Cast List

[Rob_Royale]

My current project is, Passion at the Opera and my cast are the members of a theater company and associated locals. So far, fourteen and I'll likely end up closer to twenty. At some point, do you ever add a cast list? "Get your programs, can't tell the players without a program!"
I was thinking about adding one to the foreword. I have seen some in fiction before, but I can't think of any by name right now. Thoughts?

 

[ElectricBlue]

My current project is, Passion at the Opera and my cast are the members of a theater company and associated locals. So far, fourteen and I'll likely end up closer to twenty. At some point, do you ever add a cast list? "Get your programs, can't tell the players without a program!"
I was thinking about adding one to the foreword. I have seen some in fiction before, but I can't think of any by name right now. Thoughts?

Tolstoy found cast lists useful, but then he had a cast of hundreds. For erotica, I reckon if you need a list, you've got too many characters, or you're writing each one as an interchangeable card-board cut-out.

If you write each character with a vivid, memorable personality, surely you don't need a list?

 

[Bamagan]

My current project is, Passion at the Opera and my cast are the members of a theater company and associated locals. So far, fourteen and I'll likely end up closer to twenty. At some point, do you ever add a cast list? "Get your programs, can't tell the players without a program!"
I was thinking about adding one to the foreword. I have seen some in fiction before, but I can't think of any by name right now. Thoughts?

It's probably not a great idea to start with a list of 20-ish names before the action, although if the story is quite long it might not deter the folks who like to settle in for a marathon. Having to scroll and click back to the first page for a dramatis personae seems like a chore or irritation, though. Possibly it would work better to offer it as an afterword, and just mention at the start that it's available on the last page for reference for those who might want it.

 

[karina_jayde]

Tends to be pretty common in big fantasy works. I've read plenty with a dramatis personae at the start.

I included one in my Holiday contest entry last year, mostly because it was a story taking place in the context of a movie shoot, and some scenes were those within the movie itself. So I had all of the main 'real characters' as well as the parts they played to keep track of. I didn't get any complaints about including it and it's ony my most-loved stories, so including a cast list like that certainly doesn't hurt.

For yours in particular, a cast list is even more fitting, and it could even be presented as the actual program for the in-story production.

 

[Voboy]

I do a cast list for myself, to keep my characters and their relationships straight; as importantly, since I write in a sort of "universe," these lists provide me with background characters for future stories.

I'd never think to include them as a foreword. In general, if I thought I had too many "speaking" characters for the readers to keep straight, I'd cut some of those characters out. Massive casts help establish worldbuilding sometimes, but I rely on my readers to figure out who they need to pay attention to and who they can ignore a bit. Massive works, like my multipart SF series, got an appendix posted for interested readers; that did include a partial cast list.

The key is to limit yourself to exploring only those characters important to the plot, and to make them easily distinguishable by more than name. I do like the idea of presenting it as a mock playbill in your case, OP.

 

[Rob_Royale]

If you write each character with a vivid, memorable personality, surely you don't need a list?

I am working on that, truly.
@Bamagan, thanks, good suggestion.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

If you write each character with a vivid, memorable personality, surely you don't need a list?

For your main characters no, no list is necessary, but if you are writing a novel/novella with a dozen side characters or more, sometimes yes to manage continuity, yes a cast list becomes extremely useful, especially if you don;t write chronologically.

 

[NotWise]

I like the idea of building a program into the story to provide a list of characters. Putting it in context might be the challenge. I did something similar in one of my ballet stories, but in that case I only used the bio in the program to introduce the female protagonist.

 

[Cagivagurl]

Personally, I hate cast lists at the front of a story.
I love to see them surprise me as the story develops. New characters are a little life blood to an evolving tale.
They bring new perspectives and twists.
Being forewarned than one of the main characters has a past lovert, or new interest takes away the element of surprise...
I hate info dumps...
I love to see their traits appear from dialogue.

Cagivagurl

 

[pink_silk_glove]

Personally, I hate cast lists at the front of a story.

Oh, never actually put them in the story, that's tacky as all fuck. I thought that this thread was about using them in your writing notes.

 

[WCSGarland]

I thought this was a fishing thread at first.

 

[Naughtylit81]

I thought this was a fishing thread at first.

Well it could be if you are writing for the grouper sex category.

 

[MrStill]

I have probably somewhere near 100 characters in Mailgirls Down Under and when I reintroduce a character after a while, I borrow the style The Economist uses where they will refer to people the first time in an article like "and Joe Biden, the President of the US, said..." which they apply no matter who they are.
The few short words in parentheses presumably doesn't bother knowledgeable readers and gives others enough insight for them to get the context.

 

[Blind_Justice]

Pratchett & Gaiman did a cast list for "Good Omens" but I'm fairly certain it was done to set up/deliver some jokes instead of it being a necessary tool to alleviate potential reader confusion.

 

[Katie_Mae]

Character lists are realitively common in fantasy novels, or at least they used to be, its a while since I read a new fantasy novel. I've seen them at the end and beginning, the latter more common in books other than the first (eg a recap of characters at the beginning of book two in a series, consider that it may have been a year since many readers read the first.)

Examples off the top of my head are Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and Tad Williams Memory Sorrow and Thorn

 

[shelleycat1]

Cast list during writing; chopped before submission. The main reason is that so many stories get the names wrong or swapped and I want to avoid that. Also it helps keeping the details or relationships consistent

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I would consider the POV for the story and decide if a cast list being integrated into the story added value from that perspective.

My current project is, Passion at the Opera and my cast are the members of a theater company and associated locals.

Many of my stories have dozens of characters but these are told exclusively from a third-person omniscient perspective. As an example of how I might integrate a cast list into a story, I would probably have one or more of the locals reviewing the list, describing each character listed as someone that they were or weren't familiar with.

Having one, or a couple of characters listing or describing a large group of other characters gets your cast list written and makes it part of the story instead of an addendum that might appear cloddish.

 

[lovecraft68]

Putting it upfront could turn people away from the story "Jeez, look at all these people, this is too much." I'd introduce them as needed. There's no rule stating character limits.

Also, ignore the conceited twit from down under and his poorly veiled insults. If he were a 10th of the writer he thinks he is, he....wouldn't still be writing on a free site like the rest of us.

 

[Publius68]

I did a character list as a stand-alone story when I resumed Alistaire's tale. It had been a long time for readers, and I did not want to expect readers to go back and re-read the twelve prior chapters to keep everybody straight. It was @Rapierwit24601's idea, and a good one that was well-received. For series writers, it can make sense, especially after a long hiatus.

I ordinarily stop reading a story if the first thing I see is a Dramatis Personnae, though. In a stand-alone, I see one and just groan, 'This is going to be too much work to keep track of!'

 

[Rob_Royale]

Thanks very, everyone. I've decided to dispense with the cast list idea. And will just try to focus on the six or seven main characters and flesh them out thoroughly.

 

[Lifestyle66]

Thanks very, everyone. I've decided to dispense with the cast list idea. And will just try to focus on the six or seven main characters and flesh them out thoroughly.

Tell the story and build the characters into it.

When I open a story which starts with a list of characters, I close it without reading. When I go to the theater to watch a play, I don't start by reading the cast list. I watch the play and only glance at the program with the cast list if someone catches my attention.

Maybe it's the feeling that if you have to list and describe the characters up front before the story, to me, that might save time from actually writing a better story. But I don't want to expend the time memorizing the list. Ijust want to get on with enjoying the story.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

In fairness to Tolstoy, I don't think that he wrote the cast list for W&P. I think that the publishers added it years later.

The list is terrible too. It lists a couple of characters that are only in the first act and never heard from again. One of them only has ONE scene in like chapter 3 or something. Then there are some important characters like Bagration that figure heavily in later parts that aren't even listed.

 

[SinclairGroupLLP]

I don't know what I would do without my Character Guides. My first series is long - when I added all the parts together, it was something like 200k words, and that's bigger than most novels. I started it as an internal thing, to help me keep people straight, relationships, looks, my internal idea of how somebody should look. When I finished Part 1 of my series, I published it, because I knew that I had trouble reminding myself of character names, age (this was the hardest to work out) and when events occurred, readers probably would have trouble too. I waited until I dropped the last chapter to post it, since it's full of spoilers.

A lot of books I've read, from 40k stuff like the Horus Heresy, to technothrillers, like Larry Bond (who wrote with Tom Clancy) had them. I seem to recall Bond having them in a number of books I read.

For most stories, if you've just got handful of main characters, it's probably unnecessary, but it may be helpful if you plan on doing something longer. I would definitely not put it at the beginning of your first chapter, though. I don't know how many of us finish an entire series before we post something, and I know I've had to write and rewrite character stuff as it has changed during the creative process.

 

[MindsMirror]

We use Excel / LibreOffice Calc to keep track of characters. We have important dates, characteristics, names, nicknames, relationships etc to keep our little universe straight.

Recently, we were working on a story that had enough complication that we thought a character list might be useful in the text. We're considering an HTML table.

<table style="width:80%">
<tr><th>Name</th><th>Charactor</th></tr>
<tr><td>John Smith</td><td>Georgio</td></tr>
<tr><td>Anne Smith</td><td>Star</td></tr>
</table>

 

[lovecraft68]

We use Excel / LibreOffice Calc to keep track of characters. We have important dates, characteristics, names, nicknames, relationships etc to keep our little universe straight.

Recently, we were working on a story that had enough complication that we thought a character list might be useful in the text. We're considering an HTML table.

<table style="width:80%">
<tr><th>Name</th><th>Charactor</th></tr>
<tr><td>John Smith</td><td>Georgio</td></tr>
<tr><td>Anne Smith</td><td>Star</td></tr>
</table>

Welcome back! Haven't seen you here in a long time.