𝖶𝗋𝗂𝗍𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖳𝗂𝗉𝗌 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝖫𝗈𝗌𝖾𝗋𝗌

𝐎𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐒𝐲𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐞

The "𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐞" isn't uncommon in fiction and is the result of writers keeping to the Law of Conservation of Detail. Is that really a bad thing? As an overarching statement, no, but it can raise some eyebrows in this case, especially in stories where numerous only-children (who are all significant) is weird when you start thinking about it.

The OCS can pop up two ways:
1. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝
2. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐮𝐩 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐭

The first version is a fact mentioned in-story, the second version is an inference made by the audience due to a lack of familial info. Unless plot-relevant (like a superhero story where only only-children have powers) frequent direct statements of only-child status can look like a weird kind of attention. For a single character it might be overlooked, but for four of them it would likely cause readers to start wondering why the only child status is so significant.

You might be able to get away with the second version where they're only-children "in theory", but that depends on setup. If they're minors living with parents/guardians, then it would be really weird to not mention family. If they recently moved out and are getting on their own two feet, it may or may not be weird depending on how close they are with family. If they're solidified in adult life (usually 30+) then it's much easier to get away with never mentioning family (although close siblings usually still cross each others' paths in-person or with another method of communication). "Story unrealism"/Law of Conservation of Detail only works when the logic behind the lack of mention makes sense. There's a big difference between actively avoiding mentioning family/siblings vs them just not coming up due to genre/plot.

That doesn't mean you have to come up with detailed sibling characters! Instead, consider little "extra" interactions that don't harm the forward momentum of the plot. The siblings don't need to appear in-story, just include some references. However, this method does have its own effect– those siblings usually aren't that close if they don't appear in a main character's life.

• 𝐐𝐮𝐢𝐩𝐬/𝐣𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐬/𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 (𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐝): "I still have that boot-shaped scar on my knee from when my sister pushed me down the stairs."
• 𝐈𝐧-𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲: Siblings can have names and vague personalities, but they never show up "on screen". They're discussed in small talk or other non-pivotal scenes.
• 𝐈𝐧-𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲: Siblings technically appear "on screen" with dialogue and maybe a brief description, but it's for a small moment and often in the context of the main character just living normal life ("Did you take my dress?" "Yeah" "Okay fine, just return it later.")

What I want you to ask yourself is why are all these characters only children? Why did you choose to write the story this way? All choices have consequences, and unless your story is set up to naturally not touch on family, it can be odd to have that kind of setup.

𝐜𝐫; 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐝