Creating Secondary Characters

Back on the first day of Writing a Novel: First Draft, course instructor Paddy O’Reilly asked us to jot down what we considered to be our strengths and weaknesses as a writer.  My list looked like something like this:

Strengths – main characters, ideas, prose

Weaknesses – structure, secondary characters (particularly male characters)

So I knew from the beginning that my minor characters were causing major problems for me.  But even with this knowledge, Toni Jordan’s session on secondary characters halfway through the course caught me off-guard. I’d known enough to avoid clichés, but I was still surprised by how much I was getting wrong.

Here are a few things I have learned about writing secondary characters:

A character (let’s call him Pete) cannot appear simply for the convenience of plot.  Pete has to feel like a real person no matter how minor his part.  Pete requires just as much love, attention and backstory as the protagonist (let’s call her Amelia).  Pete is a checkout operator who appears in one small scene.  He hands Amelia the wrong amount of change so she, not realising until it’s too late, doesn’t have enough money to catch the bus home, thereby forcing her to walk home through the park where she meets that kooky guy who infuriates her but also makes her laugh despite her stupid life.  Amelia’s story has moved on from Pete, but wait.  Why did Pete hand Amelia the wrong change? 

Because Pete has a life too. 

Prior to Amelia coming through his checkout, Pete checked his schedule for the following week.  He noticed his boss (Sharon) had once again rostered him on for a shift he’s told her a thousand times he can’t do because he has a class for his Applied Science Uni course at that time.  He knows he is going to have to confront Sharon during his break.  On top of that he has a bruised hand from his weekend Lacrosse game and he’s worried about his mother who’s ill and losing weight and doctors can’t seem to figure out what is wrong with her.

Is any of this backstory written into the main story?  Not in so many words, but it’s there in the way Pete scans Amelia’s cat food twice and shakes his head at himself while he reverses the transaction.  It’s there in the way he casts a worried glance at Sharon over by the service desk as he dips his thumb awkwardly in the wrong slot of the till.  It’s there in the way he fails to remember to check the change before handing it to Amelia.

And what if Pete speaks?  How will he sound?  He may only have one line, but his line must stick to the rules of all dialogue.  It must be distinctive.  It must reveal character.  It must drive the story forward.  It must contain subtext.  Perhaps when he scans the cat food twice he mutters, ‘Today sucks.’ To which Amelia replies, ‘Doesn’t every day?’  Pete’s line is distinctive – he doesn’t speak in the same way as Amelia does in the rest of the book; his line reveals character – his youth and attitude; it drives the story forward in that Amelia reveals her current outlook on life and foreshadows the change about to occur; and it contains subtext – there is a whole paragraph of unspoken backstory in that one line of dialogue.

Further on in the story, Amelia arrives home after meeting Kooky Guy and we are introduced to two further minor characters.  Amelia’s mother, Margaret, and sister, Eleanor.  Margaret and Eleanor are alike in many ways: they prefer rock music, enjoy getting their hands dirty in the garden, and are both loud and opinionated.  Polar opposites to Amelia, who likes classical music, arts and crafts, and doesn’t bother expressing opinions because anything she believes will be wrong in the eyes of Margaret and Eleanor.  However, despite Margaret and Eleanor’s similarities, each character must bring out a different emotion in Amelia.  Margaret might bring out a hidden stubborn streak in Amelia.  Eleanor on the other hand might invoke envy because of her closeness with Margaret.  If both characters were pressing the same button on Amelia, one of them would have to go. At the same time, minor characters that interact also need to bring out different emotions in each other.  A good book is a tangled web of emotional interaction.

Just as your main character requires a consistency gap between what they show on the surface (words) and what is going on underneath (deeds), so do your minor characters.  Eleanor for example might be loud and opinionated on the surface, but she may struggle internally with the thought of hurting people with her honest opinions.

Minor characters are a lot of work, but when they are given the love and attention they deserve, they will give back in the form of a rich and emotionally satisfying story.

Multiple points of view

Lately I’ve been reading books written with multiple first-person viewpoints.  During my Writing a Novel course at the Faber Writing Academy, one of our guest tutors was an editor who told us not to write from multiple points of view.  Her reasons were 1) why make life more complicated for yourself and the reader and 2) just when the reader starts to feel empathy for a character the point of view changes and they have to get to know someone new.

The first multiple POV book I read was Backlash by Sarah Darer Littman. Backlash is a cautionary tale of what can happen when people abuse the anonymity of the internet. The book begins with an attempted suicide and Part One deals with the immediate fallout from that.  Part Two details the events leading up to the suicide attempt and in it we learn the true identity of the cyberbully.  Part Three continues on from where Part One ends and deals with the growth and change in each character as they move on with their lives.  Told from the different perspectives of two sets of siblings, the multiple viewpoints work really well in this book. Each part unfolds in a linear fashion with each narrator telling the next stage of the story, each chapter is short so we don’t become too attached to (or annoyed by) the characters before moving on, and each voice is strong.

The next book, The Truth About Alice by Jennifer Matthieu, has many similarities to the first.  It is also told from four points of view (apart from the very last chapter where we hear from bullying victim, Alice, herself).  After the linear structure of Backlash though, this book felt all over the place to me, jumping back and forth from the present to the past and back again, rehashing the same events from different angles.  When the story eventually becomes more grounded in the present, it feels more satisfying.  The characters start out somewhat cliché but reveal enough emotional depth to make you care about them in the end.

Wonder by RJ Palacio is an uplifting and inspiring story and deals with the nature of kindness.  This book is told from a staggering six different perspectives and I can’t help wondering if all of them were really needed.  August is such an endearing character that the book would have been just as wonderful told solely from his point of view.  The characters are all likeable though and it is a great story regardless.  Like Backlash it is told in a mostly linear fashion.

Voices in the Park by Anthony Browne is a picture book about a walk in the park told from the point of view of four different characters.  The voices are distinctive and it’s a good study of how different characters notice (or fail to notice) different details.  I'm not too keen on the simian illustrations though.

So what have I learned about using multiple POV.  If you feel multiple voices are necessary to tell your story, limit it to a maximum of four characters, keep the chapters or character segments short, have each character tell a different part of the story rather than going over the same thing and make sure each voice is distinctive.

"...it's not enough to be kind. One should be kinder than needed." 
― R.J. Palacio, Wonder

Eye of the Epiphany

Epiphany and crisis day arrives for me at the Faber Writing Academy – Writing A Novel First Draft.  The epiphany?  I now know why writing this manuscript has been such a struggle.  The crisis?  My secondary characters are pawns with names; not one of them is developed enough.  Even if I had a cliché character, I’d have something to rework, but I’ve got nothing.  The enormity of the problem overwhelms me and I wish we’d covered this topic much earlier.  The past two months feel like such a waste.  I shed a few quiet tears on the train home, and ask myself the question, “Why do I torture myself with this writing business?”

The answer comes to me before I even reach for the sweaty, bloodstained towel, before I can watch with horror and guilt as it flies from my hand and lands crumpled in the ring — I have lost many a stoush with the pen in this fashion, but not today. The answer, of course, is that it’s more of a torture not to write than it is to keep writing.

So, I nudge the towel out of the way with my toe and raise my gloved hands, weary and bruised, ready for the umpteenth round. 

A Month of MG

So far this year, most of the books I’ve read are middle-grade fiction aimed at 8-12 year olds (the two exceptions are Judy Blume’s Forever and Anna Waggener’s Grim).  Here’s a rundown:

Goodbye Stranger – Rebecca Stead

Bridge, Tabitha and Emily are best friends with one rule: no fighting.  Can their friendship survive the challenges of seventh grade?  This book is a great read with an intriguing second person narrative interspersed throughout the main story.  This could be off-putting and confusing to some people, fascinating to others.  A challenging read for older (11+) middle-grade kids.

White Ninja – Tiffany Hall

My 9-year-old read all the books in the Roxy Ran series in a couple of days and really enjoyed the action-packed adventures.  I read the first, White Ninja, which was enough for me.  A good fast-paced read for the target audience.

Coraline – Neil Gaiman

A deliciously sinister, twisted tale.  Just my cup of tea.  Coraline finds her way into an alternate world where her mother and father have buttons for eyes and want her to stay with them forever and ever.  Coraline of course would prefer to keep her own eyes thank you very much.  Note to self: must read more Neil Gaiman – I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read of his so far.

Tensy Farlow and the Home for Mislaid Children – Jen Storer

Tensy Farlow is an orphan with no guardian angel.  Adopted at first, she ends up back in the Home for Mislaid Children where she turns everyone’s lives inside out.  Meanwhile an accursed creature hunts her unprotected soul.  I’m a huge fan of Jen’s and am lucky enough to have met her in person several times.  She’s just as lovely as her writing. 

Sunker’s Deep – Lian Tanner

The second book in the Hidden series continues the tale of Petrel et al as they reach landfall and come into contact with the last of the Sunkers.  Together the two groups fight against the oppressive Devouts.

The Secret Life of Droids – Non Fiction

Star Wars is BIG in our household right now.  I learnt a lot more about the movies from reading this book.  A timeline of all the battles puts everything into order.  The thought put into each type of droid can teach creators much about world-building.

88 Lime Street, The Way In – Denise Kirby

Ellen and her family move into an old house on Lime Street.  They can’t find the entrance to one of the towers but the house is showing Ellen the way in.  When she finds it, she encounters magic, danger and friendship.  The beginning of another great series of MG books.

When Marnie Was There – Joan G Robinson

I’m nearly finished this one and loving it.  Lonely orphan Anna is sent away for the summer to stay with Mr and Mrs Pegg in Norfolk.  There she meets Marnie, who lives in The Marsh House.  Through Marnie, Anna learns about friendship, trust and forgiveness.  When Marnie is sent away she befriends the new owners of house who have found an old diary that belonged to Marnie.

I’ve enjoyed my adventures with middle-grade fiction, but I must say, I am looking forward to getting back to some YA.

But even as she wept, a new and delicious sadness was creeping over her.  The sadness one feels for something enjoyed and now over, rather than for something lost and never found again. - When Marnie Was There – Joan G Robinson

Exciting news...

The wonderful folk at the Faber Writing Academy at Allen & Unwin have offered me a scholarship position for their Writing a Novel - First Draft course in Melbourne.  This is a great opportunity that I hope will help me streamline my writing process and refine my writing skills, taking me one step closer to my goal of publication.

I will endeavour to keep up with my intermittent posts here, but if you don't hear from me for a while, know that I'm busy working, writing, raising kids and studying (oh, and occasionally cleaning the house when it becomes unbearable;-).

Year of the Series

Book-wise this year was the year of the series for me.  Here’s my recap of series I started, continued, or read in entirety this year.

5 - Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon: I started reading the Outlander series at the beginning of the year after enjoying the sumptuous TV show last year.  I thoroughly enjoyed the first book, but found books 2 and 3 contained too many coincidences (to the point they became ridiculous and obvious).  Haven’t decided if I’ll continue with this, but the characters are appealing and I do want to know what happens to the daughter.  Maybe after a long break…

4 - Icebreaker series by Lian Tanner: I’ve read the first book in this series and have had the second book on my ‘to-read’ list ever since.  A girl who doesn’t belong to any of the tribes on the ship is cared for by mysterious mechanical rats.  Steam-punk without the steam.  Intriguing.

3 - Colours of Madeline trilogy by Jaclyn Moriarty: I read the first book a year or so ago and the second book this year.  Can’t wait for the third to come out.  A crack in a broken parking meter allows Madeline to communicate with a boy in the Kingdom of Cello.  A familiar trope leading to a unique land.  Brilliant.

2 - Obernewtyn chronicles by Isobel Carmody: I read the first book several years ago, but the release of The Red Queen this year prompted me to catch up on this brilliant series.  Knocked off books two and three in the past month.  There’s a map, there’s beast-speaking and far-seeking and other super-powers.  What more could you want?

1 - Chaos walking trilogy by Patrick Ness:  So good, I read the entire series in a month.  Check out my Chaos Walking blog post here.

Best wishes to all for a great year in 2016!

Addendum:  Totally forgot to include Ellie Marney's fabulous Every series.  Being crime (not my favourite genre), I'd have to slot it in behind Colours of Madeline, but well worth reading for the romance.

Negative to Positive

Someone at work taped up a sign above their desk that read: You only work here.  I pulled it down and taped up a sign that read: You are a valued part of a team.

More than ever, we are inundated with negativity: from TV, news, the inescapable internet, and increasingly often from other people who should know better.  At times, it's hard to rise above it, but I think we owe it to ourselves not to reinforce other people's negativity.  We all have bad days, we all make mistakes, we all get hurt.  This festive season, let's practice a little more kindness, a little more forgiveness, and do something to make someone else's outlook on life a little more positive.

Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow.

Helen Keller