Minor characters

[prizzley]

I'm reviewing the first draft of my new wip and have a dilemma. My protagonist has left home to do what he has to do and I have 2 chapters focusing on his family left at home. My head tells me to delete them both (the chapters, not the family). My heart tells me to keep them (the family and the chapters). But since they don't advance the plot and I don't want to do a Joanna Trollope*, I'm leaning towards deletion.

Please give me the benefit of your wisdom.

* “The author, one feels, finds all her characters so fascinating that it becomes hard for her to resist delving into each of their lives, however peripheral they are to the main story.”

 

[allmywires]

Delete them, probably. A problem I had with the first version of my current WIP is the change in setting/characters about 7 chapters in. It can be done, I suppose, just risks readers thinking, 'Why have I got invested in this setting/these characters when we've moved on and never mentioned them again?' If they are mentioned again or integral to your later plot, I'd keep them, though.

 

[HareBrain]

Are they going to be important later? How would they advance the story?

 

[thaddeus6th]

Do they add to the main character's backstory/motivation or otherwise add depth to more important characters?

 

[Brian G Turner]

Take them out of the first draft, and save them in their own separate file.

That way, you can easily see how your story continues without those chapters in it. And if you should ever want to use them again - perhaps reinsert them in an edited form, flashback, or content for another book, you still have them.

Delete nothing.

 

[DthenB]

Unless you can make them relevant to the plot or future plot, lose 'em. If you love them, see if you can modify them for use as a B story to advance or foreshadow your plot.

 

[monsterchic]

If they're going to be relevant later, keep them. If not, it's been said to "kill your darlings."

 

[SciFrac]

I concur with Brian. Deletion is too permanent. Save them in a separate file and keep advancing the plot. I think you will see how unnecessary these are.

 

[allmywires]

Oh, god, by delete I didn't mean permanent erase! I just get so used to saving a million different copies of my WIP/cutting scenes and saving them in another document that I forget some people do send their words to the great typewriter in the sky.

Don't delete but remove for testing purposes!

 

[AnyaKimlin]

Every writer is different - personally I would delete. I love my delete key.

There are a lot of books out right now with too many characters, preventing me as a reader from properly bonding with the main characters. It is up to yourself if you find Joanna Trollope's style or books like that good to read keep the chapters. If you tend to find them boring when reading then...

 

[Gumboot]

I'm reviewing the first draft of my new wip and have a dilemma. My protagonist has left home to do what he has to do and I have 2 chapters focusing on his family left at home. My head tells me to delete them both (the chapters, not the family). My heart tells me to keep them (the family and the chapters). But since they don't advance the plot and I don't want to do a Joanna Trollope*, I'm leaning towards deletion.

Please give me the benefit of your wisdom.

* “The author, one feels, finds all her characters so fascinating that it becomes hard for her to resist delving into each of their lives, however peripheral they are to the main story.”

Like many others, I think it depends on how important this family is to the protagonist, and the rest of the story. Victor Hugo dedicates the first 10,000 words to the Bishop of Digne in Les Misérables, yet he never appears again. It's justified because the Bishop's action casts a shadow across the entire remainder of the book.

 

[prizzley]

Victor Hugo dedicates the first 10,000 words to the Bishop of Digne in Les Misérables, yet he never appears again. It's justified because the Bishop's action casts a shadow across the entire remainder of the book.

And there was I thinking it was because he never wrote 1 word when a 1,000 would do.

Thanks all. The vote is unanimous. I'll slide those two chapters over to Trimmings and stick to my mc's.

 

[atlhivemind]

I start my story with a boatload of minor characters of which the MC is one.
THey then go there separate ways.
Do the minors advance the MC's story? Maybe. some do.
Mostly, they cross paths with the MC at various points, off doing their own thing and generally moving plots along here and there. It helps create a larger world... important for world-building, IMO.

 

[prizzley]

It helps create a larger world... important for world-building, IMO.

That's a good point, but I still have the possibility to explore my mc's family later, when he's around and their concerns are viewed through his POV. I think that will work better in my story.

 

[ctg]

How many?