The Curse Of The Unused Character
This is a common mistake that new writers as well as some established authors can make. The curse of the unused character is a phrase used to address one or sometimes several random characters that appear within a story and then just disappear. Every character who populates your story needs to earn their place within your storyline and have a significant contribution towards moving the story forwards.
In everyday life, we are often faced with coincidences. We forget to pick up some groceries and we call in at the corner shop and bump into our old friend, Fred, who we haven’t seen for several years and after exchanging pleasantries, we then don’t bump into Fred for another couple of years. In the world of fiction, there needs to be a reason why you bumped into Fred in that shop. Without a reason for that interaction, Fred becomes an unused character and is likely to be removed completely from the storyline during the editing process as the manuscript is trimmed down to keep it on point and moving forwards.
Think of your characters from a paranoia point of view. If we pass someone in the street and call out “hello” only for them to completely ignore us, we can see that in several different ways. Option one, they are ignoring me. Option two, they didn’t see me. Option three, they didn’t hear me. Option four, they were in a rush to be somewhere and therefore were too wrapped up in their own world etc. The list can go on but attached to this is a significant character trait that should be explored.
Every character that populates your fictional world should earn the right to be there. Nothing happens just by chance. If you bump into Fred in the corner shop, Fred’s motive needs to be explored. Is he looking to rekindle an old romance or an old friendship? If so, why? Has he heard that you have recently come into some money and are looking for some work to be done on your house? If so, why is he searching you out rather than the other way around? Maybe Fred has a dark secret or a troubled past and is involved in some kind of crime gang and you are potentially his next target?
The point is, if Fred, for example, has appeared in your storyline, he has to be there on merit and not just to add an extra page or two to the story. If there is no reason for him to be there, you will frustrate your reader because they will have wasted their time learning about this individual without him having any significant role to play within the storyline.
This circumstance is different if you have characters in a subplot or minor characters that help build-up the main storyline for the main characters. In the James Bond series for example, M gives James Bond his orders for his mission and then he sets off to take on another diabolical villain hell-bent on world domination. M is not an unused character, he or she is the catalyst for the main story. Without M’s part in the storyline, Bond would not have his orders for his next mission and therefore, even though he/she is only briefly part of the whole storyline, the character of M is still a significant part of the main character’s storyline.
The easiest way to spot an unused character is to ask, do they add anything to the storyline? In Fred’s case, if there was no ulterior motive for him being in the shop at the same time as you other than just a simple coincidence then he should be removed from the storyline and replaced by someone who does have a significant part to play in either building up the main storyline or as a piece of the puzzle that will prove to be significant in the story later on.
Make your characters earn their place in the storyline and your plot and the characterisation of those involved will improve along the way. Everybody will have a motive and something to do that will move the storyline forwards. There’s no point dwelling on characters that don’t matter, be ruthless, you’ll thank me later.
Until next time, write on.
John Roberts