When secondary characters attack!

malycef · Feb 9, 2007

Does anyone have any advice about what to do when a character who's supposed to be secondary wants to take over the whole story?

I think it's great when my characters take on lives of their own and start expressing opinions I didn't consciously give them, but here's the thing: probably one-third of the book takes place before this guy even appears. I've got to get the actual main characters to a certain point, or else Bossy McGrabberson (not his real name

) won't have anything to do.

I guess the real problem is that I probably like Bossy McG the best, so I'm in a hurry to get to his part of the story and not as enthused as I could be about the first part.

Should I work on getting enthused about the real main characters? Give up, let Bossy have his way, and write an entirely different book from the one I've planned? Promise Bossy a sequel and mentally stuff a hankie in his mouth until it's time for him? Help!

TheIT · Feb 9, 2007

Every time I bring in new characters, they want to take over the whole story. One of them succeeded (for which I'm thankful). Here's another thread which might have some useful suggestions for you:

Population Explosion:
http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28600

rugcat · Feb 9, 2007

malycef said:
Does anyone have any advice about what to do when a character who's supposed to be secondary wants to take over the whole story?

Let 'em do it. Really. It's a sign that's where the book wants to go. If you love your character, if you find him interesting, that interest will spill over into your writing, and the reader will love him too.

If you have to rewrite the first third, so be it. And with some thought, you may find you can still use most of what you've already written, just in a different context.

IrishScribbler · Feb 9, 2007

I had a secondary character from a one-act play become the protagonist in my WiP!

sfecphory · Feb 9, 2007

The book PLOT by Ansen Dibell (god, i hope that's where I read this) has a chapter where Dibell mentions that MOBY DICK originally started out with a different main character, then part way in Melville realized that Ahab was far more interesting. He left the first part in place, however, rather than revise or chuck it. Dibell's suggestion is that if you find that the secondary character steps up and steals the show, it's better to remove or revise the earlier stuff.

In any event, I agree with rugcat: let the character take over. Forcing the book back to the first MC will only kill your momentum and will probably weaken the book.

PattiTheWicked · Feb 9, 2007

I have one of those in one of my WIPs. He was supposed to be the MC's ex-husband, crash at her house for a weekend, and then fly off to New York. Now he's living there, eating all her food, trying to get her in the sack (while she's got the hots for his neighbor), and jabbering nonstop. I love him -- Spider has evolved into one of the best characters I've ever written, and I'm just going to wait and see where he leads me.

alaskamatt17 · Feb 9, 2007

malycef said:
Does anyone have any advice about what to do when a character who's supposed to be secondary wants to take over the whole story?

Let them.

veinglory · Feb 9, 2007

I hold them back and promise them a sequel--but that's in romance where such things are not unsual.

RG570 · Feb 9, 2007

I'm having this problem right now. It's more like a second main character than a secondary character. I hadn't planned on this one being more interesting than the protagonist.

Only trouble is, I can't just make the story about her. I just hope this doesn't end up confusing the reader in the end.

alaskamatt17 · Feb 9, 2007

Well, luckily for me I didn't do any more than provisional outlining on my current WIP, so when a secondary character (who was supposed to be just a walk-on) started taking command of the story, it was easy to just let her do it. I left the "main character" sitting in his office while I followed the "secondary character" off on a wild adventure. I was only about thirty pages in when Kayley decided to show herself as the more interesting character, so I won't need too much revision to keep her as the main protagonist.

TwentyFour · Feb 9, 2007

Attack of the Secondary Character Thread!

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36720

SouthernWriter1978 said:
I am currently working on my novel, now at 35,000 words, and found I made a secondary character...into a main character. Funny thing is I never intended on making him a main character...it just happened. My beta readers found him to be the most enchanting, lovable character that charmed them right from the start.

My question is have you ever suddenly found a character unexpectantly thrown into the main character title?

malycef · Feb 9, 2007

Wow, thanks so much, everyone!

I guess I'll give the character his shot and see what happens. If it doesn't work out, I can always go back to the original plan with any eventual readers none the wiser!

bunnygirl · Feb 9, 2007

I think it depends on the story. How happy are you with the plot? How strong are your other characters? I had a secondary character try to take over in one of my novels, but I was so firmly wedded to the other characters and the story arc, that he was unable to do it. But he did add a lot of wonderful things to the story, and he solved some big problems for me, too!

So give your secondary a little room to breathe and move around, and see what happens. But if your other characters can't rein him in with the strength of their own story, you should perhaps reconsider what story you ought to be writing.

KiraOnWhite · Feb 9, 2007

I suppose usually, we tend to favor the secondary character as we allow him to have more comic relief moments and let them stray away from the plot more often than not. As a result, they subconsciously develop into something charming that even surpasses the main character. This happened to me a lot of times...especially since I appoint each character their own special 'trademark'.

CheshireCat · Feb 9, 2007

malycef said:
Does anyone have any advice about what to do when a character who's supposed to be secondary wants to take over the whole story?

Let him. You can always go back later and shift the focus back to the main character, but this secondary one might be leading you just where the story wants to go. Follow him and find out.

Kentuk · Feb 9, 2007

Kill him off. Every novel needs sex and a death or two.

kristie911 · Feb 9, 2007

veinglory said:
I hold them back and promise them a sequel--but that's in romance where such things are not unsual.

Great advice...and just what I was going to say!

When secondary characters attack!

malycef

TheIT

Infuriatingly Theoretical

rugcat

Lost in the Fog

IrishScribbler

sfecphory

PattiTheWicked

Unleashing Hell.

alaskamatt17

veinglory

volitare nequeo

RG570

alaskamatt17

TwentyFour

practical experience, FTW

malycef

bunnygirl

Token Rabbit

KiraOnWhite

CheshireCat

Mostly purring. Mostly.

Kentuk

I want to write what I want to write

kristie911

Happy to be here