Secondary Characters

Have you ever read a book where you’re entirely charmed by all of the characters, including the minor ones, and are amazed by how they all fit to propel a plot forward? Or, on the other end of the spectrum, where you wonder why a certain character was even included? Secondary characters can certainly enhance a book—or can help sink it if they’re not used well.

Here are a few things I’m reminding myself these days about secondary characters, while I’m putting together a new story idea:

Is every character necessary? Do they play a part in the plot or do they sufficiently impact one of the major characters? Is the secondary character more than just a sounding board for the main character to reveal to the reader his/her thoughts, goals, intentions, etc.?
Is there more than one secondary character playing the same role, performing the same element in the overall story?
Is there something unique about the secondary character/s, something to help the reader imagine them in their head, and to make them memorable?
Many characters may come on and off the pages, but the ones who are assigned names usually play more than just cameo roles. My job is to make sure they earn their name.

So I’m replaying all of this in my head as I put together ideas for my next project. At this stage I usually find myself spending most of my time and energy on my main characters. Being a seat-of-the-pants writer (one who doesn’t do a lot of advance outlining) I’m sometimes surprised by the appearance of some secondary characters that end up taking on a more important role, which is probably not the best time to ask all of the above questions. A more organized writer would have much of that figured out in advance. But no matter when questions like these are asked, they should be addressed.

Over the weekend I found myself wondering about one of the minor characters I have in mind for my American Victorian/Gilded Age setting. This actually surprised me, since the story idea is so very new. For this story, there will be two men vying for my heroine’s attention and so this secondary character will almost be like a hero. Almost is the key word here, because of course only one of them can be the real hero. One has to lose at love, and I found myself feeling sorry for this character already! This is a good sign, because that’s the first thing I look for in a story and the characters filling it: if I’m emotionally involved, it’ll be easier to convey that on to the page.

How can I present a character interesting enough to catch the eye of my very special heroine, create a viable sense of competition in my equally special hero, without totally fooling my readers? If this secondary hero is too charming half the audience will want him to win, and that’s exactly what I don’t want to do—alienate half of my audience!

It’s one more balancing act, one more element that can be a great addition to a story if the character comes alive. So that’s my writer’s quandary for when I return to my newest project. For the time being, though, I’m working on revisions for my 2011 release, which is in a whole different compartment in my brain. Talk about a balancing act…