Samantha Gentry
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Hello to everyone. I have a rainy day here, so it’s a good excuse to stay in and play on the computer. This is my first time blogging at Coffee Time Romance’s Coffee Thoughts. Well…to be honest…it’s my first time blogging anywhere.
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Rather than taking a lot of space here to tell you about me, I’d like to refer you to my website www.samanthagentry.com . Check out my bio to learn about my background and also my other writer alter ego of Shawna Delacorte. You’ll find excerpts and reviews of books in current release. And be sure to check out my movie trivia contest which runs through the end of February.
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While trying to decide on a topic for today’s blog, I was torn between a writing type topic or a more general area of discussion. The decision came to me while watching a couple of movie last night. One of them was Murder On The Orient Express with its all star cast where almost everyone in the movie was a major character. It occurred to me that there were very few characters other than the many primary ones. So I started thinking about secondary characters and how they can be used to prod, shove and push the main characters into and along the necessary path for the story line.
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So, let’s talk a bit about secondary characters.
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When I say secondary characters, I’m not referring to the minor characters that decorate a scene and maybe have a couple of lines of dialogue. I’m talking about the characters who have a prominent place in your story but are not your main characters. These are the characters you can use to maneuver your main characters into and along the path toward achieving the story goal. They are a key factor in moving your story along and determining what direction it takes.
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In developing these characters you need to decide what you want them to accomplish and how you want them to relate to and interact with your main characters in addition to each other in order to move your story line along to its conclusion. Let’s take a look at how a set of secondary characters can be used to move a story line in a specific direction. Remember, it’s not who they are, it’s what they do and how they relate to the main characters and how the main characters respond to them.
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Example: You have a story about a teenager who is the leader of a gang that has been stealing cars for some mobsters. You have two ways you can go with your main character, in other words, two directions your story line can take and you must choose one of them. #1: he wants to leave the gang and make something of his life OR #2: he runs his gang with a iron hand and threatens anyone who wants out.
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With scenario #1 your secondary characters who will influence the story line can be his girl friend, his little brother, and one of his teachers. That tells you who they are, but doesn’t tell you how they move the story. His girl friend fears for his safety and finally gives him the ultimatum of leave the gang or she’s leaving him. His little brother idolizes him and wants to be just like him, but he doesn’t want his little brother to make the same mistakes he did. His teacher is mentoring him by helping him with his studies and finding him an after school job.
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With scenario #2 your secondary characters can be his girl friend, a rival gang leader, and his contact with the mobsters who pays him for the stolen cars. Again, that tells you who they are but not what they do to move the story in a specific direction. His girl friend demands more and more in the way of material things so he needs the money from stealing cars to keep her happy. The rival gang leader is trying to take over his stolen car business so he has to always watch his back to protect his own interests. The mobster gives him access to the easy money he needs to keep his girl friend happy and the promise of being able to move into their organization and advance in the criminal world.
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Each scenario has a girl friend, but her function is different in the two scenarios so that the character helps move the two story lines in two different directions.
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One of the great things about secondary characters is that you can make them as outrageous, unconventional and over-the-top as you want. You don’t have the same parameters and cautions with secondary characters as you do with your main characters. The main thing you need to be careful with is not making them more interesting than your main characters so that they don’t steal the show and shove your main characters into the background.
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A good example of secondary characters being over the top is the television show Will and Grace. The secondary characters of Karen and Jack are totally outrageous while the main characters of Will and Grace are more grounded. However, I think Jack and Karen do nearly steal the show. But that’s just my personal opinion.
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So, I’d like to hear from you. Any comments about developing and using secondary characters in your writing? Or any television shows, movies, or books where the secondary characters stood out in your mind with the way they were able to guide the story line?
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- About the Author
- Posts in the Past
I write erotic romance, erotic romantic suspense, romantic suspense and straight mystery under the name of Samantha Gentry. My other pseudonym of Shawna Delacorte has 21 published novels with Harlequin and Silhouette. I worked for 20 years in television production in Los Angeles before becoming a full time writer. See my website for a more comprehensive biography.
I often fall in love with my secondary characters, and decide that some of them just have to have a book, too. I love shaping all of them, but those special people just kind of jump out at me.
Melanie: I know just what you mean. On several occasions I’ve had my eye on a secondary character as one who could be the hero or heroine of their own book. A couple of times I specifically wrote a secondary character as one to star in his own book.
Sometimes I like my secondary characters more than my hero and heroine which is a little odd but true anyway.
Great post.
Hi Samantha
Great post.
With my present WIP, I find myself working through my secondary character more often than not. She’s the one asking my heroine hard hitting questions and at the same time helps me move the story forward through dialogue and not through chunks of prose. She’s a bold red head, very theatrical, extremely funny, and has a completely different outlook on life. She is exactly what I needed for my conservative virgin heroine.
April
Hi Samantha (waving at you from the Garden),
I love writing secondary characters. You can make them as unconventional as you want. I have great secondary character in my upcoming release, Borrowed Stilettos; she’s whacky, shallow, and kind of a ditz. I liked her so much, I’m making her the heroine of my WIP. The problem: she’s whacky, shallow and kind of a ditz. Not your typical heroine. Had I known she would have her own story, I might have changed a few things about her in the first book (to make writing her story easier). But then again, she wouldn’t have been so fun to write.
Great post. Thanks for sharing.
Becky
Hey Samantha,
Glad to read a blog from one of my very, very favorite authors. And I know what you mean about secondary characters. sometimes I only mean for them to have a supportuing role, but then they jump right out of my comujter and demand their own book! And often they turn out completely different then their original profile.
Lots of ensemble shows come to mind – sidekicks definitely add another layer of depth to the story line, whether humorous or suspenseful or otherwise.
Great post, Samantha!
My secondary characters intrigue me so, I often end up trying to come up with a new story where they can be the star. In the science fiction romance I’m currently working on, the secondary characters will have their own book and romance in the sequel.
Wonderful post, Samantha, but you poor dear! You seemed to forget that Harrison’s with you. You have the clone, remember?
Linda
Elaine Cantrell said:>>Sometimes I like my secondary characters more than my hero and heroine which is a little odd but true anyway.<<
Elaine: I know what you mean. Sometimes they do turn out to be more interesting.
Thanks for posting.
Samantha: Wow, what a great blog. And for a first blog, even better! Interesting topic, and isn’t it funny that sometimes secondary characters pop up when least expected–at least for me. Enjoyed reading the blog! 😛
Joyce Moore
http://www.historicalhussies.blogspot.com
April Vine wrote:>> I find myself working through my secondary character more often than not. She’s the one asking my heroine hard hitting questions and at the same time helps me move the story forward through dialogue and not through chunks of prose.<<
April: Yep, that’s a terrific use of secondary characters. As you said, you can move the story through the dialogue rather than prose which lets you Show rather than Tell.
Thanks for posting.
Rebecca Clark wrote:>> I liked her so much, I’m making her the heroine of my WIP. The problem: she’s whacky, shallow and kind of a ditz. Not your typical heroine. Had I known she would have her own story, I might have changed a few things about her in the first book<<
Becky: Sounds like you have a perfect opportunity to show how your character grows and evolves over the course of the story.
Thanks for posting.
Judith Rochelle wrote:>>sometimes I only mean for them to have a supportuing role, but then they jump right out of my comujter and demand their own book! And often they turn out completely different then their original profile.<<
Judith: I know exactly what you mean. That’s happened to me, too. Suddenly it’s an entirely new character … kind of like starting over.
Thanks for posting.
Cate Masters wrote:>>sidekicks definitely add another layer of depth to the story line, whether humorous or suspenseful or otherwise.<<
Cate: So true. A sidekick is obviously someone very close to the main character and can add more depth than a secondary character who is only a casual friend.
Thanks for posting.
Susan Macatee wrote:>> In the science fiction romance I’m currently working on, the secondary characters will have their own book and romance in the sequel.<<
Susan: It’s fun working with the secondary characters and turning them into main characters. It allows you to give them more depth and have them evolve which you usually aren’t able to do with secondary characters because you don’t have the room in the story.
Thanks for posting.
Linda Wisdom wrote:>>Wonderful post, Samantha, but you poor dear! You seemed to forget that Harrison’s with you. You have the clone, remember?<<
Linda: Uh oh…you seem to be off your medication again. You’re memory has decided to take a little vacation without you. The real Harrison insisted and begged to stay with me. The clone is with you. Now take a deep breath and relax. You’ll be okay in a day or two. 😉
Sometimes I like the seconary characters better than the primary. Sometimes they are nicer and stronger than the primary.
Hi Samantha,
This was a great post—whether you’re a first time blogger or not!! Very enjoyable.
I agree with Rebecca that you can make your secondary character with all sorts of weird traits, BUT if you wind up having to do a sequel with that character switching roles to be the main one, then it makes for a challenging but fun story.
Julie
Lisa W. wrote:>>Sometimes I like the seconary characters better than the primary. Sometimes they are nicer and stronger than the primary.<<
I know what you mean, Lisa. Your primary characters (hero and heroine for a romance) need to be people the reader cares about otherwise they aren’t going to care about the story. But sometimes those secondary characters overshadow them which gives the author a kind of tricky thin line to walk between the primary and secondary characters.
Julie wrote:>>you can make your secondary character with all sorts of weird traits, BUT if you wind up having to do a sequel with that character switching roles to be the main one, then it makes for a challenging but fun story.<<
Julie: Secondary characters can definitely be fun to write. And turninig them into your main character(s) in their own book gives you the challenge of showing how they evolve and grow over the course of the story, i.e., flighty and irresponsible becomes more mature.
Joyce Moore wrote:>> and isn’t it funny that sometimes secondary characters pop up when least expected–at least for me<<
Joyce: That’s very true. Suddenly a new thread for a story presents itself and that created a brand new secondary character you hadn’t anticipated.
Thanks for posting.