Is it worth the effort to make a very minor character so memorable that your readers won’t forget them? I have always thought it’s a fun addition to any novel. In the case of a short story, you are too limited but try your best. In a familiar story about piracy, there is usually one pirate with the peg leg. They are often a very memorable character. Can you imagine a female pirate with the peg leg? She would be a character you would remember.
The current novel I am working on is historical fiction. None of the characters will ever make the history books. Yet, they are not only crucial to the storyline but also important to the era of the story. There is a character; let’s call him Jeff. He is going to college because his family business requires he has pharmacy training. His great grandfather had started a drugstore during the Civil War. His grandfather and father had continued the business. He knows that he must obtain his pharmacy license to continue the drugstore because state law requires that. He’s not thrilled by that fact and is determined to drink his way through college.
We will meet Jeff at a weekend card party on campus. Jeff’s favorite card game is Whist. He plays it every weekend. Whist is an ancestor to bridge, and no one understands how Jeff can play while drunk and win consistently. Jeff makes no attempt to hide his alcohol. It’s clearly out in the open but in prescription bottles. He shares freely.
Jeff uses his large physical size to intimidate anyone he doesn’t like. He has a short fuse and has left members of the card party with a broken nose or missing several teeth. I guess you could call him a mean drunk. You will leave a card party sure that he will never get his pharmacy license only to learn many years later, he attended another college where he earned his pharmacy license.
You are left wondering how a mean drunk got his pharmacy license. Did someone do it for him? Would you want him to fill your prescription? Would you trust him?
