Some years back, a publishing professional suggested I not introduce so many characters by name in the first chapter.
I counted the names in chapter one of the manuscript. There
were six fully named, plus three who were mentioned by function, not a name.
(Think “her uncle” or “his teacher.”)
Was this too many? She was a publishing professional, so I
revised. I found another way to introduce the named operators of the story. A
technique I borrowed from a book I read when I was ten served its purpose. After
all, the publishing professional specifically said young readers couldn’t
hold that many names right off the bat, and bringing up Tolstoy’s War and Peace
with his propensity to name hundreds of characters would not be a proper defense.
Anyway, I was not writing an epic novel. This was a spy story for middle grade readers.
I remembered this advice, and have counted the number of
characters introduced by name in the first chapter(s) ever since. No matter
that an award-winning writer of middle grade novels ignores this advice, (not
naming him. I like his books) and that less than lauded books I have read and
respected don’t follow it. I’m not in their league, and so I heed this
generally good guidance.
