When you introduce what will be a recurring person or place or object… keep reminding your readers just who or what it is when it comes around again, lest they forget.
Or, in the immortal words of somebody or other: “tell them once, tell then twice, tell them naughty, tell them nice.” Just make sure they remember who or what you’re talking about, even after they’ve put your book aside for three months, or entered the early stages of forgetful dementia.
And You! You know who you all are, with your 300 generations of ancestors and dozens of alien species with endless magical powers. Congrats on world building and all that, but if we can’t recall what you told us about character relationships and powerful objects and important events three series entries ago, we’re unlikely to understand WTF is actually going on. No resonance without recollection.
Clues. We need clues. If we can’t remember, can’t recall how people or events are connected, we’ll have a hard time sinking into the story and recognizing or making sense of important observations in the plot. It’s not like a movie where we can identify them by just looking at their faces.
For the love of Cthulhu, at least vary the initials of all the proper names — give us a fighting chance to keep up with the proliferations. At least chip in a pronoun or a physical tic, and remind us which nickname goes with what person.
What do you do to make people and objects and locations and relationships clear and recallable for your readers?
Mad Genius Club 
7 responses to “Repetition — Your readers will thank you”
“What do you do to make people and objects and locations and relationships clear and recallable for your readers?”
Well, first off I try to avoid using unpronounceable, alien names. If they’re really aliens, having the humans give them humanized nicknames works. Second I don’t use 3 or 4 different names for the same character like in some darn Russian novel (looking at you Sarah 🙂 ). Third, giving the character a tic or particular kink/trait that I can insert at most appearances helps, like this particular character is persnickety about his mustache or obsessively notices facial hair in others.
Speaking as a reader: Try to limit the number of characters. (I don’t mean two, just not two dozen.) This isn’t just about remembering who they are, but I find it more difficult to care about characters who are introduced halfway through the book. One way to get around this, though, is subplots. I would suggest Tom Clancy as a good example here. I’m not saying he’s the world’s best writer, but if you have a clutch of characters tensely trying to find a spy in Washington, and another group in – we’ll say Japan – defusing a bomb or something, it is easier to remember them all and I am much more likely to be on the edge of my seat wondering what’s going to happen.
I write series, so I’m always milking a cast for the long run. I think very much in different clusters of characters…
It’s somewhat fluid, since sometimes a less important character can graduate to a more core character cluster.
1) Tight inner circle of the story, where we care the deepest and the most
2) Related secondary characters, for some of that immersion or cozy friends/associates vibe
3) Other persistent clusters: enemies, professional helpers, visiting outsiders, political interactions. Not many persons in each sub-cluster.
4) No-name walk-ons, mostly as plot devices/permanent character interactors (like greeting the local bartender). Partly local color.
The lower (more important) the cluster number above, the more likely we’re going to see more of the characters throughout the series, and the more the details and identifications and reader reminders matter.
For the higher number (less important) types above, the core characters often have occasion to explain to/remind their other core character associates who those people are (and the readers benefit as well).
That’s a very good point and particularly useful for thriller writers.
Nicknames – I’ve got Arthur (older generation), Thomas Arthur “Art” (second generation), and Arthur Josef “A.J.” (third gen). Only two ever appear in the same book together, although all three are in the same series.
Language use – some characters are more formal in their speech, others use more slang and contractions.
Physical description, including clothing – both the characters references to themselves, and others’ observations and asides (“Can’t she ever match?” “No, it’s her way of rebelling.”)
Having certain characters associate with particular places, like a university, or church, or social club, or town. [Reader: OK, this is the university, so it must be Art, not A.J., muttering about parking spots.]
In my very first novel I introduced too many at once and got complaints. Now the majors tend to show up, if not one at a time, at least in smaller numbers.
I do my utmost to have the main characters’ names start with different letters, because I find that confusing myself as a reader.
I try to mention a physical trait or gesture (what some call a “tag”) at a character’s reappearance. As a reader, I’d love it if we saw more of this for less important characters. They’re the ones we’re most likely to forget, so reminding us of their job or role can be super helpful. “The sly surgeon surfaced once again.”
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