This post has adult content. If you are under the age of eighteen years old and/or sensitive to adult language/situations, please do not read this post.
With Sinful Rewards 6 releasing next week (Cyndi, Bee’s bubbly best friend, returns to Chicago in this installment), I thought we’d talk about creating interesting secondary characters.
Erotic romances focus on the romantic couple (or more). And they should. They’re romances. But our hero and heroine (or hero and hero, or hero, hero and heroine, or whatever type of erotic romance you’re writing) usually live in a world with other beings. They usually have parents, might have siblings, bosses, best friends, co-workers, baddies, etc. (I say usually because there’s only one rule in romance and that is a romantic happy ever after or romantic happy for now.)
Rule #1 For Secondary Characters
When a secondary character walks onto the page (Helloooo, ladies!), he or she naturally distracts the reader simply by being his/her fine self, drawing the reader’s attention away from the heroine and hero. Danger, Will Robinson! (Yes, I’m having a wayback playback SciFi moment) We want readers to remain focused on the main characters, to give a shit about our couple (or more).
How do we minimize the damage?
The secondary character’s appearance must change something for the hero or heroine. She or he could push the plot forward or show/change the hero/heroine’s character or give them insights or fuck up/otherwise influence the romantic relationship. Supporting the hero/heroine’s story is the secondary character’s sole reason for existence.
Three Times The Charm
Every new character also distracts the reader. She must keep track of all of these names and identities (Hint: If you need a glossary of characters at the beginning of your story, you have too many). I’m as guilty as any writer is about having my cast of thousands. After the fast first draft, I list all of my characters, noting how many times they appear in the story. I ask myself “Can an existing character play this same role?”
My magic number is three. If a secondary character appears in at least three separate scenes, I feel her existence is justified. Her life is spared.
Another reason for consolidating characters is that the more page time a character has, the more the reader cares (this could be love or hate) about the character. We want readers to be emotionally invested in all of our characters, including our secondary characters.
I then ask myself if this secondary character could do more in these existing scenes. Could she not only push the plot forward but also show readers another aspect of the heroine? Could she display a twist on the main theme? For example: Could Cyndi, Bee’s best friend, interpret loyalty differently?
There are no lazy bitches in my stories.
Your Secondary Character’s Hopes and Dreams
Fully developed characters, even secondary characters are more interesting. (and no, we’re not talking about breast sizes) At the minimum, we should know their goals, motivations and conflicts. What do they want? Why do they do what they do? Why does Cyndi, Bee’s best friend, need a roommate? Why does she live in Nicolas’s building? Why does she work at the candy manufacturing plant? Why is she Bee’s best friend? Why does she have blonde hair?
(I’ll write a post in the future about best friends. They’re a special type of secondary character. i.e. If you fuck them up, readers will hate your heroine/hero forever.)
Again, in a tightly crafted story, many of these answers tie back to the heroine or hero.
For example: Cyndi has blonde hair because blonde hair is often viewed as being more attractive to men. Bee wants people to watch her but when she’s with Cyndi, she isn’t usually noticed.
I also wanted them not to be competitors. A man (like Nicolas or Hawke) who is attracted to the brunette Bee is less likely to be attracted to the blonde Cyndi.
And it was important that Cyndi has enough admirers that she won’t be tempted to pursue Nicolas or Hawke. It would have been a very different story if Cyndi had been interested in the same men. Bee, being loyal and non-aggressive, likely would have stepped aside. (Yes, I can see Sinful Rewards readers thinking about the dynamic between Nicolas and Hawke. – grins – I deliberately cast them with a contrasting dynamic to Bee and Cyndi)
In your story, EVERYTHING counts.
When Secondary Characters Take Over
If you’ve crafted a full, vibrant secondary character, you’ll likely face another problem. The secondary character will turn diva and wish to take over, to dominate the story, to twist it into a tale about him or her.
When that happens, I remember the first rule of secondary characters. Supporting the hero/heroine’s story is the secondary character’s sole reason for existence.
If the focus is on the secondary character, I rewrite the scene, bitch slapping this upstart until she/he behaves. If the scene isn’t about the hero/heroine at all, I cut it, saving it for this secondary character’s own story (and if you craft an interesting character, readers WILL ask you to write his/her story – so don’t call, for example, a male secondary character in an erotic romance Flopsy – http://www.amazon.com/Godrabbit-Protect-Serve-Cynthia-Sax-ebook/dp/B006YFO18C ).
Romance Subplots
But-but-but the secondary character has his/her own romance. His/her romance is a romance subplot.
Tough shit. In a tightly crafted story, any subplot, including a romance between secondary characters, is about the hero/heroine also.
Maybe the heroine sees her best friend fall in love with a guy she’s known forever and then doubts her love at first sight with the hero.
Maybe the heroine sees the best friend’s ho hum, boring romance and wants something different. Then she feels like a freak for wanting this something different.
Is this difficult? Of course. But no one said writing was easy.
How do you create interesting secondary characters?
If you liked this post, you might like
Writing Erotic Romance – Balancing Sex And Plot
or
Writing Erotic Romance – Making Every Sex Scene Different
or
Writing Erotic Romance – Making Sex Sexy
or
Writing Erotic Romance – The Basics Of A Sex Scene
or
Writing Erotic Romance – Word Choice
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Nicolas Rainer, Chicago’s most sought-after billionaire bachelor, has finally decided what he wants, and that’s Bee Carter in his arms, forever. He shows up unannounced on her doorstep and kisses her until her toes curl and her body burns.
Nicolas wasn’t the sexy man Bee expected to see this morning. Hawke Masters, her tattooed former marine, is riding his customized chopper toward the condo building, anticipating an equally mind-meltingly erotic encounter.
Both men want her with a thrilling intensity. Neither her billionaire nor her biker wishes to share her affections. Is today the day Bee is forced to choose?
Buy Links:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Sinful-Rewards-Billionaires-Bikers-Novella-ebook/dp/B00IMHU7FG
ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-sinfulrewards5-1663924-237.html
Avon: http://www.avonromance.com/book/cynthia-sax-sinful-rewards-5
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