I have some suspicions they occupy that part in my brain that’s usually reserved for maths. Because I can’t remember the most simple formula.

Nicola – I tend to have a low number of secondary characters in my books. In my shorter stories i.e. my Quickies for Ellora’s Cave I hardly have any secondary characters, but that’s because of the short length.

Sometimes with secondary characters a writer doesn’t know if they’re going to have their own story or not. It depends on the way the story unfolds. I don’t do a lot of preplotting, so sometimes the characters totally surprise me and demand their own story. At other times, such as with a family like my Mitchell brothers, separate stories are a natural progression.

After reading all of your comments, I’m definitely thinking I’ll do a family tree – maybe that’s something I can do while I’m on holiday and experiencing writing withdrawal!

I think when you get a long series going, you end up with tertiary characters — folks who kind of peek in at the edges and say hi, and the long-time readers are happy to see them and that they’re doing well, but they don’t really have a function in the story other than to be part of the landscape. At most, they may be part of a point about how the main or secondary character(s) relate to family or a small tidbit of information.

If they are characters that aren’t going to have their own book someday, then I think it’s good if they have a distinctive name and one easy-to-remember personality point, and then otherwise stay out of it. A good example here would be the servants in JR Ward’s series. They show up in most of the books and never step into the limelight, but provide continuity between books and provide a foil for character points.

If they ARE going to get their own book someday, then you can start them off in the background, move them into a secondary position in a later book, and then launch them into their own story. After that, they go back to tertiary position. ;)

I’m sure there’s no hard and fast rule, and a lot depends on the skill of the writer, the density of the plot, and the length of the book, but more 3 or 4 secondary characters — people who have strong roles in the plot — seems like the most you want to have unless there’s a really good reason for it.

I currently have 93 named characters for my Fantasy trilogy, with 4 (or perhaps 5) MCs, half a dozen main antags/bad guys, and some 20 Also Very Important characters …. and that’s a far cry from Martin or Erikson who have more, I think.

I do have a geneaology file for my Roman series, but no tree. Maybe adding one in book 3 might prove useful, in case those novels will ever get finished and published.

Kaye – thank you! I think Sherrilyn Kenyon definitely needs a tree for her Gods.

Leah – LK Hamilton’s series is one that needs a guide because there are lots of characters. I really think Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark Hunters needs a family tree/ guide for readers. Am I right in thinking there is a separate guide published? I know JR Ward has one.

Voronda – that’s a good point about a family tree being necessary when there’s a long gap between books. If you’re a big reader it’s easy to forget.

Jennifer – I think I have some Julia Quinn books somewhere. I need to do some research to see how other writers have handled their family trees.