Just a note before I move on to today’s topic – they are calling for another winter storm this week with up to 12 to 24 inches of snow!
I got an interesting question about minor characters. It was, “How round should you make a minor character?” By “round,” they are asking how much detail you need to include about a minor character. If it’s the checkout clerk at the grocery store and she plays no other part in the story, there is no need for any detail. The amount of detail for a character increases as their importance to the story increases.
That can be tricky. If a sibling’s actions had played an essential part in molding the protagonist’s view of life, they require more detail. For example, if a male protagonist has a brother who constantly tells him he should be more of a man, and our protagonist is more of an intellectual type. We need more information about the brother. Detail or how “round” a character should depend on their influence in the story. The more important to the story they are, the more detail needs to be included.
I have found that occasionally I give a character way too much detail. I like the character too much. I’ll set that character aside for use in another story. It’s one of those golden moments in writing where you stumbled crossed a remarkable character!
