Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Secondary Characters Bloghop

Sometimes secondary characters steal the show, (or the book) and become our favorites. On May 22nd we want you to tell us about your favorite secondary characters from books or movies, or both!
Whether it's the funny best friend or that goofy kid next door,
we want to know what secondary characters
you just couldn't get enough of and why.
Theresa Paolo, Kelley Lynn, Jessica SalyerJenny Morris and Suzi Retzlaff
are cohosting and were all generous enough offer critiques as prizes!
These ladies are brilliant, wonderful critiquers.
Rachel is also planning on giving away a three chapter critique along with an ebook
 of
Secondary Characters,
which releases on May 28th.
Cassie Mae and Kelley Lynn will also pick a winner to get either an ebook of Reasons I Fell for the Funny Fat Friend, or a signed copy of Fraction of Stone.

 
Not sure why, but when I originally wrote this post, I was thinking of my own book (sorry, for being so stuck in my own little world here - scroll down to see my favorite secondary character in other books)
 
A secondary character almost took over my first book. Stelia wasn't even around when I started the short story that eventually became a novel (after a helpful rejection letter). I just had a few bare notes for her when I started my first rough draft - a dusty, older mentor with a bitter past and a knowledge of the enemy that my MC, Clara, would face. She was going to be there for Clara in small parts, and in bits of memory - flashbacks from Clara about following this forbidding woman around wanting extra swordsmanship lessons. Then something happened in that first draft, and then the second.
 
 Stelia's knowledge of the enemy went bone deep. She was troubled. She was . . . fascinating, and I wanted to follow her around and get a few extra swordsmanship lessons for myself. She had a past that haunted her, and Clara needed to hear about it, at least a little bit, to know what she might be facing. She went from occasional mentor to close mentor, and she took over her own chapters. I even toyed with the idea of letting her take over the book, and then I stopped myself.
 
Champion in the Darkness is Clara's story, not Stelia's, but Stelia is still there - strong, determined, troubled, and full of life. She is, in many ways, my favorite character to come out of the book. And yet, I still love Clara too . . . so they get to share the story, because it isn't really just about one Champion standing by herself, it's about a Champion with friends, and an important mentor - one who struggles against the darkness that she finds around her and within herself.

Favorite Secondary Characters:
Valentine and Graff  in Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. Valentine gives us insight into Ender's family and world politics, and that helps make the decisions made by Ender all the more meaningful. Also, Graff is a great secondary character and we get most of him just through small quotes at the beginning of chapters.
Sam in LOTR. He's loyal, heroic, faithful, and all he really wants is to go home and have a good meal.
Luna Lovegood and Neville in the Harry Potter series.
Wash from Firefly.
Sulu from Star Trek.

 


28 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

It's cool when a side character takes on so much more.

randi lee said...

I had the same issue--a couple of my side characters really stole the show in a novel I just wrote. While I loved it, I also had to tone it down a bit because my MC was becomming extremely overshadowed and he felt dull in comparison.

Also, 3 Ups is a go! Your "Upee" is Sydney Aaliyah over at http://sydneyaaliyah.com/

No need to rush in giving Sydney your Ups. Whenever you can is fine :D And thanks again for participating!

jaybird said...

I love some of my secondary characters too- sometimes they want to take over my stories and run away with them. LOL But I have to remind myself to contain them.

Dani said...

I love when you fall in love with your own secondary characters that they almost take control. That's awesome!

Sandy said...

Years ago my DD had the lead roll in Nunsense, a really funny musical. And her best friend had one of the supporting roles, but her role was truly the funniest so several scene she got the edge and stole the scene. A book character must be the same sort of thing. And if while you're writing it, things develop differently then you thought it can happen without you knowing it. Not a bad thing though.

Suzi said...

It's funny how those secondary characters develop into so much more sometimes. They deserve to be in the spotlight too!

Unknown said...

It's fun to read, from a writer's perspective, how attached they get to a character-- even a secondary one! I think that's what makes such good reading.

Rachel Schieffelbein said...

She sounds really interesting! Thanks for sharing!

Tyrean Martinson said...

Alex - yes it is!

Randi - Thanks for letting me know about 3 ups!

jaybird - it's exciting when they take the story someplace new, but at the same time it takes some work to keep things going in the "right" direction

Dani - it is!

Sandy - it is like a talented actress stealing the show when a character starts to take the story somewhere new

Suzi - yes they do!

Julie - it is fun . . .and I hope it makes good reading. :)

Rachel - Thanks!

Mark Means said...

It's great how a secondary character can rise up and begin demanding more attention than originally planned.

I saw this a lot in the old George R.R. Martin series, "Wild Cards" and thought it was always a great convention to use in the stories :)

Natalie Aguirre said...

Awesome how Stellia became a stronger, secondary character.

And Sam in LOTR is awesome too. A great choice.

Tyrean Martinson said...

Mark - I'll have to read more George RR. Martin . . .

Natalie - Thanks!

Donna K. Weaver said...

I love characters like your Stelia. And your choices for others I'd totally agree with.

Barbara Watson said...

Ohhhh! I, too, adore Neville. Mostly I love that Voldemort didn't deem him a worthy opponent, but in the end, Neville ends up being so, so vital.

Jenny S. Morris said...

Thanks for sharing about your characters! And I love your choices.

M Pax said...

It was fun to read more about your character. And I really liked Neville. Luna, too.

Tyrean Martinson said...

Donna - Thanks!

Barabara - yes, that's what I love about Neville too.

Jenny - thanks!

M Pax - Thanks!

Heather R. Holden said...

I've had side characters take over more than I originally planned, too. (Sometimes to the point where I do give 'em their own story, haha.) It can be both fun and frustrating!

L. Diane Wolfe said...

Don't worry - one of my picks was a character from my own books. Sam was a close choice, although Pippin won for me.

Karen Lange said...

No apologies necessary - of course you would think of your book! :) It's only natural. I'd do the same thing.

I think they add so much to a story, and then can always be a bigger part of the next book! :)

Allison said...

Love your choices! Sam, Luna, Neville, Wash--they'd all be on my list too.

Allison (Geek Banter)

Tyrean Martinson said...

Heather - yes it can be!

Diane - good to know. Yes, I loved Pippin too.

Karen - yes, that's true.

Allison - Thanks! They are just great characters.

Al Diaz said...

I also thought on Sam. Now that you mention Luna, yes she would be in my list too. The others are unknown to me. Maybe I should learn more about them. :)

Margo Berendsen said...

I love all the secondary Star Trek and HP and LOTR characters... so hard to choose!! But Sam is definitely the one I'd pick too, I have to agree.

I haven't read Enders Game in a long time... wish I remembered it better.

Such a great blog hop idea!

Maurice Mitchell said...

Wash was definitely my favorite from the list. He always said the perfect thing at the wrong time.

Jeff Hargett said...

Wow. Just wow. I completely agree with every secondary character you listed. Just more proof that you're brilliant, I guess.

Michael Di Gesu said...

Hi, Tyrean....

NOTHING wrong with LOVING your own characters especially the secondary...

This is such a fun blogfest, because in SO many stories I prefer the secondary characters.

I SEE you chose Sam in LOTR ... AN EXCELLENT choice as well as some favs of mine from HP! LUNA and Neville are certainly the SWEETEST of the HP character although my favs are RON and Hermione...

Read your goal on your previous post... I KNOW you can do it! After all your cool Sword play for the A-Z, you will definitely SWING yourself in to writing and athletic shape.

I am ALSO here as a SPECIAL SURPRISE for you... Happily you are my THREES UP, UPEE from Randi Lee's bloghop. So I just wanted to give you a BIG CYBER HUG for UP #1 .... and HIGE CHEESY SMILE for Up #2!

Also tomorrow ... as a special treat, for you up #3, I will repost my intro of your FANTABULOUS BOOK!
Perhaps some bloggers may have missed it in the A-Z and it certainly is worth viewing again. I love the premise and COVER.

SO I hope you enjoyed your and will enjoy your three ups! HAPPY THREES UP!

Anonymous said...

Need to have much more lemon Pledge...Superman no property.


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