This one's for the scenes with multiple characters, and you're not sure how to keep everyone involved.
Writing group scenes is chaos. Someone’s talking, someone’s interrupting, someone’s zoning out thinking about breadsticks. And if you’re not careful, half your cast fades into the background like NPCs in a video game. I used to struggle with this so much—my characters would just exist in the scene without actually affecting it. But here’s what I've learned and have started implementing:
Not their literal job—like, not everyone needs to be solving a crime or casting spells. I mean: Why are they in this moment? What’s their role in the conversation?
My favourite examples are:
The Driver: Moves the convo forward. They have an agenda, they’re pushing the action.
The Instigator: Pokes the bear. Asks the messy questions. Stirring the pot like a chef on a mission.
The Voice of Reason: "Guys, maybe we don’t commit arson today?"
The Distracted One: Completely in their own world. Tuning out, doodling on a napkin, thinking about their ex.
The Observer: Not saying much, but noticing everything. (Quiet characters still have presence!)
The Wild Card: Who knows what they’ll do? Certainly not them. Probably about to make things worse.
If a character has no function, they’ll disappear. Give them something—even if it’s just a side comment, a reaction, or stealing fries off someone’s plate. Keep them interesting, and your readers will stay interested too.
Ducktales 2017 is such a good show, more people should watch it. Owl House people looking for more? Gravity Falls fans? Amphibia? Looking for more mystery, found family and fun?
This is a great show for you. Especially for arospec folk like myself, it’s such a relief to find a show with so little romantic plot lines but still lots of platonic and familial love. It also changed my perspective on shows like it forever. It’s my favourite show of all time.
It’s the most realistic depiction of siblings I have ever laid my eyes on. It’s funny for all ages without defaulting to gross humour people think kids find funny. It’s so damn family driven. It has plenty of successful adult role models with no kids and/or no partners. My favourite character is only good as a coincidence. It is the only show ever where I have enjoyed the filler. It de-fridges the mum. The ‘main’ romantic subplot appears about three times, is more of a con artist-roguish hero dynamic than anything else, never goes anywhere and doesn’t feel wasted for it. It’s got magic. It’s got a Batman parody. It’s got a stacked cast for no reason. It’s got autism and adhd coded characters that showcase the spectrum. It’s got a British housekeeper who is also a spy. And a ghost butler. They hate each other. Lin Manuel Miranda is in it. It’s got a three part mega finale because it got cancelled like my other treasure trove tv shows (TOH). Every single character in this extensive family is developed and focused on at some point. They function how the Batfamily is in fanon. They scare the hell out of the rest of the world. They’re family.
I watch the final episode anytime I need creative motivation. I love this show so much.
a dænce of roëmænce
depictions of the ace experience never seem to include the nightmare-borne skeleton creature from hell so kudos to the dimension 20 team for their commitment to accurate rep