If the cast of your book is too wide, readers will lose track. Their is nothing more annoying than having to keep checking back, in a novel, to see who so-and-so is. And if you have too many really distinctive characters it could be overwhelming. You don’t want the minor players to outshine the leading cast members.

So I’ve always tried to shave my number of characters down to the bare minimum. The ones who survive are there for a reason. No, they mustn’t outshine the lead but they still play a crucial role, as long as they serve one or more of the following purposes:

Demonstrate the themes of the story

My last novel, Forgive Me Not, is about Emma, a recovered alcoholic, who goes home to the village of Healdbury to try to make amends after tearing apart her family and causing uproar in the community.  As the title indicates, forgiveness is a big theme of this story and the villagers reflect this. Some cannot forget her old behaviours and the trouble she caused. Others, over the course of the story come to realise they too are flawed and everyone deserves a second chance.  All the people she encounters again serve their place, even those who only appear very briefly. Like the elderly woman, in the street, shop owner Mrs Beatty, who crosses the road immediately when she sees Emma approaching on the pavement when she first returns to the village. This minor character’s one simple action tells the reader what Emma used to be like and suggests she is not going to have an easy time trying to fit back into her old life and make amends to those people she hurt.

Show something about the main character

Stig, the homeless man Emma used to know, gives the community insight into what life used to be like for her. It might be shocking for them to hear that the protagonist used to live on Manchester’s streets. It might confirm villagers’ preconceived ideas about the sort of people who end up as rough sleepers, that Emma really must be a no-good no-hoper. But then they get to know Stig, a gentle soul, who once had a good job as a geography teacher but who lost everything due to mental health problems. He demonstrates to the villagers that any one of them, given a certain set of unfortunate circumstances, could lose their home. His appearance in the novel questions any assumptions that might be made about Emma and how much she deserved to find herself homeless. He adds another dimension to her character from the villagers point of view. He is a window into where she has been for the last couple of years.

Another more minor character is runaway homeless teenager Tilly. Her purpose is to show how Emma really has changed – the Emma in addiction only thought about herself. Now she wants to help those less fortunate and Tilly brings out her maternal side.

Then there is Dash, the three-legged dog Emma grew up with. Yes, even animal characters must earn their place. He is overjoyed at her return, despite her selfish and unpredictable behaviours displayed before leaving the village.  His unconditional love shows the reader that there must be good inside her – that once she really must have been a decent person. In fact I’ve just finished a project where a kitten plays rather an important role. It is there, in the background, throughout the novel, and at the end we realise just how significant its presence has been for the main character.

They embellish the setting

In Forgive Me Not there are flashbacks to Emma’s past. A violent rough-sleeper who beats her up personifies the drab, threatening, dangerous, solitary place Emma has found herself in. Whereas the appealing rabbits and pigs on the farm in present time, with their colour and playfulness, reflect the happy, carefree, nurtured, safe, communal life she left behind.

So think carefully about your  minor characters because they contribute massively to themes, plot, setting, so many aspects of your novel. What’s their point? If they don’t have one, get rid. Like so much in writing, it won’t be a waste. They might suit a future story.

It is always a challenge to set a book in a location not familiar, in terms of everyday life. In fact one of my books (firmly unpublished and kept under the proverbial literary bed!) was set in Ancient Egypt. Some settings are so inspiring that they alone are the motivation to write an entire book. This happened with my novella, How to get Hitched in Ten Days. I’d visited an amazing fifties diner and instantly knew I just had to base a story in one. So what have I learned from the process of creating different settings, over the years? Well, I’m no expert but here are my top tips.

Firstly, it’s all in the detail. Take my undiscovered masterpiece (!) set in Ancient Egypt. I tracked down an egyptologist on line and they agreed to answer all my questions for £1 a pop. I was determined to make my book as authentic as possible. And I take the same attitude towards setting my stories in modern countries – even though I have visited Cornwall, Paris and Greece. A sure-fire way to guarantee authenticity and detail is to focus on the five senses. Take your readers on a complete, sensual journey.

Sight – don’t forget the small things. Like sand stuck to the bottom of shoes after a day out. A passing gull with a chip hanging from its mouth. The width of the kohl around the eyes of a pharoah. The different colours shooting across the sky during a sunset.

Sound – listen to a Youtube video filmed in the setting of your choice. The car horns in Paris. The donkey’s bray or chirping cigales in a Greek village. The fishing boat’s horn at a seaside resort. The sound of cheesy music from a passing ice cream van.

Smell – the stink of fish and seaweed as you walk through a harbour such as the one pictured above. The car fumes in Paris or wafting pastry smells from bakeries. Crocodile dung in Ancient Egypt! Close your eyes and imagine you are walking in your characters’ shadows. Think smoke from barbecues in the summer or aroma of hot red cinnamon wine if it’s cold.

Taste – oh yes, go to town with the food! The different textures and levels of spiciness or sweetness. All those details will really get the reader involved. How the food feels on the tongue. Is the aftertaste mild or bold?

Touch – wet sand squelching between toes. Scratchy beach grasses brushing against legs. Weather-beaten fishing boats. Scaly, slippery fish. Cobbled pavements under the feet. The sleek, smooth glass of glitzy buildings. The breeze through your hair by the coast or at the top of a landmark.

Below is an extract from my new Cornish book, as best friends, Kate and Izzy, drive towards Port Penny harbour:

“…the road narrowed into a path and we cut through the tiniest whitewashed stone cottages, with doll’s house doors and uneven foundations. The roads turned to cobbled avenues and I marvelled at cute plant pots in tiny front gardens. An occasional cat crossed our path, as I pointed out funny house names like Seas the Day and Sunnyside Up. Tens of gulls squawked above our heads and, as we approached the wide harbour, I breathed in a fishy stench, which hit the back of your throat.“

Secondly, also describe all the smaller aspects of the larger, more imposing parts of your setting. To do this I study Youtube videos and do lots of research online. Draw a map if that helps. I did this for Taxos, the Greek village in Game of Scones, and also for the stately mansion in Doubting Abbey. This will make it more real for you and, as a consequence, more real for your readers. Reading tourists’ reviews on TripAdvisor is also immensely helpful. I did this for my Greek book as I couldn’t exactly remember the details of Kos centre and I came across some vivid descriptions of various fountains and buildings – how safe or crowded or well maintained they were and what you could see from each angle. Also read local tourist guides and try to get a sense of the atmosphere surrounding big landmarks, to make the experience more personal.

In this extract, in From Paris with Love, Gemma is sitting on the steps of the Sacre Coeur:

“I gazed back down at the City of Light. When we’d first arrived, I’d just about been able to make out the details of roofs, chimneys and aerials. Now, however,everywhere was liquorice black, as if the starry sky had fallen to earth, just like that children’s story where Brer Rabbit thinks the moon has dropped into a pond. Lights twinkled and towards the right stood the sparkly Eiffel Tower.

I turned around, and gazed up at the awesome Sacre-Coeur church, illuminated by an amber glow. A Native American band played nearby, with their drums, flutes and pipes. Chat, laughter and ciggie smoke filled the air. Necking wine out of a bottle, a tramp sat next to us and directly in front was a group of camera-clicking Japanese girls.”

Thirdly, cut out relevant photographs and stick them above your desk, to really “get in the zone”. I did this with From Paris with Love as inspiration for the restaurant where a lot of the plot was based. I also posted up a copy of the Parisian underground. Don’t be lazy. Readers are educated people and won’t believe in the story if they spot an obvious mistake. Find the right Metro station to get off at the Eiffel Tower. Work out the exact time it will take a taxi to travel from the airport to your little Greek village.

Fourthly if you can, visit places in real life similar to your setting, if you haven’t actually been to the location. Doubting Abbey was inspired by the series Downton Abbey, and well after the book was published I managed a trip to Highclere Castle (see below). But the stately home in my story is quite different, and to get a taste of aristocratic life whilst doing the ground research, I visited Lyme Hall near me and took a tour of the house, writing notes on everything from the artefacts to door frames and just imagining how it must feel to live in such grandiose surroundings.

Finally… remember, a glamorous or particularly appealing or distinctive setting isn’t everything. For some novels the plot and characters carry the story and the setting, whilst important, isn’t such an crucial element. In Breakfast under a Cornish Sun it is significant because Kate Golightly heads off to that coast to find her very own Poldark (the fictional hero of a well-know Cornish book and TV series). Yet in my current work-in-progress (still under wraps, so I can’t give much away!) the setting is kind of incidental as the plot is about more of an emotional than physical journey for the characters.