My current series that I'm working on has 4-6 different narrators in any given book. A few of my friends have told me that this is too many, so I was just wondering what the general consensus was here about the number of main characters in any type of story. How many main/prominent characters do you all have?
I've read a book with many different narrators, and what I found hard was just keeping track of them in general. Perhaps instead of bounding back and forth between the 4-6, and have them eventually meet or interact with another to help distinguish who is who. But it's your story and your style, do what you want :)
My story has two narrators, and they trade off every couple of chapters. Is it possible for you to have some of your main characters not narrate, or only narrate once or twice? If not, check out the Heroes of Olympus series, it switches between at least seven narrators from what I can remember, so that might help you figure out if it could work for yours.
The story I'm focusing on right now starts out with 4 main characters. More specifically it's 4 teenagers(2 boys+2 girls) going on a journey, which in this world is one of the major coming-of-age customs. One girl is killed about a quarter of the way into the story, and then in the events leading up to the final battle one of the boys is killed, so only 2 of the 4 make it to the ending. However, soon after the girl's death it starts to become clear that even with the 3 remaining characters all having an equal role, there is really only one true protagonist.
Of course, having a story with multiple main characters is easier to do in a comic/manga format than a novel, which is what I intend to do with all of my stories.
I would limit my number to about a 10 narrators.
In the series I’m writing, the first four books each have three narrators. But my fifth and last one has six. Though it is difficult to write, it is possible. The one thing you need to accomplish is to make those different narrators uniquely memorable and their story lines interesting.
have you read six of crows by leigh bardugo? it's a really good example of (ya fantasy) multiple povs. each chapter trades off who narrates (it's all done in third person close narration) and each character has their own problems to deal with in the grand scheme of things. it's beautifully written and the characters are all amazing, i would highly recommend it if you're considering having multiple narrators. (i personally love the idea of multiple narrators, have as many main povs as you want!)
I love Six of Crows also multiple narrators make it interesting especially when they all focus on different things.
In the story I'm currently working on, I have about five main characters, but only one of the characters will be the narrator. Also, one or two of the characters aren't around as much as the others. I think that 4-6 narrators is no problem as long as it's written right. Personally, keeping individual story lines and conflicts separate as well as interesting is a struggle, so I've been trying to express their personal conflicts through ways other than having them narrating. I definitely don't think that having that many characters is too many, though!
In the story I am working on right now, there are three main characters. However, several other characters frequently narrate. I would not say there is anything wrong with a multitude of narrators, but just be sure to keep it interesting from all point of view.
id give you like this whole rant but lets look at some stuff first.
Its your book
maybe don't use 60 if you're starting because thats a lot of personality differences you're going to have to portray.
do you want 7? make seven.
if you are daunting and daring, do 17. Its what suits your story and makes you feel comfortable.