Great secondary characters

[Jo Zebedee]

I am trying to get the start of my first book more active - stop groaning betas, it is only version 99999900000 - and am finding myself reviewing pov.

For my new stuff, i have two male povs I like, one female teenager, and two secondary female povs, and I have been happy to settle down to those.

For my older stuff I have a lot of povs and am looking at these in order to get more nuances into the pov chapters, and apart from the main protagonist and a couple in the key female protagonist, I am finding I default to my secondary male protagonist (lich, for those who have read it), much much more. Half of the female pov scenes have gone to him cos he is so much more engaging, and smart, so I can get away with intuitive jumps. (Be nice, Mouse, my female protagonist is liked by many...

Anyone else use secondary point of views to drive the story and find they can do more with them than, and have more fun, than with the protagonist? Any books have secondary characters with as strong a voice as the protagonist?

 

[Mouse]

Lichio rocks!

But yeah, secondary characters are usually more fun. Just going through my stuff and the scenes with my two seconds as POVs are generally (I think) better written than the Ambrose and Jenn scenes. Though Ambrose is ridiculously fun to write too. But... what was the question? I think the answer's yes.

 

[HareBrain]

Maybe the weight of carrying the plot puts the primary characters almost in a kind of straitjacket, whereas the secondary ones are a lot more free to behave in any way the author finds interesting or amusing.

 

[Mouse]

I was gonna say that, but knew somebody else'd say it better.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Maybe the weight of carrying the plot puts the primary characters almost in a kind of straitjacket, whereas the secondary ones are a lot more free to behave in any way the author finds interesting or amusing.

Yeah, so they can be naughty and not pc and we don't have to worry that no one will buy into them.

 

[Mouse]

Any books have secondary characters with as strong a voice as the protagonist?

Trying to think. I know I usually always like the secondary characters more than the mains. Right now, I can't even remember what books I've read.

Only examples I've got: Mayweed rocks way more than Tryfan in William Horwood's Duncton books. And Renly rocks way more than anyone else in GRRM's ASoIaF (Bronn's second).

 

[HareBrain]

Yeah, so they can be naughty and not pc and we don't have to worry that no one will buy into them.

And ironically, the reader tends to buy into them even more.

I can't think of any examples. I never can with this kind of question. Sometimes I wonder if I've ever actually read any books in my life.

 

[stephen.samuels]

In my WIP I have a lot fun with secondary character called Mia, she has a lot of rationality to her and questions the actions the main characters. I think secondary povs can be critical and yeah naughty!

 

[Warren_Paul]

I think it's quite normal for the secondary characters to end up more likable than the protagonists. (As far as I can remember, Lichio was my favourite character of yours too) I certainly found it that way with my first WIP - Emylynn and Alyce annoyed the hell out of everyone - but people liked Elizabeth, Sara, Hahn, Tad, Bastian, Elric, Marcus - all of which were lucky to get even one PoV scene in the whole book, let alone two.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Part of it has to be driven by feedback and in my case Lich is consistently popular. Part of it is plot and he is the focus of book 3 ( so there is a happy mouselet) so merits a bigger role. Part of it, as hb says, is about freedom and enjoyment of writing them.

 

[Mouse]

Part of it has to be driven by feedback and in my case Lich is consistently popular. Part of it is plot and he is the focus of book 3 ( so there is a happy mouselet) so merits a bigger role. Part of it, as hb says, is about freedom and enjoyment of writing them.

*impatiently waiting for book 3*

 

[Hex]

I like Sonly

I only write one POV but I do find that secondary stories can be as engaging and interesting as the primary one.

 

[Lucky_Lola]

I've had so much fun getting to know my secondaries that I think I'm going to have to go back and rewrite my heroine's POV out of the whole thing! I've got a good boy, a very naughty boy and tormented soul... such fun they are to write!

There is usually one character that I'm drawn to more as a reader. The best example I can think of right now (suffering from the aforementioned memory holes hah!) would be in The Wheel of Time... I liked Perrin's storyline the most, until he got all navel-gazey that is. Rand annoyed me from the second page and Mat only got interesting once the Seanchan arrived on the scene.

 

[thaddeus6th]

I did this with Bane of Souls, to an extent. There were a few major PoV characters, but I'd sometimes give secondary characters their own little piece of the limelight.

I did find it a bit more fun, and perhaps even easier to write than the major characters. It also fit with the book because I wanted to try and make the world (well, city in that case) credible and immersive, and extra minor PoVs helped that, I think.

HareBrain's comment is spot on.

 

[Warren_Paul]

There is usually one character that I'm drawn to more as a reader. The best example I can think of right now (suffering from the aforementioned memory holes hah!) would be in The Wheel of Time... I liked Perrin's storyline the most, until he got all navel-gazey that is. Rand annoyed me from the second page and Mat only got interesting once the Seanchan arrived on the scene.

Perrin is by far his best character in the whole series, and now that him and Faile are all sorted out, I hope he gets back on track with why we like him so much. I liked Mat all the way through, but I've always enjoyed reading about rogue-type characters up to mischief.

But yes, Rand makes a perfect example. He is a very frustrating and naive character - and he's the main protagonist, the supposed hero of the world! I think that place is doomed. His personality is typical of the cliche about how men are all fools in women's eyes. Of course, the cliche goes that men feel the same about women - and it shows in his writing. Honestly, there is some sliver truth to that, but reading about it in a story is plain annoying.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

This is why sidekicks were invented.

 

[Glitch]

Anyone else use secondary point of views to drive the story and find they can do more with them than, and have more fun, than with the protagonist? Any books have secondary characters with as strong a voice as the protagonist?

I've used secondary characters to drive certain aspects of the story. Haven't noticed them having more fun though.

 

[Warren_Paul]

Even with my current WIP I can already see that the second character far surpasses the first. Sera's scenes fall into place perfectly with just the right mood and voice, while Kateryn's scenes give me all sorts of troubles. Makes me want to scrap all Kateryn's scenes and just make a story about Sera in the past.

 

[Lucky_Lola]

His personality is typical of the cliche about how men are all fools in women's eyes. Of course, the cliche goes that men feel the same about women - and it shows in his writing.

Uh-huh. Jordan couldn't write women to save himself... they always seemed to me to have two modes: braid pulling or more braid pulling ;P But in many ways, I think his 'typical man' is worse. I kinda get the feeling that maybe Mrs Jordan was peering over his shoulder saying, "More kissy stuff!" It pulls me out of the story. But yes, I have high hopes for Perrin and Fayle, but I won't be reading the last volumes until they're all out in paperback - then I'ma buy them ALL! Hehe!

This is why sidekicks were invented.

Quite!

I really like to see the MC of a book through other people's eyes, especially when the writing is in close third (my own preference). That and, as a reader, getting to peek into the back rooms and listen in on events the MC doesn't know... it gives me that fidgety co-conspirator feeling. My issue with my own main, I think, comes down to the fact that her journey from spoiled teen to mature, responsible leader hasn't been written well enough yet. Another thing to add to the list of revisions But yes, I definitely use my secondaries to help keep the momentum up.

More thinking... I just finished re-reading The Master and Margarita*, and I think Behemoth and Korovyov fit into the strong-voiced secondary character category. That's an interesting book, now that I think about it... if pressed I would have to call Margarita the MC, but many many others come a close second.



*Wohooo! Look at me! I'm a broken record!!

 

[hopewrites]

I just watched three people argue over who was a better secondary character in Lord of the Rings. It was funny on multiple levels, not the least of which was the way they both dismissed Frodo from every aspect but that of Main Character (as if that story had only one).

But the best examples I like come from the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. Mr. Tumnis has held a special place in my heart since I was 8 and just falling for pictureless books. His page time is quite limited when I look at it, but it feels like he's the reliable sort of chap who will always be right where you left him when the sunshine beckoned you out to play. (I refuse to picture him portly and in a wheelchair as his last appearance has him and content my self with a minor rewrite of having him thin and shakily leaning on a beautifully carved mahogany cane gumming a toffy)

I think the key to any character, main, secondary, or tertiary, is plausibility. If you feel you could met them then they are well written and probably likable to someone.