I was watching the credits of “Les Misérables” this week and the order of the players reminded me of the Shakespearean cliché about the world being a stage. Yes, it’s true that each player has his time and size of role. But even the most obscure part has its function. (Think of all the dead bodies at the end of the revolution or on the battlefield in “Lincoln.”)
What functions do authors have to think about when they create characters in their minds and on their pages?
Orson Scott
Card, who has written multiple books about the writing craft, mentions that
characters can be divided into walk-ons and placeholders, minor characters, and
major characters. When drafting a novel, an author has to consider how much
time and description to give to each character she creates.
The walk-ons and placeholders are part of the background of a story. They have their purposes either in large ensemble groups or in small parts. They come into the book and do their thing, and then they leave. Often, in a movie, such a character is labeled “second man with gun.” In the Sherlock Holmes’ stories the Baker Street Irregulars, a band of street urchins that Holmes relies on for intelligence, is such a group.
I’m currently finishing a book of three novellas that
brings forward my character, Detective TJ Sweeney. She’s always been a major
character, but since Grace Kimball married, TJ hasn’t had as much time on the
stage. These three novellas give her center stage. The first story, “Doing
Justice, Loving Mercy,” goes back to 1991 when Grace Kimball’s children were
young. None of my readers have met those children because this story is a
prequel to the series. The series begins in 2011. The children are minor
walk-ons and have a role in this story, but I did give them names since they
were mentioned in the later novels.
The second category, minor characters, helps the plot along, and we learn more about them than the
walk-ons. They have their purposes too, and without them the story wouldn’t work as well or take the turns it takes. In “Two Graves,” the second novella, the setting is TJ Sweeney’s 20th high school class reunion. TJ’s partner, Jake Williams, and two of the policemen, Jim McGuire and Ted Kessler, are minor characters. But they have a role in making the climax work. They’re given names because they are more than walk-ons but not major characters.
A sub-category of minor characters is those who
provide comic relief, especially in my Endurance series. Lettisha Kimball,
Grace’s former sister-in-law, is always the comic relief. Lettie believes
everything she reads in the tabloids, listens to all the gossip around town,
and has outrageous opinions. As a minor character, she reflects the views of a
small town person, but she also keeps her ears open for what’s happening. She’s
an amazing cook, so when she gets mad at TJ Sweeney for something, she cuts off
her pie allowance.
The major characters are the ones who play the biggest role in novels and films. We get to know them well and want to know their fates. Their lives—and often their point of view—drive the plot. I describe them in detail. We must care about them, however, to stay involved in the story. In the upcoming novella, “The Locket,” Grace Kimball becomes a minor character while Detective TJ Sweeney is the major character, and it’s her view that drives the plot.
The next time you read a novel or watch a film, think
about the role each character plays, large or small. Each one is necessary to
make the plot move forward. Do you read mystery series where characters are
sometimes in major roles and sometimes minor?
