Adding more characters as the story moves forwards
I'm 20 and have been writing a lot of fiction since I was 11, and there is a story that I keep rewriting as I get older and learn more about writing and storytelling. Strangely I haven't done that much reading myself so the Dos and Don'ts are still a bit unclear.
The main problem I have right now is that the story centers around several characters that together have to search answers about their origin. But these characters are introduced over time - in the beginning there is only one character (the most important character) but further characters are introduced, each with their own separate storylines from their perspective. Is this a taboo in writing? Should I focus on one or a few characters from the beginning to prevent it from becoming confusing and annoying?
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1 answer
Sounds fine to me. George R.R. Martin's been doing it for about five thousand pages so far.
ETA: Martin makes the vast array of characters work by starting slow, with one family, and building outwards as the family splits apart and the members travel. Ned Stark goes from Winterfell to King's Landing, where we meet another family at the palace, which introduces us to the politics of the country. That's a springboard to other families, other castles, and more politics.
He also helps the reader by keeping to one POV per chapter, and naming the character at the top of the chapter, so you know who and where the plot is focusing on. (As some characters shift their internal identities, the names change as well, which is a nice touch.)
There's a huge character list with thumbnail descriptions at the end of each book, for those who have difficulty remembering who was doing what to whom six years ago when the last book was published, and several maps as well.
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