Most writers’ are devoted to beefing up their main characters while letting their bit players sulk in the shadows. I’ve been guilty of this, too. Sometimes we’re so committed to creating the next Harry Potter and the next Frodo Baggins that we throw in everything but the kitchen sink to make our heroes and heroines seem cooler and more amazing. But the awful truth is that for every Frodo Baggins and Harry Potter, thousands of dwarves and muggles will never cut the mustard and will end up doomed to anonymity.
Those poor dwarves and muggles get lost in the shuffle, and they never even have any say in the matter. They are doomed for anonymity unless some brave writer helps them make a splash on the page, however small it may be.
Now, as a writer of Epic Fantasy, you may not want to make it your business to delve into all of the excruciating minutiae of every dwarf and goblin you bump into. Let’s not go overboard for them, but it’s a good idea to find one or two special muggles that you can flesh out into strong, minor characters. Making these prescribed choices can help distinguish your writing style and add significant ballast to your stories, distinguishing them from the rest of the stuff that’s out there.
In today’s blogpost, I am going to share a couple of strategies I use to develop my minor characters. My two favorite methods for fleshing out these so-called minor characters are 1) To create a Brief Bio for them and 2) Set up a Q and A. The Brief Bio method could also be used for the main characters, but for the purpose of this exercise let’s use it for the bit players. By starting off with this method, you will know where your character comes from, what he/she has been doing for the past few years, and if he/she has demonstrated any special skills.
I used this method in the second book of my Nebilon Series as I was developing my gargoyle, Stan, and it turns out he had a knack for astronomy. Funny how I didn’t know this until I set up a Q and A session with him. More on that in a minute. My gargoyle’s interest in astronomy drove his character’s ambition and helped get him selected for the Hope Box quest.
Spoiler alert. I didn’t use a Brief Bio to extract this info from him. Building a Bio takes time. It also requires active engagement. You may not have even given any thought to this particular character at all. You know he’s a dwarf, or she’s a troll, but you don’t know anything about them other than what preconceived notions you may have about these beings.
Then how do I come up with something out of nothing? If I’m having difficulty coming up with this background information, then I use the Q and A method. I suggest using very straightforward questions. Something like:
1) Biggest Fear
2) What does he or she want to be when grown up?
3) Biggest Regret
4) Favorite Food
5) Special Skill
6) Guilty Pleasure
7) Pet Peeve
It’s okay if you don’t have answers for all of these. You may not even like this particular format. This method gets the creative juices going. At its best, it will give you new insight into your character.
Back to my gargoyle, Stan. In the Q and A I set up with him, he listed star-gazing as both his guilty pleasure and his pet peeve. I didn’t think much of it initially, but then something sort of went off inside my head. He was a gargoyle, and a gargoyle loafs on the side of a building or castle. He had nothing else to do but look out and spy. Stan found an appreciation for the cosmos, and once I realized that I had a minor character who had the ambition to be an astronomer.
I’m not mentioning this because I think he’s the best minor character in the world or even the coolest gargoyle from Nebilon, but because this kind of exercise can help you revise your outlook on character development in general. It might even help you come up with the next quirky character that works well in your story.
