Main characters disappearing for 100+pages

[anthorn]

So, in my opinion, the reader will assume that the character you start with in as story is the main character, regardless of intent, and until proven otherwise. But what do you do, if the main POV character disappears for 150+ pages halfway through.

I have one character who has a few chapters dedicated to him and once he's completed what he needs to do, he kind of just fades away. The next time we see him is through the eyes of another character but without any interaction between them. Then there is a long wait until we get his POV again by which point he is back in the story consistently. I can't help but get over the feeling that it's a little weird that one character will vanish for a little while and then resume POV main character status.

Introduction to main character 1-through-6. 6-20-other characters-setting up world and plot-21-35 all characters together/

 

[Overread]

Most readers assume that one of the first few good characters that they meet within the opening chapters of a book is going to be the main focus of the story. Even in stories with lots of variations in viewpoints; those first few really set a scene and the setting. They are the ones that your readers are going to like first and what makes them keep into the story many times. It's also an expectation that we are used to seeing characters lasting through a book. Even in A Song of Ice and Fire there are still Starks lasing through the series.

In your case the risk is that not only are you jarring your readers by dropping the lead for so long; but if you're focusing really well in the first six chapters on them then shifting gear to others they might well feel as if they are reading two books in one. The risk then is they might not actually like the original lead as much as one of the others so then shifting all focus away again jars them once more.

Is there a reason you can't throw in a segment of that original character within that huge block of chapters? 6 chapters with then 12 without is quite a big difference and shift in gear.


Then again it depends how strong your other characters are and how you filter out your lead. If they are not the sole focus early on then you could almost set them up as a standard character only to return later and push for a stronger lead role in the latter parts of the book. That way the readers are investing into a selection of characters and then when one makes a return and starts to rise above the others they can more easily accept that (so long as their return doesn't feel like you had a huge plot hole and plugged it).

 

[Pyan]

Wouldn't put me off in the slightest - done by JRRT in LotR for entire books, and on a less exalted plane, David Weber frequently parks HH while he either tells us what the opposition is doing or gives us a lecture in mechanics/politics/science/history etc, etc

 

[zmunkz]

Some people won’t mind, but others definitely will. Starting over and meeting new people is a barrier to entry for any book, and asking people to do it twice inevitably will turn off some percentage of your readers.

Is there a reason you see this character as central enough that they begin the story, but then aren’t needed for so long? It makes me wonder if your story begins in the right place, or if maybe characters can be combined.

That is all just talking in generalities, of course. If this best serves the story you want to tell, then it is fine. It may turn off some readers, but they aren’t your target audience in that case anyway. The key is not to do something like this just because of an oversight while plotting, or another avoidable issue. If you are doing this, it should be very deliberately and with a clear sense of why this best tells your story. If you’ve done that homework, then it will definitely be fine.

 

[Brian G Turner]

But what do you do, if the main POV character disappears for 150+ pages halfway through.

Having a POV character disappear for a long while isn't necessarily a problem - but as you've noticed yourself, setting up someone as a main character from the beginning, who then seems to disappear from their own story, may not go down too well with readers.

 

[EJDeBrun]

I don't really have too much of opinion on this because ensemble casts can make things really flexible. All I can say is that if you think it's a bit weird, it probably is. If it were me, I would probably take a look at the whole thing and see if I can switch things around to make it more cohesive with the MC being the person from the start.

 

[Cathbad]

I couldn't foresee a novel I write in which the MC isn't absent in a chapter or two. But twelve in a row?! Is he truly the MC, or just an integral part of the story?

 

[Overread]

A lot also depends on how long the chapters are. That could be 6 long then 12 very short so it might not seem as bad; however it could be 6 short and then 12 long at which point your opening almost reads like a prologue.

 

[zmunkz]

I’ve been thinking about this some more. This bit is what troubles me:

6-20-other characters-setting up world and plot

What do you mean “setting up the world and plot”? The plot absolutely should involve the main character as it winds up and unfolds... this can’t happen without him/her.

And as for “setting up the world”... This sounds like you mean worldbuilding and backstory stuff... if so, there are far smoother ways to communicate that information in POV without pausing the story for 14 chapters.

 

[Parson]

From a readers point of view I would say that it doesn't matter. If the story is strong the absence will not be considered. At least it doesn't to me. I've read a lot of David Weber and the only thing like that which gets me is when the main characters in a series hardly make an appearance in a book.

 

[Cathbad]

Perhaps I'm misunderstanding the concept of "Main Character"?

Should not the MC be the character the story focuses on? Or the one through which the story develops? I've not read Weber, but how does an MC "hardly make an appearance"? This seems a foreign concept to me.

 

[Vladd67]

Consider if Blake's Seven was done as a single book, how would you feel seeing the start of the story from Blake's POV only to have him disappear and later only seen from Avon's POV?

 

[Parson]

That would be the Main Characters of the series, not necessarily the particular book. This is especially clear and frustrating in the later books in his Safehold Series. It comes close to false advertising in my book.

 

[anthorn]

Some people won’t mind, but others definitely will. Starting over and meeting new people is a barrier to entry for any book, and asking people to do it twice inevitably will turn off some percentage of your readers.

Is there a reason you see this character as central enough that they begin the story, but then aren’t needed for so long? It makes me wonder if your story begins in the right place, or if maybe characters can be combined.

That is all just talking in generalities, of course. If this best serves the story you want to tell, then it is fine. It may turn off some readers, but they aren’t your target audience in that case anyway. The key is not to do something like this just because of an oversight while plotting, or another avoidable issue. If you are doing this, it should be very deliberately and with a clear sense of why this best tells your story. If you’ve done that homework, then it will definitely be fine.

I would say I see him central because he's part of the group that has history with the ancient villain of the piece, but then again, after the group is introduced, they're barely seen and involved only in the latter half of the 2nd book.

 

[anthorn]

I’ve been thinking about this some more. This bit is what troubles me:



What do you mean “setting up the world and plot”? The plot absolutely should involve the main character as it winds up and unfolds... this can’t happen without him/her.

And as for “setting up the world”... This sounds like you mean worldbuilding and backstory stuff... if so, there are far smoother ways to communicate that information in POV without pausing the story for 14 chapters.

I probably worded that badly. What I meant was, that we're introduced to the world and little tidbits of history in the first few chapters, and then the other chapters introduce other characters who will also have a part to play, as well as the main antagonist bloke who is bringing all these guys together for a mission to an abandoned island. They all converge on the city where the original character is before leaving together. The guy from the first 6 chapters coming along as he's been ordered to assassinate the antagonist.

 

[ralphkern]

There is a growth in ensemble works at the moment. Probably prompted by GOT and the Expanse.

Personally, I'd like to know that I was getting into that kind of set-up from the outset. If we had ten chapters on focussed on one character, then they simply dissapeared. I'd be a bit miffed.

Do remember though, a book has three drivers, one to forward plot, one to forward the world, and one to forward the characters. In your case, it might be well to touch base with the character every now and again during the period where they're out of the main plot loop. Even if it's simply building part their chararacter which might be applicable for later, or alternatively reinforcing an important facet.

In your specific case, having him set-up or plan the assasination? If it's fantasy, maybe he aint so good with.. I dunno... a crossbow and has to practice on it?

 

[tinkerdan]

If this is a debut novel for a serial or a single novel this could be a challenge. You would need to have other characters that would be strong enough to carry the story, which means you'd have two or more MC's.

I've seen this accomplished in series that have established not just the MC but several other characters and it is usually several books down through the series.

 

[TitaniumTi]

If I was interested in the first protagonist's story, I would be tempted to race through the sections without him, possibly missing plot points as well as enjoying the second protagonist's story less.

If the first protagonist's short-term story arc was incomplete throughout that 100+ pages, I would be frustrated by the cliff-hanger. This has caused me to give up on books. It has even caused me to give up on an author, when the first protagonist's story was picked up again after the resolution of the cliff-hanger, with a scant re-telling of what had happened. Once burned, twice wary.

 

[Ihe]

What you're trying to do is not inherently wrong, but as a reader I don't like it when that happens. You're asking the reader to start over 3 times: In the beginning, with the switch, then with the switch back. I'm the type of reader that can really get invested in the MC. If I then have to get invested also in the other character, and you take that one away too, to go back to the first, I would feel cheated twice, and eventually I would stop caring, maybe put the book down. GoT is different because everyone gets a turn, and you are told who is in what chapter.

 

[Overread]

Game of Thrones and Malazan Book of the Fallen both revolve the main characters a lot to the point where you quickly have several mains all with their own niche story within the main story itself. The result is that if one drops away for a while its ok because you've got several others picking up the slack and the fact that no single character is the primary focus means that the reader doesn't feel cheated.
That said Malazan did get hit hard when the story jumped to a whole new cast of characters in the second book - it threw quite a few people; even though it fits in really well with the story. It did get away with it by having fantastic writing and because fans who nearly gave up got encouraged back in by other fans; and enough fans didn't get thrown to keep going.

The problem with what you're proposing is that not only is the main character leaving for a large chunk of the story; but it seems that the events setting up their return are all focusing on that character and their future actions. I can sort of see it working - hero frozen in time everyone battles on whilst they are gone; but the risk is there esp if you've already invested everyone into your main character.