Monday, we answered Julie’s question about secondary characters – how many is too many? How to keep them from being boring or flat?
I’ve been thinking about this issue today and wondering how we can get creative with secondary characters. Think of a painting. Many times the artist will outline images with black in order to make them stand out. Sometimes, an artist covers an canvas in blue or orange before beginning to paint.
These are accents that help the over all painting though the eye of the observer many never really notice.
On the television show, Samatha Who, Samatha has two friends. One acts as Samatha’s good conscious, Dina. The other, her devilish side. Angela.
The premise of the show is Samatha has lost her memory. She can’t remember her life. As she debates issues and rediscovers life, Samatha’s friends act as sounding boards. Angela urges Samatha to give in to her daring side. Dina reminds her to be cautious.
These friends are individual reflections of Samatha’s internal conflict. She’s torn internally with her angelic and devilish desires.
So, think of your secondary characters as reflections of your protagonist. As I think of my current work, Elle is an artist. She’s engaged to a pastor in the beginning of the story.
Now, this man is very organized and structured, a goal setter and planner. So is Elle. But when she enters Jeremiah’s planned or orchestrated life, the artist part of her doesn’t surrender easy. While Jeremiah reflects her goal-setting side, he doesn’t reflect her artist side.
Enter hero Heath McCord, a sports anchor and wanna be writer. He’s very watchful and supportive of Elle. He reflects her artist side and encourages her art work.
In Diva NashVegas, I created a gardner named Jose. He was a Christ like character – the Great Gardner of our lives. Whenever we saw Jose working the yard or garden, it reflected something God was doing in Aubrey’s life.
So, have fun. Think broad and deep with secondary characters.
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