I'm seriously late to the #IWSG party this morning. Instead of verbalizing the stress of a writer's life this month, I decided to offer a little bit of advice. Even with all of the ups and downs writing still remains my biggest passion.
In my finished WIP, I created a personality for each of my secondary characters. Some were quirky, funny, pranksters, annoying, smart-mouthed, you know, your typical teenager. I have two, I should know.
My writing mantra of "no characters left behind" was applied to all of my secondary characters. But I had glossed over a few minor ones. Those are typically the people who appear in only one scene and are forever forgotten. So I fixed the problem. I went back to each scene and created a personality for each of my minor characters. One of my previous chapters in my contemporary fantasy wreaked of a hurried, bored writer. Now, it's one of my favorite scenes in the entire story!
Whether your a newbie writer or a seasoned vet in this industry, it happens. Those minor characters get overlooked: gas station attendants, librarians, school nurses, lunch ladies. Even though they are very temporary characters in a quick and necessary scene, they are worthy of all your attention as a writer. Just as no two buildings are alike (okay, I'm stretching this a bit) and no two people are alike, so each person in our stories should be unique. Don't forget to breathe life into every last one of your characters.
Until next month!
Tell me if you've ever overlooked a minor character and how you fixed the problem. Are you enjoying writing this month? Call me crazy. I'm working on two new books!
