The Lives and Logic of Minor Characters
How to Write Interesting, Necessary Minor Characters
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While drafting your novel, you may not give a whole lot of thought to minor characters. But in revision, you'll need to go back and examine their place in the novel. Some of your minor characters may end up on the cutting room floor. You will probably end up combining two or three minor characters into one. Occasionally, you may discover that a minor character needs to take on a greater role in the story.
Here are a few things to consider when you are writing and revising minor characters:
What is the character’s purpose in the story?
Every minor character should have a reason to exist. They should either advance the plot, help develop the main characters, or add context or depth. In a first-person novel, minor characters may also play an important role in providing information to which the first-person narrator—and therefore the audience—would not otherwise have access.