Episode 216 - Too many characters is a scene.

About this episode

The episode discusses the challenges of having too many characters in a scene and offers solutions to maintain focus, along with tips for enhancing sentence strength and setting descriptions.

What's the problem with having a lot of characters in a scene? Aren't lots of people needed to make street scenes and party scenes and sports scenes and battle scenes credible? I'll talk about the problem of too many characters, and how we can fix the crowded scene so it doesn't lose focus. Also, a quick almost magical way to make our sentences stronger using the global search function on our computer. And lovely setting descriptions from Rachel Joyce. Here...

People in this episode

Host: James Thayer

Topics covered

• character development
• scene writing
• focus in writing
• sentence structure
• setting descriptions

Keywords

• characters
• scene
• writing
• focus
• sentence strength
• setting descriptions
• crowded scenes

More episodes of Essential Guide to Writing a Novel

• Episode 221 - Writing that is more intense than real life. · June 12, 2026 · 24 min
• Episode 220 - Cut to the chase. · June 5, 2026 · 30 min
• Episode 219 - How to get our story going. · May 29, 2026 · 25 min
• Episode 218 - Our writer's voice. · May 22, 2026 · 27 min
• Episode 217 - Why and how to practice. And Edgar Alan Poe. · May 15, 2026 · 27 min
• Episode 215 - The ratchet, a strong plotting tool. · May 1, 2026 · 26 min