I'm having trouble figuring out who the main character should be.

There is one group that usually handles the planet-side delivery but that doesn't include the captain or the pilot.

In my planning, the pilot is fast turning out to be the most interesting and complex character.

I don't think I'll be able to keep a tight 3rd person pov on any one character. The idea is somewhat episodic. Should the pov shift which each segment depending on who is most involved? Should I use a more omniscient view?

Any thoughts on how to deal with an ensemble cast like this would be greatly appreciated.
 

I recently read novels by Crichton and Clancy where thoughts of two viewpoint characters are occasionally depicted in the same paragraph.

Grisham has a tendency to not reveal who's the central character until well into a story, be it a protagonist or a hero.

Clancy relies on a staple character to be taken for granted as a protagonist/hero, Jack Ryan.

Crichton's stories don't typically have a strong character orientation, more event and idea oriented, so that his stories could be said to have no protagonists, though some of his characters emerge as heroes.

I think it's in Card's MICE that an ensemble cast's power is uncovered. A milieu, idea, or event oriented story can support multiple viewpoint character ensemble casts, omniscient narrators, and multiple psychic accesses to multiple characters.

However, those kinds of stories are challenging to write, to say the least, and highly advanced in storytelling craft, not to mention a narrower audience appeal than a story that has a single viewpoint character and a single psychic access limited to one character.

Character oriented stories are easier to depict a single character's internal conflict, too. Ensemble casts require more character development to depict each's internal conflict and stronger reader comprehension to keep up with who's who and what's going on with who. The Dune and Lord of the Rings series have ensemble casts with multiple viewpoint characters and multiple psychic accesses. But then, they're milieu oriented stories.
 

I find the toughest part of writing that way, is making sure the dialog works well. You might find you have to tag a lot more because you generally will have more scenes with more than two people.

I'd also suggest you do thorough prep work with the characters and provide as many story arcs written or just as background for each member. That helps with displaying character motivation and also can help develop specific voices for the characters. Doing the story arcs might help you determine who the strongest character will be for your main person.

[This message has been edited by Owasm (edited September 18, 2009).]
 

Now, personally, I like what I write, but I don't know if it works for everyone, if this is a good choice or a cop-out.

When you say episodic, I assume you mean there will be characters that are only in one chapter, and characters that are always there. It seems like a safer bet to have the characters that are always there be the pov characters, but with the right story, I guess it could work to have the pov character be someone we'll never see again. You wouldn't want to do this with a character story though. It would work as a mileu type story, as extrinsic already pointed out. It makes me feel good when my own rambling thoughts match up with someone who knows his stuff.
 

I know mikemunsil's post and exercises recommends world building first but I think the characters are more important for the story I am planning. I did print out some galactic maps that I will be using as a template. But since my crew is going to be changing worlds constantly I don't feel the need for extreme detail on the maps.

I have determined that three of my characters are likely to be good pov characters that I can use regularly. There are two that might get a segment for flavor and one I'm not sure I'll use for pov at all.
When I said episodic, I never meant to use a character that wasn't part of the crew for pov. I meant that some 'episodes' may feature one set of characters and another episode may not feature any of those characters. For example: One episode/section may take place on the ship and only involve the captain, the pilot and the engineer. Then the next section may be planetside with the first officer and the navigator. So I can't use a single pov character because he might not be present for all of the events.

And thank you KDW. I will make sure that all of the characters have different voices. Of course, then there's the one who can't talk at all. Hmmm.

I'm still open to suggestions.

[This message has been edited by genevive42 (edited September 19, 2009).]
 

And you don't want to come right out and say who's in which role or what the roles actually are (characters being actual blood relatives, notwithstanding). You'll want to imply these relationships to the audience using the interactions and dialogue between the characters: Playful banter, silent and respectful nods, shouting matches, battles over who gets the largest piece of steak, and so on.

quote:

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Focus fanatically on Character Interactions and Character Relationships

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Bingo.

To prepare for my YA novel, I wrote practice scenes between every combination of the five band members. I thought this important, because many time people will act differently in the presence of one person as opposed to someone else; in addition, people tend to behave differently in a one-on-one situation than they would in a crowd.

Of course, having a solid understanding of what makes each of these teens tick made my job of fleshing out how they would interact with each other and with the band in its entirety that much smoother, to the point where some of those supposed practice scenes made their way into the novel.

S!
S!

 

• Who's the narrator? A character in the story? An objective invisible narrator? A subjective invisible narrator? A character or characters involved in the story? A character not involved but interested in the story's circumstances somehow, no matter how remote the relationship? I only know of one story that has more than one narrator. Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights ostensibly has two, perhaps three if the objective narrator of the frame wrapper story is counted separate from the two primary narrators, Mr. Lockwood and Ellen "Nelly" Dean.
• Who's singly best situated to tell the story? Any character of an ensemble cast could be in an ideal position to tell a story, even though not present for all events. Then the narrative point of view, especially tense, must be in reportorial omniscient objective present past when all the salient facts are known after the fact. However, a slight remove from the immediacy of the action is somewhat alienating to readers. An objective invisible narrator not a part of a story can also be somewhat alienating from not having any relationship to the action. A subjective narrator part of or not a part of a story puts a spin or slant through taking an attitude toward a topic or theme (tone) of a story and that's that kind of narrator's primary relationship to a story.
• Who or what's my access to the story? The narrator? A character or characters? The milieu? The idea? The event? Or some other poignant anchor/vehicle that I empathetically ride along with through the story?
• What is the most meaningful access point of the story? The opening introduction of the milieu, idea, or event? The introduction of the complication, conflict, or goal? The introduction of the hero, the protagonist, the main character, or the antagonist, the nemesis, or the villian?
• Does the premise entice me to care about the characters, milieu, idea, or event and their causal complications? My boilerplate template for any given story's premise, not universal but nearly so; A larger than life character(s) emerges from suffering insuperable struggles in dramatic contexts while addressing life-defining complications.
• Are the complications, conflicts, forces in opposition care worthy, relevant to me, to a larger audience? Are they private and/or public complications, etc.? In other words, internal and/or external conflicts?

[This message has been edited by extrinsic (edited September 19, 2009).]
 

I still have a couple more characters to complete but I think my brain is done for the night. I'll leave another question if anyone cares to answer.

Do you think it's still important to work out their parents and siblings if those people may not even get mentioned in the story?
 

Thanks.