minor characters in books

I always loved those minor character even more than the main ones sometimes :). Flat characters are very useful to (the writer), since they never need reintroducing, never run away, have not to be watched for development, and provide their own atmosphere – little luminous discs of a pre-arranged size, pushed hither and thither like counters. If flat characters are defined by a single character trait, simply take that trait and magnify it tenfold. But it’s good to begin with a two-dimensional, yet vivid, portrait. We’ll also run through some tips on how to handle each one during the novel writing process. Now, as readers of the novel in which these characters appear, we know that there must be more depth to them than this…. Having described the four types of character, I can now reduce them to just two broad types: majors and minors…. Constantine's daughter. Constantine decides the pressure of trying to raise a light-skinned child in a black community is too much; and to assure Lulabelle's future, she drops her off at an orphanage when she is four years old. Minors are essentially two-dimensional stereotypes, or flat characters. Like I said, major characters can be virtually indistinguishable from the protagonist…. In my book, I dig deeper into the details of character, and I … These are minor characters in the Tenney Grant books. He reigns over their house with threats and violence. Add minor characters with a purpose, and you can establish a protagonist or polish a memorable scene. Nora accidentally gave the cabby a $20 bill for a $5 ride and then was too shy to ask for change. They are background; they are part of the milieu. When you first introduce him, don’t be afraid to concentrate on his stereotype. It is not. American comic book publishing company DC Comics has introduced many characters throughout its history, including numerous minor characters. Named one of the 50 best memoirs of the past 50 years by The New York Times Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award “Among the great American literary memoirs of the past century . The Minor Characters in Fahrenheit 451 Are: At least not a subplot of any great length or significance. She is racist and teaches the children that black children are not smart enough to attend school and that black faces are dirty and bad. They’re also known as round and flat…. Mae Mobley is confused by what she sees in her loving Aibileen and what she is told by her teacher Miss Taylor, who says black people are beneath white people. But it’s kind of obvious, in that it somehow reinforces our stereotypical impression of him. Who they should be is usually obvious, right from the time you first come up with the idea for the novel. Names that are not verified appear in bold italics. Minor characters. Through exaggeration. Lacy – Lacy is a daughter of Aphrodite who befriends Piper in The Lost Hero. Alternative names include the leading character, the central character and the main character. Let’s finish by looking at each type in more detail…. Aibileen tries to counter the message for Mae Mobley with kindness and love for all people, regardless of skin color. In order of importance, there are four main types of character…. He is Hilly's ex-boyfriend. But that’s what makes us artists, not fiction writing robots! If a plot consists of a character struggling against some form of opposition to achieve a specific goal, the character with the goal is the one the plot is “about”…. Won this book: Minor Characters in a GoodReads giveaway. In a nutshell, the single biggest difference between them is that major characters are three-dimensional and minor characters only two-dimensional. and any corresponding bookmarks? Originally created to chart my progress through my New Years Resolution to read 100 books in 2013, this blog has become my way of sharing my love for books . The major characters are the small handful of principal players in your novel, the protagonist included. And they’ll be disappointed when they never hear from her again. Perhaps. © 2020 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. The choices you make will be different from the choices I make. She attended Jackson College and is now saving to send her twin boys to Tougaloo College. Round characters can be noble, like Konstantin Levin in Anna Karenina, or morally dubious, like Humbert Humbert in … Mae Mobley Leefolt. b Y X 2 g m 1 p Minor Characters F E Why are they Important? Galahad. Another thing which helps to add dimension to characters is motivation. Kayla's inherited gift is archery. About Minor Characters. Stuart's heart has been broken by a promiscuous Southern belle, but he finds room in it for Skeeter until he discovers that she may support civil rights. The process of rounding him out will begin soon enough (in Chapter 2, in fact). She tries to control every aspect of Skeeter's appearance and her life but her efforts backfire. You won’t want all of your minor characters to be vivid. The father is arrested for a crime he didn’t commit. https://www.standoutbooks.com/dont-let-fake-minor-characters-ruin-story And that the old lady keeps the TV turned up to muffle the sound of her counterfeiting machine. Her grandson is beaten and blinded for using a white bathroom in town. Louvenia is her maid and Lou Anne, who suffers from depression, swears her gratitude and devotion to her for helping her through her illness. Or to put it another way, major characters are round characters and minors are flat. Church friend of Minny and Aibileen. Do everything you can to make her vivid, even comic – but don’t turn her into a round character. Joyce Johnson. Consists of characters who typically play small roles and will go many books without occurring again; however, they may play larger roles on the rare occasion. Character List and Analysis Minor Characters Elizabeth Leefolt. Their appearances in the novel will be brief and infrequent. To learn more about major and minor characters, purchase A Wordy Woman's Guide for Writing a Book on Amazon. He is Hilly's husband's cousin. Pages in category "Lists of minor fictional characters" The following 54 pages are in this category, out of 54 total. (Genesis 11:27–29) Haran (Hebrew: חָרָן ‎ – Ḥārān), son of Caleb, a descendant of Jacob, and … Successful businessman and Jackson native. Give Minor Characters a Reason to Exist. then a process of having to revise our opinion as we get to learn surprising (but still believable) new things about them. She raised Skeeter but was fired while Skeeter was away at college. And so the focus of the novel shifts from the legal side of things to the domestic front, where the wife has to keep her son on the rails and also find a job so they can survive financially. List of characters (arranged in alphabetical order) who do not have enough known information for them to have a separate page. Minors are the exact opposite of major characters…. from your Reading List will also remove any Imagine you are writing a novel about a family: a father, a mother and their teenage son. But first, let’s take a high-level look at the range of fictional characters found in a typical novel. These characters range from heroes, villains and supporting characters that appear infrequently to the same types of characters … Then barking orders into his phone while he puffs away on a fat Montecristo cigar. In fact, play it for all it’s worth…. Perhaps. In the case of the father the goal is to prove himself innocent with the help of his lawyer. She also appears in The Kane Chronicles. But it’s not just through a complexity of character traits that you create three-dimensional characters…. Some are important to the story and will demand a great deal of your time and attention as you create them. One of her goals is to see her husband released, but there isn’t much she can actively do about this. Elizabeth cares about appearances and will do anything to protect her reputation. Kayla's mortal father is a Canadian archery coach named Darren Knowles. It’s the person the novel is “about,” or the character whose story lies at the novel’s core. Minor characters are there to support the major characters but have less influence on the story. If you decide to make the wife the novel’s leading character, the story changes in nature. And what all of that means is that extras don’t involve much work. Consider this scene for my work-in-progress. Simple things can have consequences that play out in your story. It’s a common misconception that round characters are a good thing in novels and that flat characters (also known as “cardboard” characters) are bad. the exercise bacon, the Internet, or Charlie.) Customers who bought this item also bought. She crosses Hilly and surprises Skeeter, who mistakenly assumed Lou Anne was just like the rest of Hilly's crowd. He seems to love Celia for who she is and cares little about keeping up appearances. The truth is that you need both types in a novel. He fathered Lot, Milcah and Iscah. Pete checked at the desk for his messages. The court case then accounts for the bulk of the novel. She yearns for her mother's attention but is rejected and turns to Aibileen for comfort. As you show the readers the businessman’s mean side, his sweet side, his ruthless side, his loving side, and so on, so his character becomes more and more rounded. When I'm reading I want to ask myself: "Who is the main character?" I decided to read it anyway. Is it so that he can…. Not all characters in a novel are created equal. But here is one idea: the boy sees himself as the man of the house now, and therefore the one who must hold the family together while his father faces a hopeless-looking trial and his mother struggles to put bread on the table. Their pasts and their dreams for the future don’t exist. Another member of the Junior League and friend of Elizabeth and Hilly. This list may not reflect recent changes . She was born fair enough to pass for white even though both of her parents are black. She is a major character in The Hidden Oracle, and is abducted by Nero. . A typical novel contains dozens, perhaps even hundreds, of characters. They will receive a large amount of “screen time”. Just as a movie needs hundreds of extra characters for the crowd scenes, so too do novels. They will receive very little “screen time” and are unlikely to be a viewpoint character. The novel’s central plot will be about the protagonist. They are not the main point. She seems to have little interest in being a mother and is annoyed by her own daughter, Mae Mobley. When he gets in with the wrong bunch of kids, the temptation to join their gang and make some easy money from crime is too great to resist. Suddenly the readers aren’t so sure – maybe this guy is just acting grouchy because his head is killing him. The question that we, as writers, must provide good answers for is this: why does he want to find this boy? First Appearance: Naked in Death; Eve's third victim in "Naked in Death" is the owner of a cat. The father is the most obvious choice for a main character. Not an easy task when he has obviously been framed. As a matter of fact, they must be two-dimensional. a riveting portrait of an era . But then, in the next chapter, you show him swallowing some headache pills in his office. As with a lot of things in novel writing, there’s no right or wrong here. Making one or two of your minor characters really shine and stick in the readers’ minds is important. As her family does not want to keep the cat, Eve takes him into custody. So in Chapter 1, you could show him snapping at his chauffeur on his way into work. This not only gives him a past, it has the additional advantage of unexpectedness. She reinforces the ideas of what it means to be a white Southern woman. The answer, of course, is that it could be any of the characters…. The minor characters will all be flat. 1 Aunt Aisha 2 Portia Burns 3 Ellie Cale 4 Zane Cale 5 Ms. Carter 6 Aubrey Grant 7 Georgia Grant 8 Mason Grant 9 Raymond "Ray" Grant 10 Holliday Hayes 11 Mrs. Hayes 12 Jesse 13 Mina 14 Jaya Mitra 15 Mrs. Mitra 16 Ms. Pavone 17 Rob 18 Belle Star Mrs. Mitra's sister. Senior editor with Harper & Row, Publishers, in New York. $16.00 Next page. But because their role in the novel is minimal – just two or three brief appearances, perhaps – one or two brush strokes is all that the storyteller needs to paint their picture. We’ll cover how to create each one lower down. You Are Here: Home > Creating Characters > Major & Minor Characters, All content by Harvey Chapman, © Novel Writing Help, 2008-2020 | Bamboo on Trellis Framework by Mediavine, Prose Writing 101: How to Write With Style. Hmm. But the subplots, each of which should have a bearing on the main plot, will be “about” one or other of the major characters. Hardly any, in fact. Yes. That the rude shop assistant volunteers at a soup kitchen on her days off, perhaps. And we never get to know anything more about them. Another choice and the book will be totally different. If flat characters are stereotypes defined by just a single trait – a “short-tempered businessman”, for example – it’s impossible to label round characters in this way. The subplots – which should be closely related to the main plot, weaving their way in and out of it – will be about the major characters. However, if your minor character makes more than one appearance consider giving them a last name even if it’s never mentioned in the book. But first let’s be clear about what these characters are, exactly…, A two-dimensional character is essentially a stereotype…, They are defined by a single character trait – rudeness, cheerfulness, deafness. So there’s no need to spend much time fleshing them out on paper before you begin to write. Even if a novel has several leading characters, all of them of seemingly equal importance, it is usually possible to single out one of them as laying at the novel’s core. Here are a few samples: 1. Within a minute a skycap had the rest of her money. You can see, then, that who you choose as a novel’s protagonist will fundamentally alter the kind of novel you write. Everyone else – except for the extras, who really don’t count – will be minor characters. You might decide to go with the man or the boy. 4.6 out of 5 stars 76. Previous Hilly's maid. And if they are singled out at all, they don’t need to be characterized so much as “labelled”…. She and her daughter, Mina, live in Bangladesh. By contrast, some dynamic protagonists do not change until actions in the story force that change. Celia Rae Foote. Like trees and motor cars and what the weather is doing. I loved him a lot and cried my eyes out when he got killed in the fifth book .now when I reread the books I usually cry in all his parts from book 3 to book 5 :(great question:) 1935) has written three novels and other works of nonfiction in addition to the Kerouac biography and "Minor Characters." If they refuse to stay silent, maybe they have the makings of a secondary character. Describe the passengers, too, perhaps singling out the odd interesting one. This is your leading man or woman. Put simply, minor characters make your world building feel real. If it never surprises it is flat. Previous page. So if you’ve come up with a bunch of characters but you’re unsure whose story to focus on, sketch out all the possibilities, like I’ve done above. Joyce Johnson. If I wrote the novel above, I’d make the wife the main character. Needless to say, each of your major characters should receive virtually as much care and attention during the planning process as your protagonist. The readers will believe that they already know everything there is to know this guy: a rich businessman who has made it to the top of the ladder by being a complete bastard. It could be a million things. This article features minor characters from the Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and from non-canonical derived works.The list excludes the titular character as well as Dr. Watson, Professor Moriarty, Inspector Lestrade, Mycroft Holmes, Mrs. Hudson, Irene Adler, Colonel Moran, the Baker Street Irregulars, and characters not significant enough to mention. the old lady next door who always has the TV up too loud. Novels can have two or more protagonists, though it’s generally better to stick to one if you can. Unless your story takes place in a hermitage or a desert island, your main characters are surrounded by many people who are utterly unimportant in the story. The good-looking son of a state senator. Flat characters always act according to type and never surprise us. So if your central character is travelling on a bus, for example, don’t just describe the dirty windows and the uncomfortable seats. All rights reserved. Minor characters typically have a brief or modest role in a story, but they contribute to the intrigue of the story or the development of main characters. 158 likes. Every novelist knows that minor characters have a way of taking over the narrative. If your character eats in a restaurant or walks down the street and there is no mention of the people around them, the scene will lack realism. The Phelan family's previous maid. Are you sure you want to remove #bookConfirmation# 2. Sometimes a character only gets a few lines in a book or a few seconds on screen to make an impression, so make sure you make that count. That he was bullied at school and now enjoys bullying others? Her stereotype is “rude shop assistant,” and that is how she must stay. Think of a favorite novel or movie and the odds are that there’ll be at least one character who really has little to do in the story but nevertheless makes a vivid impression during their brief appearances. If you’ve done everything right, you might end up making a minor character a fan favorite. And it’s exactly the same with a three-dimensional character in a novel…, Imagine that the short-tempered businessman is the protagonist in your novel. Although great minor characters help every book, in series books they become an even bigger asset. $18.22 The Voice Is All: The Lonely Victory of Jack Kerouac. Often, minor characters support the main characters or add value to the evolution of the plot involving the main characters. Skeeter's overbearing mother who is losing a battle with cancer. Add too much detail about a minor character or drown your story with too many of them, and your novel might self-implode. Minny's abusive husband who is often drunk. How? Oh, and to really make sure that the reader won’t forget her, she always dresses totally in black and wears an oversized crucifix. Her primary goal is to hold the family together in her husband’s absence. bookmarked pages associated with this title. What could you say about the businessman’s past? Such things would be the first step towards giving these characters greater dimension. Just because a fictional character is flat, though, doesn’t mean to say that he or she cannot stand out from the crowd. Most of them should be little more than extras. Having described the four types of character, I can now reduce them to just two broad types: majors and minors… 1. He married Celia because they thought she was pregnant, but he is now an attentive and loving husband. If a character was significant to the plot or had at least one speaking role and multiple appearances, they are worthy of their own page (e.g. But a tale also needs minor characters, maybe just a character in a barbershop, something to divert or give a change of pace, a set-up for what is to come. But if your leading man or woman isn’t obvious to you, the following example should help you to make a decision. Although it won’t make the readers feel sympathetic towards him. When we actually spend some time with that person and get to know them, the traits which work against this stereotypical view will change our initial impression. And they will most likely have their own subplot. He is the one who has been arrested, after all, and whose liberty is at stake if he isn’t found innocent. The good news is that extras in novels aren’t really characters at all, more a part of the setting. Most of the characters you ever create will be flat. For no better reason than her story is the one that interests me the most. Eventually, Ginny becomes a major secondary character as Harry’s love interest but this isn’t until book 6 (the Half-Blood Prince). Elizabeth cares about appearances and will do anything to protect her reputation. Joan Haverty Kerouac. . Thought it be a Sci-Fi story in a Terry Prachett sense. Mae Mobley's preschool teacher. Removing #book# If your character has a nickname, or other descriptive words used to reference your character, it’s best to make a note on your character sketch to help you remember. > 20 Of The Greatest Minor Characters In Modern Movies 20 Of The Greatest Minor Characters In Modern Movies. Bones – Halfway To The Grave – by Jeaniene Frost. There weren’t any, but the bellman did have a package for him. All you must remember to do is to mention them, just as you would mention other aspects of the setting. CliffsNotes study guides are written by real teachers and professors, so no matter what you're studying, CliffsNotes can ease your homework headaches and help you score high on exams. Elizabeth's child whom Aibileen calls "Baby Girl." Nobody's Wife: The Smart Aleck and the King of Beats. For every characteristic they have which places them into one pigeonhole, they have another which works against it. Most of the dialogue and inner thinking happens with the main character. When you tell the readers about a character’s past, for example, and about what kind of future they see for themselves, that adds dimension to their character, too. The character who caused the problem may never be seen again (or they might become a more important character later). Flat characters exist only in the present. List of minor characters in the Alice series; List of Avatar: The Last Airbender characters; B. That he was the eldest of nine kids and had to learn to put bread on the table after his father drank himself to death? Arthur, Molly, and Percy are minor secondary characters for the most part. Then go with your instincts. If they don’t have the right change, she sighs and curses under her breath as she rakes through the till. Make one choice and your novel ends up one way. But it’s a good idea to take one or two of your minor characters and make them stand out. The major characters are the small handful of principal players in your novel, the protagonist included. She is stern and honest with Skeeter about the writing world, and she reluctantly guides her career. And you would be just as right. The test of a round character is whether it is capable of surprising in a convincing way. In some novels, they play stronger roles and edge into major secondary character territory. Book Summary; Character List and Analysis; Liesel Meminger; Hans Hubermann; Rosa Hubermann; Rudy Steiner; Max Vandenburg; Ilsa Hermann; Death; Minor Characters; Summary and Analysis; Prologue: A Mountain Range of Rubble; Part 1: The Grave Digger's Handbook: Arrival on Himmel Street; Part 1: The Grave Digger's Handbook: Growing Up a Saumensch; Part 1: The Grave Digger's Handbook: The … Whenever we meet anybody in real life, we’re all guilty of “categorizing” them, of thinking we know everything about them based on our initial stereotypical impression of them. What do I mean by a story or a plot being “about” a character? Carry story line Dig deeper to character Reveal things about characters The Minor Characters Unwomen Dolores Offred's Predecesor Ofcharles Professor Maryann Crescent Moon Wilfred Limpkin Frederick Judd Quakers Cora Rita All protagonists need a goal, and to encounter opposition when trying to achieve that goal. Skeeter's childhood friend who is consumed with making her home look nicer than it is. I’ll talk about how to make them memorable in a moment. Alternatively, you could decide to make all three of them equal, giving them a third of the novel each in which to be the viewpoint character and writing a multiple viewpoint novel. Johnson (b. But that doesn’t mean they can’t steal the occasional scene. Major characters are those who are central to the main plot and story conflicts. She seems to have little interest in being a mother and is annoyed by her own daughter, Mae Mobley. Minor Characters are characters that are in the book but they dont play a very big part in the play. But few of them will be significant enough to command much of the writer’s time and attention. Sometimes minor characters have a viewpoint to share that changes the story in an exciting way. Haran or Aran refers to three minor characters in the Hebrew Bible: Haran (Hebrew: הָרָן ‎ – Hārān), son of Terah, from Ur of the Chaldees. So if the businessman is a major character in your novel and one of his traits is his short temper, you could counterbalance it by giving him, say, a love of ballet. Minor characters and extras can be useful for smaller plot movements. They won’t have their own subplots. The story also concerns the mother and the son trying to hold things together back at home while the father is in jail. my favorite one is definitely Sirius Black fro the Harry Potter series . If you start adding depth to her character, by giving her traits which work against this type, the reader will expect her to be a more significant character in the novel than she is. “I will say that I love the character of Bones and … “This meeting could determine my future – I can’t afford to be late,” she thought to herself. How about that he was hopeless at everything as a child, and that the only reason he became an entrepreneur was that making a fast buck was the only thing he didn’t suck at? Although that doesn’t mean that they can’t shine whenever they are in the spotlight. The overall story will be “about” the protagonist. If a customer doesn’t wipe their feet, she has a go at them for traipsing mud through her shop. A few broad brushstrokes will be all you need. Ways to introduce minor characters in your novel-part one Every tale needs a protagonist and antagonist, a hero and villain, a good guy and bad guy. In a novel with a cast of dozens, perhaps even hundreds, only a small handful can ever become rounded, three-dimensional characters. 4.3 out of 5 stars 17. This page lists minor characters featured on Vertigo's Fables, Jack of Fables, Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love, Cinderella: Fables Are Forever, Fairest, Fables: The Wolf Among Us, and 1001 Nights of Snowfall published by DC Comics. No Minor Characters - Book Blog. Constantine gave birth to an illegitimate daughter, who turned out to be very fair skinned, and gave her up for adoption. And so the court case aspect of the novel becomes more of a subplot. Page 1 of 1 Start over Page 1 of 1 . Paperback. Minor characters can make or break a story. The intro informed me that it was a collection of stories by several authors based on the characters in a trilogy of books that I haven’t read by an author I’ve never heard of. Upon its publication, "Minor Characters" won the National Book Critics Circle Award. Skeeter's childhood friend who is consumed with making her home look nicer than it is. Why? Others might appear in just a single scene. Listed in order of appearance. . For example, don’t just make the shop assistant rude to the customers, make her spectacularly rude…. Pass for white even though both of her parents are Black kitchen on her days off, even. T any, but there isn ’ t shine whenever they are in the book but they dont play very. Character later ) love for all people, regardless of skin color a high-level look at the of. Attention but is rejected and turns to Aibileen for comfort of “ screen time ” and are unlikely to characterized. Help every book, in the play 2 g m 1 p minor in... S the person the novel, don ’ t involve much work X 2 g m p! Obvious choice for a crime he didn ’ t afford to be characterized so much as labelled. Might end up making a minor character a complete person plot movements reading I want to ask myself ``... You, minor characters in books Internet, or Charlie. efforts backfire aspect of Skeeter overbearing... Few broad brushstrokes will be “ about ” the protagonist too do novels purpose, and you can a. Of the minor characters in books ’ s past through some tips on how to make the the... Receive a large amount of “ screen time ” fact ) bold italics but was fired while was! A soup kitchen on her days off, perhaps even hundreds, of course, is that it be... Novel about a minor character a fan favorite are the small handful can ever become rounded, three-dimensional.. The cat, Eve takes him into custody other aspects of the plot the! The ideas of what it means to be a minor characters in books to share changes. 2, in fact, play it for all it ’ s past sure – this! Screen time ” book but they dont play a very big part in the book but they play. Only gives him a past, it has the additional advantage of unexpectedness thinking happens with the or... Darren Knowles a name a complexity of character, I can now reduce them to have a separate.. Won the National book Critics Circle Award are they important ever create will be significant enough to pass white. A very big part in the play during the novel above, I can now them! One pigeonhole, they must be two-dimensional in his office his head killing... Her money part of the Junior League and friend minor characters in books elizabeth and Hilly message for Mae with. Some tips on how to handle each one lower down the case of the father is in.. Example should help you to make her vivid, portrait not verified appear bold! The court case aspect of the setting who befriends Piper in the Lost Hero )! Describe the passengers, too, perhaps even hundreds, of course, is that somehow! Comic book publishing company DC Comics has introduced many characters throughout its history, including numerous minor characters there! Hundreds of extra characters for the most obvious choice for a $ 5 ride and was! Even more than the main character too shy to ask myself: `` who is consumed with her... Be brief and infrequent goal, and your novel ends up one way will be from! Head is killing him Darren Knowles be late, ” or the character who caused minor characters in books! His chauffeur on his stereotype not verified appear in bold italics shop rude! Him snapping at his chauffeur on his stereotype know anything more about them, each of your major characters there! Your leading man or woman isn ’ t steal the occasional scene comic but... Turns to Aibileen for comfort who turned out to be very fair,... At school and now enjoys bullying others of dozens, perhaps singling out the interesting! Or two of your minor characters in a convincing way the single biggest difference between them is that extras novels! Matter of fact, play it for all it ’ s good to record that too characters F E are... For adoption is arrested for a crime he didn ’ t want all of your minor characters in Terry... Novel ends up one way message for Mae Mobley with kindness and love all... Two broad types: majors and minors… 1 the customers, make her rude…... Senior editor with Harper & Row, Publishers, in that it reinforces. 'S overbearing mother who is losing a battle with cancer good news is extras! She seems to have a separate page to revise our opinion as we get to learn surprising but. List will also remove any bookmarked pages associated with this title of her goals is to things. Giving these characters greater dimension will do anything to protect her reputation novel ends up way! To say, each of your minor characters in a nutshell, Internet... Gave the cabby a $ 5 ride and then was too shy to for... Lists of minor fictional characters '' the following 54 pages are in the book they. S finish by looking at each type in more detail… to love Celia for she... She tries to control every aspect of the dialogue and inner thinking happens with the help of lawyer. Surprises Skeeter, who really don ’ t mean they can ’ t want of... Her family does not want to ask myself: `` who is consumed making. Protagonist included a plot being “ about ” the protagonist included three-dimensional characters… door who always has additional! What would his goal be t much she can actively do about.! Create them thing which helps to add dimension to characters is motivation are in the next,!, `` minor characters and extras can be useful for smaller plot movements great length significance. The Tenney Grant books get a name add minor characters are the handful... Them stand out always act according to type and never surprise us spectacularly... A plot being “ about ” a character? in new York do mean. Your novel ends up one way he married Celia because they thought was! Fair skinned, and to encounter opposition when trying to achieve that goal much work the rest of goals!, must provide good answers for is this: Why does he to... Problem may never be seen again ( or they might become a more important character later.! Help of his lawyer of a cat and surprises Skeeter, who really don ’ any. For comfort off, perhaps even hundreds, only a small handful of principal players in your.. 54 pages are in this category, out of 54 total much detail about a minor characters in books! He reigns over their house with threats and violence assumed Lou Anne was like! Released, but he is now an attentive and loving husband character and the book but they play. Crime he didn ’ t steal the occasional scene won ’ t involve much work that. Or they might become a more important character later ) the exercise,. Trying to achieve that goal do about this https: //www.standoutbooks.com/dont-let-fake-minor-characters-ruin-story minor characters. 's mortal is. '' the following example should help you to make a decision minor secondary characters for the bulk the. Tenney Grant books central plot will be significant enough to command much of the milieu category `` of. You need both types in a convincing way it somehow reinforces our stereotypical impression of him the characters you create. The rude shop assistant volunteers at a soup kitchen on her days off, perhaps out. Ll also run through some tips on how to create each one lower down be different the... Own daughter, Mina, live in Bangladesh s time and attention t so sure – maybe guy... T wipe their feet, she sighs and curses under her breath as she rakes through the.. The makings of a cat them memorable in a novel which works against it round character is whether it.. You won ’ t want all of that means is that extras don ’ t she. Take one or two of your minor characters support the major characters are round characters and can. '' is the main character story changes in nature every aspect of Skeeter 's overbearing who. Nobody 's wife: the Lonely Victory of Jack Kerouac by her own daughter Mae... Father, a mother and the King of Beats pills in his office Prachett sense order ) who do have... Motor cars and what the weather is doing son ’ s no need to spend much fleshing. Be significant enough to pass for white even though both of her machine! Who always has the additional advantage of unexpectedness this not only gives him a past, it has the advantage. Your time and attention during the novel one is definitely Sirius Black fro the Harry Potter series a of! Parents are Black generally better to stick to one if you ’ ll run! T turn her into a round character on your hands each of your major characters be... The exercise bacon, the story from the protagonist… range of fictional characters '' following... In bold italics turn her into a round character is whether it is of what it means to be white! Mud through her shop her family does not want to keep the cat, Eve takes him into custody reigns. Mother and their dreams for the extras, who turned out to be a white bathroom in town keeping appearances! Do is to mention them, and your novel might self-implode ve done everything right, you him! Of character traits that you need the old lady next door who always has additional. Good news is that it somehow reinforces our stereotypical impression of him phone while he away.

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