Writing How to clear loopholes when adding too many side characters?

[CadmarLegend]

Should I kill them off or not? Why?

 

[Napelynn]

Should I kill them off or not?

Kill them.

 

[CadmarLegend]

Kill them.

Why?

 

[Napelynn]

Why?

It's fun. Only if you don't like them though. One reason why you wouldn't like them is that they created a loophole.

 

[CadmarLegend]

It's fun.

Any more reasons?

 

[Deleted member 53101]

They are useless ...

 

[CadmarLegend]

They are useless ...

So kill?

 

[Deleted member 53101]

Make a situation where these excess side chars somehow have a battle royale ...

 

[CadmarLegend]

Make a situation where these excess side chars somehow have a battle royale ...

A battle royale... you make it sound soooo easy...

 

[Deleted member 53101]

It IS easy, if you're a man then NTR the girlfriend of the side char A, rape, force her, if you may. But then, make it so that the evidence led to another side char. However, the detective wannabe side-char C said that the culprit is actually side char D, the best friend of the side char B. The blaming game continues and they reach no conclusion and fight till the last breath. You can find any other justification to make them fight ..., money, power, or women ..., that's what drives men since ancient times.

 

[CadmarLegend]

It IS easy, if you're a man then NTR the girlfriend of the side char A, rape, force her, if you may. But then, make it so that the evidence led to another side char. However, the detective wannabe side-char C said that the culprit is actually side char D, the best friend of the side char B. The blaming game continues and they reach no conclusion and fight till the last breath. You can find any other justification to make them fight ..., money, power, or women ..., that's what drives men since ancient times.

This is for a CHILD-FRIENDLY BOOK.

 

[Deleted member 53101]

I disagree with killing in child-friendly!

 

[CadmarLegend]

I disagree with killing in child-friendly!

Well, I have this one main character — originally there will be 2 main characters, but I am going to kill one off to help the other main character become a better person and have him become the Protagonist — and I see that as fine. No gore, just a simple death. But then I started creating a whole lotta side characters who have just 1 use: Help MCs and then never appear again. But then there may be a few loopholes, cuz they are all very wise people who help the MC along the way, so it wouldn't make sense to have them disappear. So, I was introduced to this dillema.

 

[Napelynn]

Well, I have this one main character — originally there will be 2 main characters, but I am going to kill one off to help the other main character become a better person and have him become the Protagonist — and I see that as fine. No gore, just a simple death. But then I started creating a whole lotta side characters who have just 1 use: Help MCs and then never appear again. But then there may be a few loopholes, cuz they are all very wise people who help the MC along the way, so it wouldn't make sense to have them disappear. So, I was introduced to this dillema.

Can’t you have fewer side characters and just have them appear multiple times?

 

[CadmarLegend]

Can’t you have fewer side characters and just have them appear multiple times?

No, because that would cause me to take too much time rewriting many characters. See, this world I'm creating for my story relies heavily on the idea that most — even mostly the strongest characters — usually have one talent that they can actually do, and I created several situations where only one character can help the MCs... and by most, I basically mean 99.98% of the characters...

 

[tridetect]

this 'kill your characters' mentality is lazy. There are a million of other things you can have your side character do beside being dead. Something simple like them having a job which can explain their absence. they don't need to be in the MC vicinity to be actively doing something

 

[Valmond]

Should I kill them off or not? Why?

Depends, having too many characters runs the risk of this scenario. If you are going to kill them off, then I would recommend giving them a story of their own. Build it up, the point is for consistency. Simply killing them off can have several outcomes. One of those can reflect to poor writing, which none of us want. A good way to narrow it down is to setup these character for a plot arc, giving them their backstories, etc. Then as you proceed through it, naturally kill them off. Eventually the cast of characters will be at a manageable length without damaging your story.

You can also write them leaving to do whatever. There are a number of things you can do.

 

[K5Rakitan]

Sometimes, you just never see someone again. Were they really a side character at all or just a background character? They drift off and just never show up in your life again. Let's say you're dating two guys with the same name and invite both to your wedding in 2018. One politely declines and says it's time to go your separate ways. The other says he'll come, but then he just ghosts and you never hear from him again. Oh well, you knew he was flaky anyway after he canceled a bunch of dates. At least you still have one more lover (whom you met in 2016) who actually comes to your wedding and brings a date. Life goes on, and you keep dating your husband and Mr. 2016. Then, a big solar eclipse happens, and a bunch of guys reach out to you on Fetlife. You go on three first dates, and Husband tags along to make sure you're safe, but none of the guys really excite you, so you never see them again. Then, you meet another guy in 2019, and Husband likes him better than Mr. 2016 because he seems to have his life in order, but you're still dating Mr. 2016 because he's a dreamer, and you like dreamers. You get to see Mr. 2016 in January of 2020, but Mr. 2019 doesn't show up because you can't arrange a time to meet up when you're not ovulating. Then Mr. 2019 comes down with a really bad illness that's probably Covid, but testing wasn't available yet, so he's not sure if it was actually Covid or not, but his whole family had it, and it really sucked. So, you don't see either for a long time, but you text both Mr. 2019 and Mr. 2016 from Husband's phone right after giving birth because your phone isn't a smartphone and doesn't get reception in the hospital. Now, you're excited for the time when everyone is fully vaccinated and you can finally see them in person again.

 

[CadmarLegend]

Sometimes, you just never see someone again. Were they really a side character at all or just a background character? They drift off and just never show up in your life again. Let's say you're dating two guys with the same name and invite both to your wedding in 2018. One politely declines and says it's time to go your separate ways. The other says he'll come, but then he just ghosts and you never hear from him again. Oh well, you knew he was flaky anyway after he canceled a bunch of dates. At least you still have one more lover (whom you met in 2016) who actually comes to your wedding and brings a date. Life goes on, and you keep dating your husband and Mr. 2016. Then, a big solar eclipse happens, and a bunch of guys reach out to you on Fetlife. You go on three first dates, and Husband tags along to make sure you're safe, but none of the guys really excite you, so you never see them again. Then, you meet another guy in 2019, and Husband likes him better than Mr. 2016 because he seems to have his life in order, but you're still dating Mr. 2016 because he's a dreamer, and you like dreamers. You get to see Mr. 2016 in January of 2020, but Mr. 2019 doesn't show up because you can't arrange a time to meet up when you're not ovulating. Then Mr. 2019 comes down with a really bad illness that's probably Covid, but testing wasn't available yet, so he's not sure if it was actually Covid or not, but his whole family had it, and it really sucked. So, you don't see either for a long time, but you text both Mr. 2019 and Mr. 2016 from Husband's phone right after giving birth because your phone isn't a smartphone and doesn't get reception in the hospital. Now, you're excited for the time when everyone is fully vaccinated and you can finally see them in person again.

So....... how did this have anything to do with clearing loopholes....?

 

[K5Rakitan]

So....... how did this have anything to do with clearing loopholes....?

The side characters can just disappear from the MC's life. There's no need to kill them.