Little Jimmy ain't really little, just like how Greenland ain't really green. The world of Ithaqa has a LOT of main characters and a lot of side characters. Sometimes it's something I worry about.
Will people be overwhelmed? Am I just creating too many (and perhaps some unnecessary) threads? I hope not, but usually my fears are put to bed by my editor Lisa, who forces me to explain why all my characters exist.
They usually have a direct or semi direct hand in the plot, but also I feel like (if I do this right) it will help create the feeling that Ithaca is a living city, with people living lives independent of the cosmic doom that is hurtling towards them.
A lot of them weave their way in and out of this first story, but I also hope to have their relationships to the main characters evolve as well. Some of my characters are selfish and careless, and will put side characters into uncomfortable or even dangerous positions.
I want to watch Catherine learn to distrust Mookie, just like how I want to watch Ruth befriend Jimmy. I want to create a world in which the background characters aren't just "Librarian 1" and "Bouncer 2". I want the mundane problems of these people to intertwine with the supernatural problems Ithaca as a city must face.
I read a great analysis on why "Stranger Things" and "Attack The Block" are such great horror experiences. They're not just focused on the aliens or the upside down. The children are fighting against terrible forces too, but there's also this amazing tension from the mundane aspects of their lives, like a bedtime curfew.
They have to stop a horrible force, but they have a bedtime, and no one believes them about the monsters they saw. In "Attack The Block" this is taken to the extreme when the kids are simultaneously fending off an alien invasion, while also trying to escape from the police (trying to catch them for a robbery) and a local drug lord who thinks they were disrespecting them.
I love what those real world tensions do to a supernatural piece, and it's something I hope to do here in Ithaqa as well. Sure the very nature of Time is at stake, but Mookie owes money to some dangerous people, and they aren't going to believe a known con man who is raving about demons.
Anyway Little Jimmy rides the line between friend to the investigators and debt collector to the mob. There's a conflict of interest there that I hope will be satisfying.
Theresa Chiechi's (The Artist @la-fumettista) website is here: http://www.theresachiechi.com/
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Personally, I definitely prefer complex plots, with lots of characters intertwining and seeing how the story alters them. It is difficult to stage that, as each character needs to be fleshed out properly, otherwise the reader will be overwhelmed indeed with indistinguishable and boring characters.
I think you are on the right track though, from your posts I get the impression that you have given a lot of thought to each character and the things that happen around them. I was like this too when writing custom scenarios for RPGs, I tried to have every little thing happening for some reason, every NPC had a backstory, every place visited had a history, etc. And this worked out in my favor most of the time, as I was surprised to see how the rich background offered interesting solutions and thrilling plot twists.
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I suppose building a world from the roots up can really help with improvisational storytelling, and pivoting on a dime.
Did you have any strategies from keep people from getting mired down in too many threads?
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