The Six: Secondary Characters

When I think of great secondary characters, the first thing that comes to mind is the Harry Potter series -- Hermione & Ron, all the Weasleys, the teachers , the ghosts at Hogwart, Dumbledore, Hagar and his animals, and so on and so forth. Truly I think the secondary characters are what make the series so phenomenal. A great story chock full of interesting and fascinating characters , each with their own story.

Others? Well, Grandma Mazur and Lulu in the Stephanie Plum series just crack me up, and there have been other interesting sidekicks along the way.

Notice I mentioned two series. I think in a series the secondary characters have more time to grow on you, develop.

But what about in romance? That's where it gets tricky, at least for me. Why? Because I get so focused on the romance, I often find the secondary characters to be a distraction. I skim their subplots so I can get back to the "good stuff." The first pair of secondary characters that I thought of that I actually enjoyed and who contributed to the story in a way I didn't find distracting was the pair of best friends that hook up after Harry and Sally try to fix them up with each other in When Harry Met Sally.

I also enjoyed the subplots in Natural Born Charmer by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. There the secondary characters who made a difference were Dean's biological parents, an ex-groupie addict and a rock star who hook up again, and Dean's younger half-sister. There is also an old battle ax named Nita who becomes Blue's adopted mom figure over time.

I'm on the fly this morning so I'm keeping it short and sweet. How about you? Any secondary characters that you can point me toward? This week and last, Mayer and Crusie are actually talking about characters and character types at their online workshop. Good stuff. Be sure to check it out.

Cheers and happy writing,
Alyson

P.S. I realize there's not six here. I set some aggressive writing goals to meet the demands of a local writer's workshop that I'm participating in and to finish my MIP by the RWA conference, so I may be in a bit of a muddle for a few weeks. Hang in there with me . . .