Comments on: Cutting Characters You Love

By: annastan

annastan — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 22:16:14 +0000

Thanks, Anne. You’re right about sprawling plots caused by too many characters! I was guilty of one of those myself. Luckily some character-hacking did the trick. Happy writing!

By: Anne R. Allen

Anne R. Allen — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:58:21 +0000

Very useful post. So many beginning novels suffer from too many characters. They make the plot sprawl. This is essential advice I haven’t seen often enough.

By: annastan

annastan — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:46:23 +0000

Thanks, Mary! You’re absolutely right about a change of POV giving you a new perspective on a story. I tell my students that if they’re stuck, they should try writing the scene from the POV of the kitchen table.

By: Mary

Mary — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:20:26 +0000

What a great article! I haven’t necessarily had to cut too many characters completely (yet), but I have definitely altered the focus of a story or two by changing POV characters. Sometimes, when my story isn’t working, it helps to look at it through the eyes of another character.

By: annastan

annastan — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 22:21:10 +0000

Thanks, Carrie! Haha, I know the spider is really creepy. I found it when I did a Google search for “scissors” – once I saw its sharp little limbs, I knew I had to use it.

By: Carrie

Carrie — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 22:16:22 +0000

Your scissor spider is the scariest freaking thing I think I’ve ever seen. Seriously.

Also, great post!

By: Jon Arntson

Jon Arntson — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 17:10:58 +0000

For sure Anna! Hm, mine would be about an innocent little girl with an affinity for trapping insects and a French mime.

Now you know why the were cut.

By: annastan

annastan — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:11:14 +0000

Okay Jon and John, one of us is going to have to write that book! Or I suppose we can each write one for our own written-out characters. Mine would be about a giant talking bird, a drunk fairy, and a mouthless princess. Talk about a colorful cast of characters, huh?

By: John Rea-Hedrick

John Rea-Hedrick — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 15:57:49 +0000

Regarding the book of written out characters, I’m thinking more something like “The Land of the Misfit Characters” (ala Land of the Misfit Toys) where characters from all sorts of genres find themselves when their respective authors don’t want them anymore.

The story could be about them coming terms with their misfit status and the reasons they don’t quite work. (Character self-aware, self-improvement in action?) Forming alliances, plotting and scheming for and against each other. All of them vying within the story to be the main character in a new story of their own as they all try to free themselves from the island forever.

What a read (and a write) that would be!

By: Jon Arntson

Jon Arntson — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:25:53 +0000

Haha, that’s funny. A collection of short stories along those lines could be hilarious.