There’s nothing like that tingle… that intense feeling of excitement that flows over and through you when a new character is “born”. For weeks, a subtle idea hides deep in your subconscious; swimming around and trying to break free. And then at the most unexpected moment, he or she appears… right there on the page just waiting to be “developed”.

Your primary characters have taken on distinct personalities. They may even appear to have a mind of their own at times, but waiting in the wings are the secondary characters. These characters have an important role to play, and it’s up to you to decide how important these characters are to your novel. Let’s  journey down this road for a while and delve into the realm of creating the often neglected secondary character.

As an author, character development is essential to creating a believable, entertaining story. Although, there are times when a new character pops into the story, and I develop the character just enough to move the story along. Most often, this is enough. Yet, there are those “pop up” secondary characters that readers make an instant connection to. I have found this to be true in both of my novels. In Moon Dance, Joe, one of the main characters, travels to the barren lands of Oklahoma during the dust bowl. While there, he meets several secondary characters that help to set the scene and provide dramatic effect  to the story line. To me, the story flowed smoothly, and the problems that arose in the chapter were satisfactorily resolved, which left my main character free to return home. Unbeknownst to me, one of those little secondary characters was waiting for stardom.

As I said in a previous post, I wanted to make sure everything was perfect in my novel before I submitted it for publication. To that end, I hired several friends to proofread and give me their opinions on the story.  When we met to discuss their findings, one friend said she couldn’t stand not knowing what happened to Junior. I thought long and hard about this, and decided that even though the chapter had closed for me, my reader was left hanging. This secondary character had become “real”, and he needed to share more of his story. I assured my friend that I would write another chapter just for her, which would help resolve the mystery of what happened to Junior. Actually, I ended up writing two more chapters before I felt Junior’s character release me. My friend felt satisfied, but she said she would love to for me to write another book that centers on the Oklahoma characters. Someday, I may just have to tell their story.

Ghost of Johanna released last December, and since it is more of a novella than a novel, it doesn’t take long to read. This creates a great opportunity for me. I teach writing at the local community college, so at the end of the past few semesters, I’ve offered my students a glance at my writing style by assigning a reader response essay on Ghost of Johanna. I always ask them to write about the emotions the story evokes within them or connections they can make to the story line. I’m not interested in reading “I loved it” or “It’s wonderful”; I’m more interested in their raw, emotional response.  I have been amazed at the connections my students make with the characters and the story.  Sometimes, they don’t even mention the book at all, but instead share their own personal story that the book awoke within them. This really moves me. Okay, back to the point. At the end of the summer semester, one student expressed her disappointment that the story didn’t come to a definite conclusion for the character of Margarita. Alas, poor Margarita was destined to be one of those secondary characters who lend their lives to supporting the main characters. I developed her character just to the point necessary to make the story flow smoothly, while using her to create a true picture of the era. This time, I couldn’t go back and rewrite because the book had already been released. Although, If the opportunity to change the story arose, I wouldn’t change it because it is written to reflect the unsettled, dangerous atmosphere of the country and time frame.

Well, I think I’ll call it a day, and we can revisit secondary characters again soon.

Blessings,

Susan