Writing Characters and Communities

[Joyager2]

Hey, folks. Here's the essence of my question: How do you write a community that feels real without having to develop a dozen separate characters?

In the story I'm working on now, my protagonists leave home and travel into the unknown to save their village. Choosing to leave is a big decision for them and, along the way, they'll have more than a few tough moments when they miss being at home and miss the people they've left behind. My issue is that I don't want this to feel grating to a reader. It's exhausting to read characters talking about other characters you've never met or crying over characters you haven't spent any real time with. If possible, I'd also like my readers to think to themselves, 'Man, I also miss that character. I hope the protagonists succeed in saving them.' But I know that it's also exhausting to spend large chunks of time reading about a dozen different characters, especially when none of them are present for the bulk of the story.

I suppose some of the answer might be two have each of my protagonists be endeared to one or two other characters across some of the early chapters before they leave home, but I'd prefer to spend the majority of that page-space developing the relationships between my actual protagonists, who we'll spend the rest of the novel with and whose relationships are far more central to the story.

I don't know. I'm at a bit of a loss on how to proceed. Does anyone have any advice?

 

[Tabula_Rasa]

Can have the stock standard: have the community face and resolve a mini crisis the affect everyone in the community, before the mc leaves.

 

[foxes]

All I can say is that by solving your problem, I wrote 10 extra chapters instead of just one. But in this process, there were not only boring characters, but also investigations, fires, attacks, and so on. On the other hand, you can describe the hero's experiences with flashbacks or his actions that reflect his regret for being separated. It's a feeling of being stuck in a swamp and there is a sense of heroes. The development of relationships between characters can also occur through conversations about what they have lost and miss. I think we can draw some simple parallels with the readers. If there are several main characters, some may miss their parents, others their children, and still others their lovers.

 

[LiteraryWho]

Hey, folks. Here's the essence of my question: How do you write a community that feels real without having to develop a dozen separate characters?

In the story I'm working on now, my protagonists leave home and travel into the unknown to save their village. Choosing to leave is a big decision for them and, along the way, they'll have more than a few tough moments when they miss being at home and miss the people they've left behind. My issue is that I don't want this to feel grating to a reader. It's exhausting to read characters talking about other characters you've never met or crying over characters you haven't spent any real time with. If possible, I'd also like my readers to think to themselves, 'Man, I also miss that character. I hope the protagonists succeed in saving them.' But I know that it's also exhausting to spend large chunks of time reading about a dozen different characters, especially when none of them are present for the bulk of the story.

I suppose some of the answer might be two have each of my protagonists be endeared to one or two other characters across some of the early chapters before they leave home, but I'd prefer to spend the majority of that page-space developing the relationships between my actual protagonists, who we'll spend the rest of the novel with and whose relationships are far more central to the story.

I don't know. I'm at a bit of a loss on how to proceed. Does anyone have any advice?

The probably correct but certainly difficult option is to have a select few members of that community steal the show for a few scenes, i.e. be very memorable and fun. Make them characters the readers can sympathize with the lead missing because they miss them too.

 

[Th3Breadnought]

Hm. This is kinda small and probably incomplete on it's own, but I'd say that when your characters think of their community and reference it... try to make each moment/memory/reference very clearly relevant to something about their character and values, what motivates them, a lesson they've learned. A line that connects and forms relevance rather than something that just feels like a worldbuilding aside that isn't immediately relevant. Hope that helps a little!

 

[rainchip]

What helps me is using the old Josh Sawyer method from Fallout New Vegas. In an interview he explained that you don’t need anything overly complex just a few subtle tricks to make the player (or reader, in this case) feel like the world is far bigger than it actually is. All it takes are brief mentions paired with tiny, specific details that the audience can naturally expand upon or come back too. It’s like real life when you’re out in public, you notice one or two small things about the people around you. You don’t know their full life story but like you’re subconsciously aware they’re all living entire lives of their own. I don’t know if that fully makes sense, but it’s how I handle a large cast or mentions of characters without falling back on what I've seen be called the One Piece generalized reaction effect LOL.

 

[Dee_DubbleYew]

What helps me is using the old Josh Sawyer method from Fallout New Vegas. In an interview he explained that you don’t need anything overly complex just a few subtle tricks to make the player (or reader, in this case) feel like the world is far bigger than it actually is. All it takes are brief mentions paired with tiny, specific details that the audience can naturally expand upon or come back too. It’s like real life when you’re out in public, you notice one or two small things about the people around you. You don’t know their full life story but like you’re subconsciously aware they’re all living entire lives of their own. I don’t know if that fully makes sense, but it’s how I handle a large cast or mentions of characters without falling back on what I've seen be called the One Piece generalized reaction effect LOL.

This is good!
I was going to say make in-jokes between characters, reminisce about the unique food, or bring up past (maybe unsolved) greivances.

 

[CinnaSloth]

good scene description.
environment.

 

[Joyager2]

Some very good advice here, folks. Thank you!

 

[CharlesEBrown]

Can always use flashbacks to show the other characters in the memories of the MCs (if you're really ambitious, you can even show how the MC views the "NPC" AND how that view may not be 100% accurate)