How many characters should I include in a short erotic story?
This is something I struggled with very early in my erotica publishing business.
Even though I read some books by other authors, I really had no idea how many characters I should include.
Some short stories I read really only had two characters (the main characters).
And some had as many as 6 or 7 for a book less than 50 pages.
So when it was time to put the words on my computer screen, I came to a blank.
Yeah, it sucks when that happens!
So for my first few books, I just kind of experimented around.
But hopefully this post will help you identify how many characters should be included in your book.
How Many Characters To Include?
So, let’s get to the main question on hand. How many characters should I have in a short story?
Now, I think this really depends on how long your book is because it takes time to build up characters.
But if your story is 8,000 words or less, I would focus most of the attention on the two main characters and include up to 3 supporting characters.
If you’re writing a 10,000+ word story, I think there is enough room to fit up to 5 – 6 supporting characters (and still develop a decent background for them).
You don’t want to complicate the story by having to build the background for too many characters at the same time!
Most of the book should be dedicated to the two main characters – developing their background and what their motivations are.
Use a good portion of the book to build the sexual tension between the main characters.
Build that conflict and then resolve it at the end when they consummate the relationship.
If you can do that, you’ll have your readers eating from your hand like a bird.
Using Supporting Characters
When it comes to supporting characters, my general rule of thumb is if they don’t really add anything to the story don’t include them at all.
And when I mean “add something to the story”, I mean something that progresses the plot.
For example, it could be a best friend who helps the main character realize how much she wants to sleep with her boss.
The conflict can be anything, but I like to use some sort of moral conflict – i.e. boss sleeping with his/her assistant or teacher sleeping with a student, etc.
Only use supporting characters to build up the other characters. The main focus should always be with the main characters.
Trust me, trying to add to many characters into the book will make your life a lot harder.
And often times, it will make your book a lot less fluid and coherent.
How Much Time Should Go Into Character Backgrounds?
Another question I’ve been asked recently is how much time should be invested in writing about the background of the main characters.
Personally, I really only spend the first 25% or so of the book developing the background of the main characters.
For a short erotica story (less than 5,000 words) you really don’t need to go develop a very deep background story.
I think that’s something that gets a lot of new writers (including myself).
For example, the background for a MILF story might just be a housewife who is tired of being ignored by her husband.
So when the cute 18 year old new pool boy starts working, she decides she wants to seduce him.
Simple as that! No need to over-complicate things with short stories.
Anyways, hope this helps you with writing your next short story.
If you have any other thoughts about this topic, leave a comment below or shoot me an email!
P.S. if you want more tips to research and write erotica, check out the Erotica Academy Course.
The course details the step by step guide I used to build my erotica publishing business from 0 to a few grand a month.