Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Passivity
I've realized that I have a problem. I have a tendency to get so caught up in the fun I'm having creating secondary characters, that I end up with a passive main character, even if that main character has some interesting traits about them. Does anyone have any suggestions about how to fix that?
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3 comments:
I KNOW!!!! I completely understand. My side characters are so much more fun than my main characters. I generally then take one of my side characters and make them my main characters. It's a nasty habit. I don't have any advice, I just wanted to sympathize. I guess that's why my name in everything is perkyhandmaiden. I like plucky comic relief. I suppose if you make them pro-active, they can't be too passive. I dunno, I'm trying to work on it too.
One of my favorite authors, Eloise McGraw, always developed her minor characters into wonderfully unique individuals and left her main character plain vanilla. It was easier for the reader to slip into the main character that way, and the minor characters were just a delight!
I suggest giving your main character something important to do, but after that don't worry about it. Just be sure you are in tune with the way your main character is experiencing things - don't let him or her be a mere fly on the wall - you can be an emotional participant even if you're not in the middle of the action.
Me, too. I especially have a problem because Petronella is really the main character, but the series is named after Uncle Augustus. I always have to remember to have both of them do things.
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