Evicting characters http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/plot-doctoring/threads/50205 Aneith Sorry for asking for help again. I'm afraid I'm a little too attached to my characters to let them go, but I have a house full of eleven people. Care to offer opinions on which ones should be evicted? The house belongs to a vampire (Lucas) and a demon (Ka'al) and is the go-to place for any monster that needs a place to stay and/or help adjusting. This may end up kind of like a soap opera with monsters (in deeds and attitudes as well as species). Oh yeah and almost all of them are evil. Not sociopaths exactly, but lacking in morals. These are the characters: Lucas (vampire)- He stays. Conan (werewolf)- He is angsty, but he's kind of the MC (sort of), so he stays. Hex (warlock)- He is one my favourite characters and pretty important to the plot (aka he's the "wizard" that did it and without him, there would be no Molly or Ben). He stays. Molly (animated doll)- She was created by Hex to be the perfect girlfriend. Unfortunately for him, he forgot that he may not be what she wants in a boyfriend. She likes him as a friend, but has been rejecting his romantic advances since she was created. Benjamen (zombie)- He is a sentient (it's a long story) zombie who was accidentally animated by Hex. During the story, he mourns his death, struggles with a loss of identity (long story), eats brains, and has an affair with Theodore. Theodore (frankenstein monster)- He is caring, emotional and one of the few good people in the house and struggles because of it. He also struggles with a failing marriage to Dorothy which ends when he has an affair with Ben. He may also grow disgusted with the other residents of the house and leave at some point (he may or may not die). Dorothy (bride of frankenstein/mad scientist)- After she got over the shock of being created, she grew fascinated with how became a mad scientist herself. She is cold, analytical, and evil. During the story, her marriage is falling apart and ends when she finds out Theodore was cheating on her with Ben. She is close friends with Hex and may possibly get together with him once she gets over Theodore. Ka'al (demon)- He and Lucas have been best friends/partners in crime for centuries and are the owners of the house. He is the Silent Bob to Lucas's Jay and is just as or more evil. He has a mischievous streak. Not many people find his "pranks" funny since they often end up killing, maiming, hurting, and/or seriously frightening people. He is secretly in love with Sarah. Sarah (ghost)- She was burnt as a witch thanks to a prank Lucas and Ka'al played in her hometown. To punish them, she has been haunting them ever since. She is generally angry, vengeful, and jealous. She hates almost everyone in the house. Why does she stick around? Maybe she no longer hates everyone as much as she claims to. I don't know how that happens yet. Ka'al is secretly in love with her. Kurt (alp)- He's mischievous, but less harmful than Ka'al and Lucas. He may be less evil mainly because he just feeds on dreams. However, he can also possess people and doesn't quite understand boundaries. He is a fan of swashbuckling action and romance. So far, he has no part in any plot ideas, but I am reluctant to get rid of him because alps are cool. Meredith (mermaid)- She is gorgeous, a diva, and drowns people for fun. At least, she used to. Now, she is mainly confined to the pool unless Hex gives her legs. So far, I have some plot ideas for her, but I could give most of them to Molly. Mon, 13 Feb 2012 20:27:08 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/plot-doctoring/threads/50205?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1137649 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/plot-doctoring/threads/50205?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1137649 Itzika Do you have to evict them? Could you just have some of them take a backseat for the book and maybe write a sequel where they get to shine? In Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children, there are probably at least twenty children in the home, but we only meet maybe half of them, and only a couple really get a personality. If you can pick five or so to be your main cast, and the other six to get a scene or two or A Day In The Limelight and then fade, you could conceivably keep all of them. Mon, 13 Feb 2012 20:39:18 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/plot-doctoring/threads/50205?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1137693 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/plot-doctoring/threads/50205?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1137693 keolah What's the problem? It's not like you need to attempt to give them all equal "screentime". Most books generally have a whole cast of supporting characters. Mon, 13 Feb 2012 21:40:18 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/plot-doctoring/threads/50205?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1137914 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/plot-doctoring/threads/50205?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1137914 Aneith I was told eleven was too many and that I should cut some. I can't decide because I like them all. Mon, 13 Feb 2012 22:08:51 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/plot-doctoring/threads/50205?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1138029 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/plot-doctoring/threads/50205?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1138029 keolah That's nonsense. Eleven is probably too many "main characters", but that's hardly too many _characters_. Heck, the Wheel of Time series has a literal cast of thousands, and that hasn't stopped plenty of people from loving it. Or have you counted how many important characters Harry Potter associates with? Raw numbers are a really bad judgement of whether a character is superfluous or not. And whoever gave you this sort of bad advice should be seriously questioned. :P Mon, 13 Feb 2012 23:48:20 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/plot-doctoring/threads/50205?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1138381 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/plot-doctoring/threads/50205?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1138381 onesecondglance I said it was too many main characters. But there's no reason they can't be background flavours. Tue, 14 Feb 2012 06:24:38 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/plot-doctoring/threads/50205?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1138910 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/plot-doctoring/threads/50205?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1138910