First Rate Secondary Characters
There are a number of secondary characters in my WIP that I’ve come to adore. It’s lucky for me as I’m going to hopefully write two more stories using this same cast. If I didn’t like them, two more stories would be drudgery. But, as it is, I’m pretty excited about seeing them all again.
In my story, some of my favorites are my heroine’s quiet sister who prefers solitude because she sees visions of people’s future all the time. Add standard ton chitchat to visions and I’d imagine I’d avoid that mishmash of stimulus too. Another is my hero’s meddling aunt. She’s a doll, but in the way of using sweetly worded requests/demands to manipulate others (for their own good, of course). And finally, my hero’s best friend, the earl who works with the Bow Street Runners. Sexy and sarcastic. My favorite kinda guy.
As a general, I don’t like stories that have too many secondary characters running around. I don't want to feel like I need air traffic control to direct everyone about. I get distracted easily. I feel like characters should be directly involved in the plot. If the plot can’t move on without them, they can stay. Otherwise, a quick mention in passing, ok, but leave their characterization to a real minimum.
Some secondary characters take on a life of their own. Lady Danbury from Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton series. What a fun and well-rounded character.
What other secondary characters do you think are particularly well done? What do you think makes a good secondary character? Are you cool with a huge cast? What role should secondary characters play in a novel? And finally, do you have any favorite secondary characters in your story?
Also: A big thank you to Sabrina Jeffries for bringing Jane and Will and talking pirates with us yesterday!
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27 comments:
I love the supporting cast! THey make or break a story. The writer has to prove that they can write outside the main protagonists.
What time period is your book, Marn? Regency?
Loretta Chase does a good 'secondary' cast to drive her plots forward. And I love JQ's family cast of characters. You always want more of her characters.
I love secondary characters. I love my secondary characters even if they have a small part in the book. I have Mr. Chisholm in Hidden Beauty. His purpose is to purchase Elena in the slave market, and to auction her off to the lords in the Pleasure Gardens. Yet he's got his very own quirks and way of speak that he just stands out as a different character from the rest. :)
Jinan has sisters in the harem that all stand out to me, Maram a young Indian woman who makes few appearances but she has this comedic way of looking at everything. Actually come to think of it. I have a lot of secondary characters.
Great topic.
And I love connected books, Marn. I think the reader already has an emotional investment in the characters if they've appeared and done something important to/for the plot in previous books.
I'm pretty fond of my secondary characters too---the madam with the heart of brass, the loyal batman, the no-nonsense maid. I'm a sucker for books with the wise butler. I must have watched too many episodes of Upstairs Downstairs. *g*
Tiff - It is Regency. :) Your secondary folks sound like fun too. I think a funny harem girl sounds like a great character. I bet there's plenty of stuff to poke fun at. LOL!! And I love connected books too. It makes me feel like I'm visiting with old friends.
Maggie - I love the wise butler! That has to be my favorite sort of secondary. I've been tempted to put a wise butler in my next story. We'll see....
When I first started my WIP, I had secondary characters coming out of the word work. At about the 100 page mark I think I'd introduced nearly a dozen characters. Needless to say, many of them are now on the cutting room floor.
But I do love secondary characters. It's still amazing to think that Esme is only a secondary character in Eloisa James' Duchess Series. Though there is nothing secondary about her and I consider her one of my favorite heroine's of all time.
There are two very important secondary characters in my WIP - the hero's best friend and the heroine's best friend. These two have a history, they hate each other and they complicate things. But the heroine's BFF plays the largest role in the conflict. In addition to writing the development of a romantic relationship, I'm attempting to write the disintegration of a friendship between women. I'm thinking that might be the more difficult story to write.
Great topic, Marn! And I want to hear more about this sexy Earl. LOL!
One of my favorite secondary characters happened to be a recent find and that was Alice Cullen from Stephanie Meyer's Twilight Saga. I enjoyed reading about her more than I did the heroine of the book.
Eloisa James and Lisa Kleypas both write excellent secondary characters that you grow to love and think of as main characters of the book. I also like JR Ward's secondary characters because I think her secondary characters really round out the story and give it more life.
I've got a few important secondary characters in each of my WIP's. Secondary to Sadie's character in Double Vision is her cousin, Kiki, who acts as like a partner-in-crime. And Sadie's immediate family will play big roles. In At First Taste, Libby and Cin's heroine characters play secondary character to each other. I don't know how this is going to work yet; but I will find a way.
I *LOVE* secondary characters. *LOL* I think one of the most memorable secondary characters I remember reading was in Jill Barnett's DREAMING. The main characters were Richard and Lettie; however, Richard had a friend, a viscount or something (I can't remember his name off hand), who, as a secondary plot, went to a Lord's home to meet with the guy, walks through this garden, sees this woman, and falls in love. The woman is the Lord's daughter, and her face is scarred--and she doesn't go out in public because of it. He woos her...it was such a wonderful side story and didn't detract from Richard & Lettie's story at all.
Richard and Lettie were memorable from Jill's book Bewitching. Richard was the hero's best friend; and Lettie was the poor soul who was madly in love with him. She kept stalking him, poor girl. God, they were funny and tragic. She'd always end up doing something by accident to maim him; and if he heard she was in the room, he'd take to ducking and trying to get under cover. It was hilarious. (Even though I'm totally a Lettie type and shouldn't find that as funny as I do.)
Speaking of Kleypas, I never thought of Hardy as a secondary anything. Even if by the time I read Sugar Daddy I didn't know about the next book, I still don't think I could have thought of him that way. That man still has me considering moving to Houston. LOL!
How do you all feel about when main characters of one book become secondary in the next?
It depends. I hate when main characters are simply brought back as stage pieces... If it feels like you just put them back to make us go, "Yippee, it's Jack and Josie" but they're just billing and cooing in their newlywed state still, I think it's crap.
Oh, Captain Jack Sparrow is my FAVORITE secondary character. Since technically the story was about Elizabeth and Will. Jack just seemed more like a main character because he was so darned cool.
And I loved all the secondary characters in the Harry Potter series, though esp Ron & Hermione. (I was such a R&H shipper...still am.) So watching them romance each other on the sidelines was one of my favorite part of the books.
I generally love secondary characters - SEP Chicago Stars series has tons of fun secondary characters who keep popping back up! I read a Lisa Kleypas recently - Again the Magic - where there was a secondary romance between the heroine's sister and the hero's business partner, and it was the first time in one of hers I was desperate to get back to the main characters. But I think it was only because the hero/heroine had so much past angst between them, I just wanted more and more and more.
I don't have a lot of secondary characters in my WIP, I'm realizing. There's the hero's crazy ex-wife, and the wonderful mother of the crazy ex, but not much else.
Great topic Marnee - I'm highly intrigued by the sister who sees vision - that could be a blast to write!
I think when secondary character turn main hero/heroines are some of my favorite books. I've invested my interested in them before and KNOW them all ready before the book even begins. I think it makes the overall story special and a better read.
And Hardy was never a secondary character to me. He always seemed like the lead even when Gage (wasn't that his name?) was supposed to be the hero.
Yeah, Hardy was never a secondary character. *LOL* And I did NOT like Gage. Kleypas totally pulled a fast one on that book. I thought there was no way in hell I would ever like Gage more than Hardy.
Note my excitement that said earl is, in fact, coming back: :D !!!
Tough to pick fave secondaries from my WIP, mostly because my affection for the hero overshadows any feelings I have for secondaries ;) . But I do like the hero's best friend (he makes for fun banter), and his best friend's wife (she has no filter between mind and mouth, so she gets to say whatever she's thinking!).
Who else . . . oh, the villain is delightful (to me, anyway), but I'm not sure he's secondary. And then there's the prissy old rich guy, the gorgeous gossip columnist, the gallery director . . . random guys in the photography department who have no names..................................... photography secretary............... Hooray, a cast of tens.
I think a large cast works best with a series (naturally). I've seen it done well in a family saga that started with a family of seven, plus real people outside the fam that I was already familiar with (it's a historical). By volume 9, 15-20 years after volume 1, some of the kids have grandkids.
At that point, it does get difficult to follow some of the storylines. You'll be half a page into a section and find yourself thinking "Now, wait. Who is Will? Who's his dad? And where are they again, and why?" The author always put family trees inside the front covers to help, though!
I like my novels with context whether I am reading or writing them. The H/H relationship is more credible IMO if it plays out against relationships with family, friends, co-workers, servants, pets, etc. Who lives in a vacume? I don't mean that I think every book should read like a Russian novel, but I think secondary characters are part of creating a fictional world for the reader to inhabit.
I can't think of any writer on my autobuy list who doesn't create great secondary characters. Nora is wonderful with the friends and family chorus. I always look forward to Anne Gracie's secondary characters. The "not-so-young Lochinvar" scene in her latest was one of my favorite parts of the book. I adore Violet Bridgerton. Both SEP and EJ have created wonderful kid characters. Karen Hawkins's butler stole a series, and EJ has a butler who should make the Butler's Hall of Fame in her new one.
As for my mss, I haven't counted characters, but I have lots of friends, family members, band members and a few of their family members, townspeople. I call it world building. I guess this means you won't be reading my book if it's published, Marnee. :)
I LOVE secondary characters also. Watching the main H/H interact with other characters gives you a chance to see different aspects of their personality. It's always a treat. And if the author is good enough to throw a tiny little romance in there more the better. The more the merrier, IMHO! LOL I'm also a huge fan of series, so if the secondaries go off and get their own story I'm all for that too. It kind of makes me feel like I got more for my money. SEP, EJ, LK, JQ, Robyn Carr, Mary Jo Putney, Mary Balogh - these authors all excel at secondary characters or world building.
Lisa Kleypas' Marcus Westcliff is one of my all time favorite secondary characters. Haleigh - lots of her fans were disappointed that Lisa didn't give Gideon and Olivia from Again The Magic their own book! That's another secondary romance I loved!
Terri - Esme is a great example. :) I haven't read Kleypas in a long time, but I remember she had some good ones. Oh, and the disintegration of a female relationship? WHat great story fodder. And what complicated subject matter.
And to you and Hal and Jordan - yes, my sexy earl (Jonathan for those who have read the first 4 chapters) returns probably the third story. He's going to tangle with Maggie, the sister with visions. :)
Hellion - I'm sure Cap'n Jack would be insulted at being called secondary. LOL! He's a great one though. I haven't read Jill Barnett, but you keep recommending and I have meant to pick them up. Soon, I hope.
Hal - I don't think there HAVE to be a lot of secondary characters. Though I like them if they're done well and there, I don't think there have to be bunches of them.
Irish Eyes - yes! I loved Olivia and Gideon in Again the Magic, and I'm trying to track down Marcus' story (our library doesn't have that one :() I think my problem with Again the Magic was that it should have been another 100 pages long *g*. I just wanted so much more of the angst between Aline and McKinna, and at the same time I loved the story between Gideon and Olivia, that I was just over who to focus on.
Marnee - part of the reason I have so few is that the heroine (who's entire goal is to save her "perfect life" realizes halfway through that she's been missing for a week an no one has noticed. So there are purposely no secondary characters for her, because it clues her in that just maybe, she needs more in her life than her job! But I think you're right - the number of secondarys will depend on the setting - if it's an isolated setting, there just won't be that many, and that works too.
Marn - Oh, Jon and Maggie. Oooh.
Sin - I love Alice too! :) What a great secondary character. I hope SM does something with her. And I think Libby/Cin is going to be great. I can't wait to see how you pull that off. :)
Jordan - Yep, Jon and Maggie. :) I think anyway. We'll see. I have to hash that out here this next month. And I love Charlie too. I love characters who have no filter as well. Makes for some interesting situations. And Charlie and Wayne's banter is priceless.
Janga - the Russian novel! That's what I mean about too many characters. Or Dickens. Yikes, good gracious there are a billion people in those. If I can't remember people's names or have to look back through pages for reference, perhaps they might have been best left unwritten. :) Your novel, however, would be immediately on my must read list. I love your voice. :)
Irish- all the books you mentions sound/are great examples. I love asking for book references; you guys always give me so much to run to the bookstore for!! :)
Hal - oh!! Workaholic turned soul searcher. I love stories about inner growth. I can't wait to read.
"Before I post." I should have remained silent today. :(
Aargh! That should be "vacuum," not "vacume." That'll teach me to edit befir I post!
Besides, we all knew what you meant. I think as long as your point gets across, it's all good on the blogs.
LOL! Is ok Janga, you're forgiven.
You know, I'm such a believer in Janga, I read vacume and figured I'd been spelling it wrong all this time. LOL! And thank goodness you don't remain silent! That would be much worse than a typo now and then.
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