The Place For My Writers Notes

Original posting 24 October 2008

Chapter 24: Secondary and Minor Characters

Whoops. Almost lost track of our friend Make a Scene by Jordan Rosenfeld. Let's see, we are well along into the other scene considerations, and today we're going to look at secondary and minor characters. So what does Rosenfeld have to say.
 
First, think about the protagonist. This is the person that the significant situation focuses on, the person who gets challenged and tested in your story. There might be multiple protagonists. They are the stars of the story, working hard and talking a lot. Their conflicts are what the reader focuses on.

Secondary characters affect the protagonist in meaningful ways, initiating change and conflict, offering help to the protagonists, and making the narrative richer. We're not talking about minor players, but true secondary characters that affect the narrative and the protagonist. There are two main types of secondary characters, antagonists and allies. [tink adds, "villains and sidekicks?"]

Antagonists are the people who work the goals of your protagonist. They cause conflict and put pressure on your hero. They may not be in every scene, but every scene should have some pressure, menace, or uncertainty because of their actions. Make sure you know what motivates the antagonist, and that you show the reader. The antagonist may not develop like the main character.

So what do you need to know about the antagonist?

1. Why is the antagonist blocking the protagonist? What's his motivation?
2. What does the antagonist expect to gain?
3. What does the antagonist expect to lose if he fails?

Basically, you want to know what's pushing the antagonist -- and show the reader in enough detail to make them believable. Antagonists push protagonists are providing a looming threat, making the protagonist take action in fear of the antagonist, or inciting the protagonist to defensive or courageous acts.

Allies include friends, allies, loved ones -- anyone and everyone who supports the protagonist and let's him succeed in facing his challenges. Allies often get involved in sacrifice to let the protagonist carry on, making a surprising act of strength or courage to support the protagonist in a crisis, or bringing in support groups in the nick of time (think of all those troops of cavalry coming over the hills just in time, usually with the faithful sidekick leading the way).

Minor characters are there to add spice and realism. [tink says, "remember the actor's platitude, that there are no small parts, and make even your minor characters memorable."] They are all the little people who interact and challenge your main characters as they move around your world. Frankly, without them, story worlds tend to seem too empty, like ghost towns and stage sets.

What do minor characters do for you?

1. Offer a piece of plot information.
2. Act as a witness to major plot events, tying threads together.
3. Provide a calming influence.
4. Add realism. Daily life brings us in touch with a lot of other people -- your main characters will too.
5. Add comic relief
6. Cause trouble. Trouble and conflict make the story go, but it doesn't all have to be a huge conspiracy. Minor characters can add to the stew, too.
7. Provide distraction. Think about a mystery where the only other person besides the detective is the bad guy. Guess who did it? Having several other minor characters certainly helps camouflage whodunit.

How do you keep from letting your secondary and minor characters take over? [My hint -- remember the stage? Don't let your secondary characters or bit players upstage the main characters.] Rosenfeld suggests that these smaller characters should

1. Make infrequent appearances -- they shouldn't appear in every scene.
2. Demonstrate little or no internal reflection. This doesn't mean they have to be dumb, but the internal monologues and wrestling with himself is for the protagonist.
3. Not be emotionally complex.
4. Have actions or personality that challenges or helps the main characters
5. Act as catalysts for change or a reaction by the protagonist

Sometimes you'll want to promote a secondary character. As you're writing, you realize that this character is rich and vivid, that they appear in almost every scene, that they have their own emotional transformation, and that they are a key part of the plot. Your choice -- do you cut back, promote them into co-protagonists, or maybe put them in another book?

So that's Rosenfeld's advice. Think about the antagonists, the allies, and the minor characters. These are the people in your world. Make sure they play appropriate parts, so that your protagonist and plot shine.

Next time we'll take a look at scene transitions. In the meantime . . .

First exercise. Take a short story or novel that you like. Draw up the Dramatis Personae -- the list of players -- for this work. Identify the protagonist, antagonists, and main allies. You'll probably find this is a fairly small group even in complex works. Now take a look at the minor characters -- you may not want to list all of them. There's the taxicab driver, the doorman, the hotel clerk, and so forth and so on. Do they have names? Take that story apart and look at the people inside.

Second exercise. Now, take a short story or a novel that you are working on. Or (especially given that we're approaching Nanowrimo -- National Novel Writing Month) a novel that you are planning to work on? And draft the same kind of list. Who is the protagonist? What about the antagonists? Who are the allies of the protagonist? Are there minor characters to list ahead of time, or will you just make those up in each scene as needed?

That's probably enough for now. Just remember . . .

Write!

dancing in the starlight, under a paper moon