I think this makes stories imminently more readable.
What do you think???
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DAN ALATORRE 
12 replies on “Agree? Disagree? Or is it only the SECOND most important thing you need to know about writing?”
I totally agree. The secondary characters are always the ones you crave to know more about!
Dan, would love to have your comments on my latest post : https://rinsebeforeuse.wordpress.com/2016/09/15/thoughts-on-pillow-talk/
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I would have to agree. I love well developed secondary characters. They take you places in the story you might not have otherwise gone to. Without them, the story is flat.
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Totally.
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[…] Source: Agree? Disagree? Or is it only the SECOND most important thing you need to know about writing? | Dan… […]
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Agree. Approaching secondary characters in that way keeps them from becoming props and plot devices. All characters have their own personalities and back stories that influence their decisions and how they interact with the MC. A fun exercise is to write a short story from the perspective of a secondary character.
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Great idea!
Wonder if we can use that for writing challenge sometime?
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In writing my novel, I found that changing Point of View to secondary characters often enhanced the story line in a way that wasn’t possible from just the main character’s POV. All of the sudden, the secondary character becomes the main character for a few paragraphs or a full chapter. What do you think?
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I think you touched on a brilliant point.
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Everyone is the hero of their own story right?
I don’t know about every secondary character needing to be a main character but….I do know that when they have no life of their own they might as well be deleted. No character should exist as a mirror for the main. LOL
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Right! Great point!
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I’m sure you’ll find no one disagreeing! All the characters have pasts, even if what we know about them doesn’t appear in the story.
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Like everyone’s already said here. I think it’s important for the secondary characters to have their own lives. I’m trying to write my first novel (had the idea stuck in my head for over three years!) my secondary characters have detailed pasts and I find it not only helps to stop them being easy plot points but also makes it easy for me to as I know how they’d react in any situation so the secondary characters become more real – I hope that made sense.
In reading books it does show when a character is just there to move the story along.
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