Dramatis Personae/cast list questions

[thaddeus6th]

For my WIP, I'm including a cast list/Dramatis Personae.

Got a few questions, though. First off, what title seems best [either those above or a new one]?

More importantly, what order makes most sense from a reader's perspective?

I was thinking of grouping them according to side in the war [Side A, Side B, and Side Desperately Trying To Be Neutral], and then having subgroups within (so, the King, his sister and his cousin would be one group).

The most obvious alternative would be alphabetical.

I'm not planning on including much information, just titles and familial relationship to other major characters. Does that sound ok?

Edited final question: forgot to ask - I'd planned on only including characters who get more than a few lines. So, if someone's in one scene or gets a name but has one line, I wouldn't include them. Seem reasonable?

 

[HareBrain]

How many have you got? If twenty or so, I'd do one list in order of appearance or (descending) importance. If many more, sub-groups might be good. I think "Dramatic Personae" sounds a bit pompous; I'd perhaps just head it "Notable Characters" or something.

 

[Kerrybuchanan]

I'd perhaps just head it "Notable Characters" or something

Or Main Characters. Both give you a good excuse if you accidentally forget one or two. "Oh, he/she wasn't a MAIN character..."

 

[thaddeus6th]

If you mean POV characters then (including those who get only one or two moments) probably about a dozen [only half of those are regular POV characters, though].

I had planned on a near-full list, but my main interest is what would be useful for readers (not only for this but also for part 2/3 to come).

 

[Kerrybuchanan]

not only for this but also for part 2/3 to come

Ooh goody - there's more? Please put me down for beta-reading duties!

 

[thaddeus6th]

Won't be for a while. Hoping to get Sir Edric's third outing in a fit state for beta-reading by the end of May [I'll probably start the first draft of part 2 as soon as the text of Kingdom Asunder's finished, but it'll be months and months before it's ready to be viewed by other humans].

 

[Kerrybuchanan]

I can wait

 

[LittleStar]

I've only really seen it in two things outside of plays, GRRM and I'm pretty sure Guy Gavriel Kay did it, In the Finovar tapestry books.

I quite like GRRM's way of doing it, but if your list isn't going to be fully expansive like that then I would suggest breaking them up into some form of allegiant groups (seems like you're leaning towards anyway). And unless you're looking to show the whole family tree, then I think it's definately best to keep it to the main characters, rather than their entourage.

 

[Juliana]

Agatha Christie does the cast list thing for some of her work, but I can't for the life of me remember which ones. One that was set in a house by the sea, and several others. You might want to pop into a bookstore or library and thumb through some of hers for ideas.

 

[thaddeus6th]

Bernard Cornwell did it for The Warlord Chronicles (well worth buying, incidentally, they're my favourite books of his).

Must admit, I'm wondering about including it at all. It's not a big deal for me, I just thought it'd be handy for readers.

 

[Juliana]

Personally I think they're rather fun... And from your writing style, I'm pretty sure if anyone can pull this sort of thing off.

 

[Fedos]

Steven Erikson does this in his Malazan Book of the Fallen series. I've noticed he doesn't include all of the characters who appear in the book or who even have a point of view, something I'm sure you'll take into consideration.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I used one for The Queen's Necklace. I divided the list by location, since the story was unfolding in so many different places. And since it was supposed to be like the dramatis personae at the beginning of a 17th or 18th century play, I listed everyone (though not always by name) and I had fun creating little pocket descriptions (which I hoped were witty) to describe primary and secondary characters.

It wasn't just to sort out the characters, of which there were many, but also to give readers an idea of the style and setting of the book from the very beginning.

 

[Dave]

I've only really seen it in two things outside of plays, GRRM and I'm pretty sure Guy Gavriel Kay did it, In the Finovar tapestry books.

Larry Niven is also fond of Dramatis Personae lists. I've seen them in many more books too, including a lot of Young Adult fiction.

If there are a lot of characters in a book I do find them useful, but I can't help thinking that if I cannot remember a character there must be too many and they can't have been well defined. Speaking as a reader, I would prefer either alphabetical order or order of appearance, however splitting them in the good guys and the bad guys is also a good idea.