important roles? Follow a smaller set of viewpoint characters as they wend their way through the crowd?

I'm guessing the large cast is important to your swinging theme, and so is making them all developed characters.

Nonetheless, that large an ensemble cast would overwhelm a lot of readers. I think I can name 60-70 people in real life. Maybe. I won't know most of them that well. I don't have it in me to keep track of that many people, even real people I mostly like and care about. I'm definitely not going to do it for a story.

If reducing the cast is unacceptable, then, sure, a dramatis personae is a fine mitigation.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

In most of my stories, my character count frequently hits dozens, with the largest number of characters in a story reaching 62.

These are typically stand-alone novels that allow readers to be introduced to characters, and more easily track them through the story than multiple individual chapters or series episodes would do.

If your idea is to create a separate file for a list of characters (playbill, as you called it), I am curious how this would get posted so that its intention would be obvious, and whether Laurel would accept it.

 

[MrPixel]

If your idea is to create a separate file for a list of characters (playbill, as you called it), I am curious how this would get posted so that its intention would be obvious, and whether Laurel would accept it.

Apparently not a problem. Here's the one I mentioned for another series, posted last year: Off Campus 00 - Character Outlines

I don't intend this next one to be nearly as descriptive.

Nonetheless, that large an ensemble cast would overwhelm a lot of readers. I think I can name 60-70 people in real life.

Apparently I have a knack for remembering people, even my imaginary friends. But yeah, the large ensemble of varied personalities sort of makes the story, at least to me.

 

[ElectricBlue]

How is a playbill going to help.? Trying to follow sixty or seventy characters through their sexual shenanigans sounds like ridiculous prospect, to me. Are you meant to identify with any of them, as the reader?

I can see how you might have varied positions, but varied personalities? It's no wonder Group readers are so unresponsive, they're exhausted trying to figure out who is up who and who's paying for the taxi!

 

[mildlyaroused]

I would say don't create any sort of index. It feels a little tacky when there's a list like that at the start of the story, and on Lit it's not the same as a physical book; it's difficult to flick back and forth from the front page.

The reality is that if the characters are interesting enough, the readers will remember who they are. If they're not interesting enough to be remembered, why are they interesting enough to have an index? Permit us to forget some of them. Also, tactful exposition is art.

 

[MrPixel]

It's no wonder Group readers are so unresponsive, they're exhausted trying to figure out who is up who and who's paying for the taxi!

Love it!

I tend to make the personalities the focus rather than the sex itself. More often than not, the sex is what happens after the scene cut-away. Plenty of references to it, but, no, I don't get into the mechanics of the physicality unless it enhances the story, usually in a humorous way.

At least in this particular story you don't necessarily have to recall the 30+ characters. Most of the "action" is the hosts greeting their guests at the front door, and only a few key players are recalled in the story line.

I would say don't create any sort of index. It feels a little tacky when there's a list like that at the start of the story,

Definitely not at the front. Like my example with the other series, a separate "chapter" if you're interested in bringing it up. Like I said, it'll be a lot of work to build this story index. I'll upload the current work without doing something along those lines, but if I get feedback similar to what prompted this idea, I might reconsider.

 

[Paul_Chance]

I'd say give it a try. I'd be curious how many people actually look at it.

 

[MrPixel]

I'd say give it a try. I'd be curious how many people actually look at it.

If the previous attempt at this is any indication, plenty - 2.8K readers in 18 months, which put it roughly in the middle of the readership for the full series. Scoring and voting was mediocre - 3.6/11, but that was fully expected considering it was a meta-story.

 

[Paul_Chance]

If the previous attempt at this is any indication, plenty - 2.8K readers in 18 months, which put it roughly in the middle of the readership for the full series. Scoring and voting was mediocre - 3.6/11, but that was fully expected considering it was a meta-story.

Then I would say it's worth doing, for those readers who are trying to follow the story closely.

 

[Britva415]

If the storytelling isn't carrying the reader along and providing the relevant clues at the points where it will matter, then a playbill won't help a hell of a lot. It could help motivated readers remember who's who, but a lot of them won't be, referring to it will be a distraction, and it won't fill in for the shortcoming in the writing.

I'm sure many of us have read novels with a character playbill at the beginning. To me that is a signal that the writing won't be as good as some big, lots-of-characters novels I have read which didn't selfconsciously need to provide the playbill.

Of course, a large novel can be so bad that the absence of a playbill makes its problems even worse, but

 

[ElectricBlue]

At least in this particular story you don't necessarily have to recall the 30+ characters. Most of the "action" is the hosts greeting their guests at the front door, and only a few key players are recalled in the story line.

Now I'm even more puzzled. You've got a story made up entirely off air kisses and, "Darling, I love those shoes, and put the wine in the fridge, the kitchen's right down the hall. Derryn, you brought pizza!"?

You Group guys are weird, just sayin'

 

[MrPixel]

Now I'm even more puzzled. You've got a story made up entirely off air kisses and, "Darling, I love those shoes, and put the wine in the fridge, the kitchen's right down the hall. Derryn, you brought pizza!"?

You Group guys are weird, just sayin'

You assume there's no "ohgawd how I missed you!" sex happening in the foyer.

 

[ElectricBlue]

You assume there's no "ohgawd how I missed you!" sex happening in the foyer.

Where are you, the Hilton? Even my Fantastic Hotel foyer ain't that big!

 

[MrPixel]

Nice houses in our area have foyers. Small hallways.