In a post on Writer Unboxed, Tessa Barbosa offers advice for creating strong individuals among your large cast of characters. Even in a long novel with a sprawling story, most secondary characters won’t have enough page time to become real to the reader. So how can you make them distinct enough so that the reader doesn’t get confused?
Barbosa suggests a few tricks.
- Give each character a defining visual cue. Readers might not remember every secondary character’s name, but they will remember a scar, ponytail, or specific article of clothing your character is never without. The trick is to pick an element that is always present, so that your reader associates it with the character, even when they haven’t been seen for a while.
- Make sure your character names aren’t too similar. “You can do this by using different letters of the alphabet to name your characters or different ending sounds if characters use the same letter,” Barosa says. In Bridgerton, the eponymous siblings are named in alphabetical order, oldest to youngest.
- Consider speaking patterns. “Characters may use different slang or idioms depending on their age, personality, or relationship to other people,” Barbosa notes. “Do they curse? Are they polite? Are they formal? Do they joke around? Are they sarcastic? Do they have a favorite phrase?”
- Don’t name characters that aren’t important. “I kind of think of this rule as the literary equivalent to Star Trek’s Red Shirts,” Barbosa writes. “You don’t need to name them, because they won’t be around long.”
