When I construct scenes, I usually think of the main character and what she/he wants and how this will work in the scene, but when I start writing, well, that's when the secondary characters come into play. Boom! You need somebody, be it a watchman, a farmer, or a stripper. Who is this person? They need a personality, maybe not a life story, but we must know enough about them to find them believable. And interesting. In some ways, they must advance the plot.
In Promiscuous Mode, my soon-to-be published mystery, I felt like I hit the secondary character jackpot. The book is set in Northern Wisconsin. The real Northwoods. There's a shoe factory that not making shoes anymore, but ordering them from Asia. There's computer shenanigans, business shenanigans, sexual shenigans. And people! I came up with the lowlife Darrell who kidnaps the main character's cat. He's a ne'er do well with a wallet full of cash. Claims he won it up the road at an Indian casino. But did he? There's the Revenend Josie, an Episcopal priest who peppers her speech with French. She loves a good glass of wine and adventure. Maybe she loves adventure too much. And lastly, there's Phyllis King, a VP at the shoe factory. She's the town tennis champ, golf champ, has a beautiful Victorian house and a dreadful secret. Oh, I do love secondary characters. They all have secrets.
In The Shadow Warriors, I have a Bulgarian spy, Georgi Balakov of whom I've very fond. And a landlady with a bunion who always wears carpet slippers. And a bad guy who turns into a good guy. This happened because he was based on a real person whom I did not like. Then we were assigned to a big project together and I got to know him. He wasn't so bad, and the more we worked together the better I liked him, and his character changed from 100% bad to part-bad, part-good. I felt better about writing him into the book after that.
Secondary characters are not such nice to have, they're mandatory. Make them colorful, make them good, bad, evil or better yet, a mixture. Think hard about them. They prop up the plot and should not be cardboard. Never cardboard. Make the reader perk up when they come on the scene.
Here are some talented writers who have original thoughts about secondary characters. Do give them a read.
Skye Taylor http://www.skye-writer.com/blo
Margaret Fieland http://margaretfieland.wordpre
Helena Fairfax http://www.helenafairfax.com/b
Dr. Bob Rich https://wp.me/p3Xihq-1tC
Fiona McGier http://www.fionamcgier.com/
Beverley Bateman http://beverleybateman.blogspo
Connie Vines http://mizging.blogspot.com/
Rhobin L Courtright http://rhobinsrambles.blogspot
Victoria Chatham. http://www.victoriachatham.com
Posts
Judy, what comes out of your post is that you enjoy the writing process. That's a necessary part of good writing, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteNot only your baddie-turned-OK but probably all people in our books are based on real people, with a cocktail of characteristic stolen from many of them. I hope you have fun inventing lots more.
Secondary characters are not just fun to have, but as you point out, pretty much mandatory to inform the plot, the main character and the reader. And of course sometimes they are the villain. Good post!
ReplyDeleteYou are so right, they have to have personalities even though the purpose is to somehow affect the main characters and their progress, and yes some are good, some bad, and some downright evil, but that can all change.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your article and I love the secondary characters in Promiscuous Mode. I'm going to have to check that book out when it's released just because of them. Beverley
ReplyDeleteThe secondary characters are essential to the plot. They are the foils and the support for the lead, as well as the villains. My problem is I get so fond of most of them, that I then have to appease them by writing a book starring them.
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