The novel I'm writing has a cast of six - 2 main characters and 4 supporting characters. Of the two MC's, I'd guess you'd have to say that one is "mainer" than the other, given that she gets more space AND has some first-person chapters scattered throughout the book. (They're back storyish but interesting and often humorous.) Having said that, I feel that both women are equally important in my mind and in fact the one without the first person chapters (let's call her R) opens the book, while the other one (let's call her S) is introduced in chapter 2 or 3, depending on what I go with. Still with me?

Both characters -- and in fact, all the supporting characters except for R's 14-year-old daughter -- are struggling and in need of a sense of connection with other people to make themselves whole. R's husband died in a traffic accident, on the way to the hospital as R was giving birth to their daughter. S is fucked up in so many ways it would be useless to go into them all here. Anyhow, R has this idea to open up her large home (it was her childhood home, she and her husband fixed it up and planned to have a bunch of kids) to compatible people -- but more than boarders or roommates, sort of a group house (yuk, hate that term) where, if everything went according to plan, people would become like a family. She calls it the alternative extended family, because her own extended family is useless to her and alternative because obviously, no one is related by blood. (It eventually gets called the ex-fam.) Everyone who is drawn to the idea and eventually moves in does, in fact, have something missing in their life that he/she hopes to find in this big house with all the rooms. The book is the story of how they do or don't succeed in finding that elusive sense of connection to others that will make them whole again and how they can move on after the losses they've experienced.

So back to the two MC's. . . .is it okay to have two, even if one is slightly more emphasized than the other? I've read books and websites ad nauseum and at this point I'm tending to go with my instincts of what feels and sounds right, "rules" be damned. I suppose I could beef up R's air time so that R and S are roughly equal. As I said, R opens the book and I'm really attached to and like my opening, and there's no way that S fits into that opening. R and S meet a chapter or two later, and that's fine with me, but it might not be with readers. You know, readers will be rooting for R at that point, then all of a sudden S appears, yada yada. What do people think? Thanks!

I think that having more than one main character works so long as there's meaning to it. Anne Bishop's novels are great examples, especially her Black Jewels Trilogy and Tir Alainn Series. She has multiple main characters in those books, yet there is a purpose to it--In each, these characters come together to thwart a common evil. They're dark fantasies, and are riveting. You care about the main characters--even the secondary characters--because of how she wrote their stories, how she let you get into their heads and know them. She's a master of story telling.

So to sum it up, you most certainly can have more than one main character, though I suggest making certain both are necessary to the story as a whole.

Hope that helps.

Amber

Hi Val--interesting to hear a little more about your WIP! Thanks for starting this thread.

I think you've thought this through really well. What are your reviewers telling you about this issue, and what's your reaction to those reviews been?

I've reviewed a couple of drafts of Val's work, because I really like it. But I'm very glad this thread started up because it gives me the chance to ask others to review it too. Because I've made a few comments but I always feel happier if others are giving their opinion as well - my own might be way off the mark!

Actually, Val, the question here is a bit different from what you asked me, which was whether it's OK not to introduce the MC till a couple of chapters in. And I said I'd be wary of doing that (though I'm sure it's been done many times).

So this is just to say that I think Val's work has a lot of potential - anyone wondering what next to review, check it out!

http://www.bookcountry.com/Bookdetail.aspx?BookId=5431

Hi, Curtis. You sound like you enjoyed her story. I'll take a look at it, though it might take me a while to finish a review, as I'm currently working on three different reviews right now.

Happy Writing!

--edited by Amber Wolfe on 1/21/2015, 9:34 PM--

Err, I checked out Val's manuscript, and knew right away that I'm not going to have anything helpful to say. Literary Fiction isn't a genre I dabble in. I skimmed some of the work, and could tell I'll be no help.

Sorry, Val.

Whoa, sorry guys - Haven't checked the discussion thread in a while and didn't realize there were more responses! It's soooo annoying to have a day job, isn't it?

Yes, Curtis, you're absolutely right, I did ask you about something different, if it was okay to introduce one of the main characters in chapter 2 or 3. And you said no, which makes perfect sense. . . .until someone else says yes, it's okay. Which raises another point, how to reconcile differing feedback from reviewers. The other thing is, I think it's hard to give feedback in any meaningful sort of way until you have a lot of your book posted, which I don't. So Lucy, in answer to your post, I don't really have any feedback from reviewers on the issue of multiple main characters. I guess I should get going posting more. 

One final point, which is what Amber notes -- if something is not your genre, then it's hard to review. I couldn't give feedback on fantasy or sci-fi or romance fiction, for example. I also suspect that what holds true for some genres doesn't always hold true for others. When I was reading Jonathan Franzen's books (I'm a little obsessed with him) I saw how much exposition there is. . . tons of it. So much for showing and not telling. Not that he doesn't show, often with hilarious effect, but there's still so much telling in his books too.

Anyhow (I am genetically incapable of being brief), if there are two main characters, out of an ensemble of 6, what do people think about introducing one of them in the first chapter, and the other later on, in chapter 2 or 3? The other option I have is this: I mentioned that the main character, S (the one who comes in chapter 2 or 3) has some first-person chapters sprinkled throughout the book. I thought of having her first one, which talks about her father's suicide, as a prologue. Then the other main character, R, would be in chapter 1, as it's written now. But prologues get so much bad press (with some good reason), I kind of shied away from doing that. 

There must be a discussion thread on prologues - time to check it out! But back to what I originally asked Curtis: introducing R right off the bat, and then waiting a chapter or two to introduce S. If I wanted to introduce them both in the first chapter, I'd need to totally rewrite the beginning of the book, which I realize is sometimes necessary.

Thanks!

--edited by Val on 1/25/2015, 11:38 AM--

Val,

 I'd like to think you can delay the introduction of a major player until well into the book. I'd like to think it because I'm doing it in my current effort. 

I don't have chapters yet. I have about 60,000 words. The male lead, P, carries the story for the first third of the book when the female lead, M, appears for the first time. After that it's not P's story or M's story so much as it is their story. I think it will work because there's plenty going on in the earlier scenes, some foreshadowing of another player, and M appears when P needs to be helped out of a difficult situation. Then the partnership brings a result that neither of them could accomplish alone.

Does the opening of your book keep the readers turning the pages? Does each scene add to the story, and the story lead to the introduction of another main character once it's running along? Does adding the second character at that point then add more to the story? If yes, you have your answer.

Thanks for the perspective, Perry.

You know, I find that for me, personally, it's very hard to find the time to work on my book, write reviews for this site, do my day job, manage a home, and have a 16-year-old daughter who needs me and who is, always, my first priority. I've spent some time trying to figure out how the site even works; it's not always intuitive. . . for example, I sometimes get email alerts that someone has responded to a post and sometimes I don't. I think it has something to do with how long you've been logged in, believe it or not. If you log in, I think it eventually "expires" and you need to logout and then log in again - or, for example, the "Add reply" button won't show up. I've spent too much time figuring this stuff out, time that I don't have. So I think the Help content and instructions could be a bit clearer.

Anyhow, end of rant. And that was totally off topic, wasn't it?

Perry,what's your book?

Val,

What's my book? I suppose it would be in the literary fiction genre. It's a good guys team up to beat the bad guys romance story. I've posted nothing on this site. 

I've had modest success with short fiction in a narrow niche market. I've sold some short stories to little magazines, and I've had good reviews but slow sales (that's all on me) with two short story collections. I'm working slowly on my first novel, and have come here to learn about publishing and marketing. 

I've been slow to pick up how the site works also, but the people are friendly and helpful. 

Yes, it's hard to find time to write. But I like to work on the novel; I'm editing now, and fleshing out passages that were written almost in shorthand just to get the scenes down. I'll be ready to submit to a regional traditional publisher by the end of the summer, maybe sooner. It's a good story. The next one will be better.