How do you enrich your cast of characters? How do you make them memorable? How do you ensure each character adds depth and purpose to your story? Donald Maas knows how….
A handy exercise:
1st, make a list of every character in your story (secondary and minor)
2nd, next to the name, write the character’s purpose for appearing in the story
3rd, look over your list and try to combine as many characters as you can.
Why? Creating characters that serve more than one purpose is a sure-fire way to enrich you cast.
My Success Story:
At first, I had my doubts. I stared at my list of characters and convinced myself I could not combine any of them. But I ignored my hesitancy and forced myself to complete the exercise. I deleted a character whose purpose was to be a point of contention between hero and heroine. I then gave this character’s purpose to my heroine’s sister-in-law. So now I have this sister-in-law whose trying to support my main lady, but ends up being a sticking point between hero and heroine. The result kicked my tension up a notch.
Questions to Ponder: What people in your life serve more than one function? One example for me would be my sister-in-law, who is my sister-in-law, my coworker, and an awesome friend.
FYI: My GMC series is being posted on Seriously Write today. The series will continue every Monday for the next several weeks. So if you’re looking for a GMC review, stop on over.
And finally, Happy Labor Day!!
Carrie – thanks!
Jm Diaz – you're not alone! I eavesdrop on convos all the time. I people-watch all the time too. 🙂 Thanks for visiting my blog!
Indeed a great post. Another exercise I've used is eavesdropping (in an innocent stalkerish way) to peoples conversations in public places. *ehm* Starbucks *ehm*
I really couldn't care less about WHAT they are saying.. I'm interested on HOW they are saying it. Inflictions and intonations of words, phrases, and such. Its great dialogue and even character fodder.
Oh, I LOVE the photos of your men!
Glad you liked the pics, everybody!
And even more glad that you found this post useful. Seriously, I'm just brushing over the tip of the iceberg with Maas' Breakout novel Workbook. This things is jam packed with awesome exercises. So if you're liking what you see, you might consider purchasing the book.
In the meantime, I hope you continue to find my posts informative and helpful!
Love you all! As always, thanks for stopping by!
Great advice! And, love the new pics … very clever captions! 🙂
Great pics of the men in your life. 🙂
Great post, too. I'm planning the cast of characters in my next book right now so the advice is timely to combine roles when possible. And it is always possible.
I've done this several times with great success too. It makes the secondary characters come to life and really support the main ones, I find.
Excellent advice, as always. I'm going to do this later today for my WiP and the one I'm thinking about writing next.
Ahh yes. The killing spree. I've gone on a few myself and it's quite liberating to off a few unnecessary folks from the canvas. 😉
ok….the pics of the fam are a super cute addition to the blog, girl. super cute. how'd you get brog to keep those glasses on for a picture? 🙂
i didn't delete any characters, but i did lessen one character's involvement so she wasn't quite involved, making her compete with the support group girl. (how's that for vague?) but i DID give my villain an extra connection the the hero which amped the tension considerably. so, i guess that works!
jeannie
Where Romance Meets Therapy
I wish I could add something different or original, but when the post is clearly helpful and well written, what’s left to say except to join the previous comments in praise and say thank you for yet another post that improves my writing. I don’t need to buy any “how to” books, I can stop by here and get the same thing, only in short form. Great job, as usual.
Best Regards, Galen
Imagineering Fiction Blog
What cute men you have in your family! 🙂
What a great exercise to do! I will definitely have to give that a try! But not today…I'm doing nuthin'!
Hi, Katie! This is a great post and comes at an excellent time for me! Thank you! I'm just now starting to form a strong cast.
Anywho, I hope you have a great labor day!
This is really a great exercise idea. I am facing a big revision in a few weeks and I plan on trying it. Thanks!
Shelley
Katie,
I love the new pictures on the side of your blog of all your "men."
I LOVE the concept of making the most of minor characters and keeping them connected in some way. This will be a great exercise to keep in mind as I plot my next novel! Thank you!
Wow, hmmm, I'm not sure how people in my life are connected. Great question. I should think about my characters too. Maybe there's a few I could combine?
Love the photos by the way 🙂
Woo hoo! First on tonight. (well, it's 'tonight' here anyway)
Great exercise Katie. I am going to try this one and see what I can do about kicking the tension up a notch.
How are the people in my life connected? Hmmm… my sister-in-law also posses as a wonderful editor for my magazine articles. Does that count? Sorry, can't think who else is connected in multiple ways…