Listing Your Cast of Characters
- Thread starter JT Woody
- Start date
I feel like it is spoilery. I also won't remember them all unless I read about them in connection to events and the story. So for me it feels a bit pointless.
If one feels they need a list of all the characters then I would suggest to put it in the back. But then why not list locations as well? Or even make a map?
No I won't list my characters. But I may make a map.
If one feels they need a list of all the characters then I would suggest to put it in the back. But then why not list locations as well? Or even make a map?
No I won't list my characters. But I may make a map.
I don't list my characters, but I don't mind the device. In books with a lot of characters, I appreciate having a reference for those, "now, who in the hell is he?" moments. It is easily skipped by readers who fear it will spoil the book.
Only if it's really, really, really, really necessary. Like the family tree in One Hundred Years of Solitude, where every character's name is a variation of Jose, Aureliano, or Buendia. Other than that, I can't think of another book that required a cast of characters in the beginning. Appendices are fine, like LoTR or Dune, but not in the beginning.
For my historical fiction novels, I feel I must. Because there are several characters named Julia, Drusus, Lucius and Gaius. So, I gotta make a cheat-sheet for my readers so they aren't lost. This, I will put at the beginning of the book so it's easy to find.
I would shy away from that, but it depends on context. To Romans, the most important part of the name was the cognomen, not the praenomen. So Caesar was mostly Caesar, not Gaius, Augustus was Octavius, also not Gaius. Could you not distinguish the characters in text by how you refer to them, as opposed to how other people refer to them?
Like, with modern names, we can do:
John Smith entered the room.
"Hi Ben," said Dave.
"Hello," answered Smith.
Then when there are scenes with more than one Smith, you can then distinguish them there by using their first names, if you need to.
An appendix at the back of the book is as easy to find, no? Then the reader doesn't have to turn to it unless they want to.
Dramatis personae!
I think it's most important for series with a large cast. I could go years in-between books, so it's nice when it's at the beginning of sequel novels.
I think it's most important for series with a large cast. I could go years in-between books, so it's nice when it's at the beginning of sequel novels.
I don’t think I write anything that would require or warrant that (at least, I haven’t yet), but the Warriors series I loved as a middle schooler did it. It’s almost necessary because there are so many characters.
Will I ever do it? Probably not. Do I appreciate it when it’s needed? Very.
Will I ever do it? Probably not. Do I appreciate it when it’s needed? Very.
IDK, guy. Ask them.
Juliet Marillier includes a cast of characters that appear throughout her historical fantasy series. She also has a pronunciation (gaelic) key, and origin of characters (briton, pict,, etc)
as well as Irish folklore characters and how their names are pronounced.
I didnt read the Warriors series like @GlitterRain , but I read the Guardians of Ga'hoole series, and Katheryn Laskey had the characters on the inside front and back covers of the book with their illustrations:
I figured, I might have a character list that would have their pronunciations and their origin (since a couple characters are from different clans)
@DLC, I think it’s really just a way for authors to help readers keep track of all the characters. The series I mentioned above, Warriors, by Erin Hunter, has like 30+ books in it across different arcs, including special editions, field guides, manga, and probably more (that was a good 13+ years ago when I was big into the series, so I’m a little rusty with remembering everything from it at this point). There are four clans in the modern setting, and each clan has probably 20 or so members. Even though the narrative mostly just follows one clan (and thus the character list is completely filled out for that one clan), remembering each character (cats) and what their role in the clan is can be a tall task for middle graders. Those lists they can go back and refer to are going to help readers keep track of the characters easier.
And I’m not in any way suggesting, by my example for middle-grade books, that adult books can’t or shouldn’t use this same tactic. Adults start books, get busy with life, and don’t get to continue reading it for a month and forget things about it. Lists like this would help those people get back into the book if there are a lot of characters to keep track of.
@JT Woody, I read Guardians of Ga’hoole, too! I completely forgot about the pictures, but I love that decision they made. I feel like the intention in that specific instance was probably to show middle graders that there are many species of owls, in addition to giving them characters to imagine when reading. Although my books don’t have a lot of characters, the idea of doing something like this strikes me as interesting because I like to draw my characters.
I learned the scientific names for owls from this series lol! And even tho i know owl species now, i still refer to them by their character ("Its a Twilight!" And "I saw a Sorin sitting on the church the other night".... my siblings get the references, haha! We passed around the books growing up)
