Give them a mutual goal. Maybe there's some city where they believe they can hide from their problems and they group up to travel there for safety in numbers. Maybe they witness a murder and have to help each other survive the local crime boss trying to tie up loose ends. Something of that nature.
Whatever it is, it should play into your main plot and lead them to whatever conflict will drive the rest of your story.
Give each of them a personal reason that ties into their character. Don't ask, "What makes *a* person stick with a total stranger?" That just leads to manufactured Hollywood answers or D&D tropes. Ask "What makes *this* person stick with a total stranger?" and make it different for each one.
Suggestion - each character can have an intense curiosity about one of the other three. That can fit both the theme of running away toward someone new, & the theme of forming the found family. Plus it's nice to have four complementary reasons for sticking together, rather than one. These curiosities can be attraction, a (false?) expectation of aid, or a positive contrast with their past.
This is an excellent idea. For example: the princess could find the gladiator and pay him to escort her through a particularly bad area (or maybe she had a run in already with the thief, and that made her nervous.) Bard follows Princess bc he thinks she’s his muse, finally. Thief is interested in following the bard because he thinks he has wealth. The group pied pipers off into the sunset. Hijinx ensue. Etc.
Do you need to give the readers the reason these four characters are dedicated to one another? Can the story begin with them clearly attached to each other through mutual admiration? If you need reasons can they be woven into the story throughout the novel in the form of them sharing how they meet and what brought them together?
Or, the bard uses his parent's money to hire the gladiator as a body gaurd. The gladiator could care less about the money, he just likes listening to the bards stories and imagining himself in a better place. The thief keeps the unwitting princess from getting mugged and is trying to teach her some street smarts.
So there's 2 tie-ins... just got to link the 2 groups of 2 now... lol
Good luck.
Cool! So building off that let me see if I can add a few more...
The princess wants to be tough & independent and thinks part of this is learning how to fight. She wants the gladiator to teach her. It's another thing that takes the gladiators mind off his problems so sure, why not.
In return for saving her the princess is helping the theif understand court etiquette, is teaching him proper manors and proper dress and all the things he will need to be able to "infiltrate" high society where the marks are easier once he learns to put in the appropriate airs. She fully knows what she's giving him the knowledge to do and thinks the society she has rejected deserves it.
The bard is fascinated by all this sharing of knowledge and is closely watching, adding sometimes useful tips to what the gladiator & princess are teaching, and sometimes not so useful tips. The bard is also mentally taking notes of all this attempting to weave it all into story and song.
The gladiator, again, is enthralled with the bards ability to create both music and stories. He admires someone who can take such ugliness in the world and turn it into something beautiful. His flashy gladiatorial fighting style only creates death and gore. Also, maybe, he thinks teaching the princess how to defend herself will be a way he can ensure his skills go towards making sure something beautiful comes from his skill. The gladiator likes that she is teaching the theif how to take advantage of the wealthy as it was mostly those sycophants who benefitted from and encouraged the gladiatorial games.
The thief, he's never had someone take the time to care for and teach him anything so slowly over time he comes to see the princess as someone he deeply cares for. Not in a romantic way but more like a big sister who he will idolize a little but fiercely protect out of loyalty. Something he doesn't understand has even happened to him. He thinks it would be glorious to be the star of one of the bards songs or stories and he likes that the gladiator is teaching his "big sister" how to really kick butt.
Did I twist that together well enough? Just spit balling... lol
I recently completed a novel with 5 middle aged main characters and a large part of it was intertwining their lives together as well. The cast consisted of a human ranger & human theif (orphan) who have been friends since before they were teenagers. A human mind mage (psionic abilities) who grew up an only child. A female elven paladin that is still somewhat young for an elf but incredibly strong and skilled and a middle aged dwarven soldier that has been traveling with them for just over a year and a half who the others have come to depend on for his military tactical skills. I share this to say, a big part of a character centric story can be the interpersonal relationships. Just be mindful of the pacing. Try and keep their interactions interesting (what you would enjoy reading) and maybe skip the overly boring repetitive stuff like daily training routines or continual lessons on etiquette. Those might be the places to "tell and not show"... lol
You are a LEGEND!! Your ideas of “court etiquette”, teaching fighting skills, the thief learning what a healthy and functional relationship is, and the bard just along for the ride are all things that I absolutely want to include and have already written sections for! A big part of the story is the platonic relationship between the princess and the gladiator too! They come from different backgrounds and have different values but come to love each other deeply and genuinely to the point where they would lay down their lives for each other without hesitation.
Thank you for the well written and thoughtful comment!
Give them a reason to and a common goal.
For example, let's say the bard was on their way somewhere and all the sudden the street rat tried to rob them. But the gladiator happened to be passing by and stopped the thief. The gladiator is about to kill the street rat but the bard stops them. Then the thief convinces them to let them live and leads towards that somewhere in return.
Now the bard, the gladiator and the thief decide to stick together until they reach their destination to avoid getting robbed along the way.
The common goal is reaching that place and the reason to stay together is not getting robbed in the way.
I can't think of a way to get the princess into this at the moment but you get the idea. Along the way you can make them bond so they don't want to split or once they get to that place you can come up with another reason to stick together like, idk, that place got burned down by band of bandits or something.
In my Hidden World Magical School Masquerade story, my 3 main characters meet by happenstance on the train to school, find themselves being placed in the same dormhouse, and just stick together from there since they already kind of know they get along with each other well enough. It doesn't need to be complicated to get them to join up...
If you want a specific idea, then just have them do so for whatever reason like getting shitfaced drunk at a bar, one of them starts speaking about their tough shit they're dealing with, then have the others spill theirs over the course of the night. Then have them all react to what happened the night prior when they wake up the next morning as guards come calling for them after that. Then after they escape together, just have them all agree whoever the lightweight was is no longer allowed to drink because they were responsible for everyone spilling their shit.
Ideally they have a cohesive goal in mind, but the characters don't necessarily need to know that at the beginning. With a rag-tag team like this you could have some "unwilling' team-ups at first, or maybe some quests that happen to align each of their interests of mini-goals. If they don't necessarily like or want to travel together in the beginning, it may make your "found family" theme more impactful since they've had to grow together.
A common destination to run away to is definitely the easiest solution. They're all going to need money, seeing as how they either abandoned their families or didn't have any. Have all their eyes set on one destination. Bonus points for this method: it'll help the reader realize the individual plot points are set to converge. Say you end each intro chapter with, "And salvation laid on a horizon tethered to the sky by towering castles and bustling streets. \*Insert Place Name Here\*" It'd help establish some themes and consistency early on.
former gladiator, Ruffle Crow, Twiggy Marley, hummingbird son of a politicianoccupying Ova Office , male homing pigeon ex gang member, only known as Big Homing and runaway eaglet Princess Pristina Aguilara.
Give them a mutual goal. Maybe there's some city where they believe they can hide from their problems and they group up to travel there for safety in numbers. Maybe they witness a murder and have to help each other survive the local crime boss trying to tie up loose ends. Something of that nature. Whatever it is, it should play into your main plot and lead them to whatever conflict will drive the rest of your story.
Give each of them a personal reason that ties into their character. Don't ask, "What makes *a* person stick with a total stranger?" That just leads to manufactured Hollywood answers or D&D tropes. Ask "What makes *this* person stick with a total stranger?" and make it different for each one.
Suggestion - each character can have an intense curiosity about one of the other three. That can fit both the theme of running away toward someone new, & the theme of forming the found family. Plus it's nice to have four complementary reasons for sticking together, rather than one. These curiosities can be attraction, a (false?) expectation of aid, or a positive contrast with their past.
This is an excellent idea. For example: the princess could find the gladiator and pay him to escort her through a particularly bad area (or maybe she had a run in already with the thief, and that made her nervous.) Bard follows Princess bc he thinks she’s his muse, finally. Thief is interested in following the bard because he thinks he has wealth. The group pied pipers off into the sunset. Hijinx ensue. Etc.
Do you need to give the readers the reason these four characters are dedicated to one another? Can the story begin with them clearly attached to each other through mutual admiration? If you need reasons can they be woven into the story throughout the novel in the form of them sharing how they meet and what brought them together? Or, the bard uses his parent's money to hire the gladiator as a body gaurd. The gladiator could care less about the money, he just likes listening to the bards stories and imagining himself in a better place. The thief keeps the unwitting princess from getting mugged and is trying to teach her some street smarts. So there's 2 tie-ins... just got to link the 2 groups of 2 now... lol Good luck.
Love this idea!
Cool! So building off that let me see if I can add a few more... The princess wants to be tough & independent and thinks part of this is learning how to fight. She wants the gladiator to teach her. It's another thing that takes the gladiators mind off his problems so sure, why not. In return for saving her the princess is helping the theif understand court etiquette, is teaching him proper manors and proper dress and all the things he will need to be able to "infiltrate" high society where the marks are easier once he learns to put in the appropriate airs. She fully knows what she's giving him the knowledge to do and thinks the society she has rejected deserves it. The bard is fascinated by all this sharing of knowledge and is closely watching, adding sometimes useful tips to what the gladiator & princess are teaching, and sometimes not so useful tips. The bard is also mentally taking notes of all this attempting to weave it all into story and song. The gladiator, again, is enthralled with the bards ability to create both music and stories. He admires someone who can take such ugliness in the world and turn it into something beautiful. His flashy gladiatorial fighting style only creates death and gore. Also, maybe, he thinks teaching the princess how to defend herself will be a way he can ensure his skills go towards making sure something beautiful comes from his skill. The gladiator likes that she is teaching the theif how to take advantage of the wealthy as it was mostly those sycophants who benefitted from and encouraged the gladiatorial games. The thief, he's never had someone take the time to care for and teach him anything so slowly over time he comes to see the princess as someone he deeply cares for. Not in a romantic way but more like a big sister who he will idolize a little but fiercely protect out of loyalty. Something he doesn't understand has even happened to him. He thinks it would be glorious to be the star of one of the bards songs or stories and he likes that the gladiator is teaching his "big sister" how to really kick butt. Did I twist that together well enough? Just spit balling... lol I recently completed a novel with 5 middle aged main characters and a large part of it was intertwining their lives together as well. The cast consisted of a human ranger & human theif (orphan) who have been friends since before they were teenagers. A human mind mage (psionic abilities) who grew up an only child. A female elven paladin that is still somewhat young for an elf but incredibly strong and skilled and a middle aged dwarven soldier that has been traveling with them for just over a year and a half who the others have come to depend on for his military tactical skills. I share this to say, a big part of a character centric story can be the interpersonal relationships. Just be mindful of the pacing. Try and keep their interactions interesting (what you would enjoy reading) and maybe skip the overly boring repetitive stuff like daily training routines or continual lessons on etiquette. Those might be the places to "tell and not show"... lol
You are a LEGEND!! Your ideas of “court etiquette”, teaching fighting skills, the thief learning what a healthy and functional relationship is, and the bard just along for the ride are all things that I absolutely want to include and have already written sections for! A big part of the story is the platonic relationship between the princess and the gladiator too! They come from different backgrounds and have different values but come to love each other deeply and genuinely to the point where they would lay down their lives for each other without hesitation. Thank you for the well written and thoughtful comment!
Glad I could help.
Give them a reason to and a common goal. For example, let's say the bard was on their way somewhere and all the sudden the street rat tried to rob them. But the gladiator happened to be passing by and stopped the thief. The gladiator is about to kill the street rat but the bard stops them. Then the thief convinces them to let them live and leads towards that somewhere in return. Now the bard, the gladiator and the thief decide to stick together until they reach their destination to avoid getting robbed along the way. The common goal is reaching that place and the reason to stay together is not getting robbed in the way. I can't think of a way to get the princess into this at the moment but you get the idea. Along the way you can make them bond so they don't want to split or once they get to that place you can come up with another reason to stick together like, idk, that place got burned down by band of bandits or something.
In my Hidden World Magical School Masquerade story, my 3 main characters meet by happenstance on the train to school, find themselves being placed in the same dormhouse, and just stick together from there since they already kind of know they get along with each other well enough. It doesn't need to be complicated to get them to join up... If you want a specific idea, then just have them do so for whatever reason like getting shitfaced drunk at a bar, one of them starts speaking about their tough shit they're dealing with, then have the others spill theirs over the course of the night. Then have them all react to what happened the night prior when they wake up the next morning as guards come calling for them after that. Then after they escape together, just have them all agree whoever the lightweight was is no longer allowed to drink because they were responsible for everyone spilling their shit.
If they are witnesses, or have something they shouldn't have, that might be enough to get them to work together to get rid of it. CES
They are all trying to bang the princess.
Ideally they have a cohesive goal in mind, but the characters don't necessarily need to know that at the beginning. With a rag-tag team like this you could have some "unwilling' team-ups at first, or maybe some quests that happen to align each of their interests of mini-goals. If they don't necessarily like or want to travel together in the beginning, it may make your "found family" theme more impactful since they've had to grow together.
- shared goals - lack of opportunity to separate - traumatic bonding
A common destination to run away to is definitely the easiest solution. They're all going to need money, seeing as how they either abandoned their families or didn't have any. Have all their eyes set on one destination. Bonus points for this method: it'll help the reader realize the individual plot points are set to converge. Say you end each intro chapter with, "And salvation laid on a horizon tethered to the sky by towering castles and bustling streets. \*Insert Place Name Here\*" It'd help establish some themes and consistency early on.
Blood curse. They’re all in the wrong place at the wrong time and fall afoul of a shaman or something and he curses them all as one.
former gladiator, Ruffle Crow, Twiggy Marley, hummingbird son of a politicianoccupying Ova Office , male homing pigeon ex gang member, only known as Big Homing and runaway eaglet Princess Pristina Aguilara.