BRAINSTORMING AND THE THROW AWAY CHARACTER

6/10/2010
BRAINSTORMING AND THE THROW AWAY CHARACTER
By Lynde Lakes

“What?” Why in the world would anyone write in a character they plan to throw away? The reason is psychological. The writer’s brain will consider this intrusion a challenge and try to find a use for them. The writer may not be aware of the mental gyrations, but suddenly this potential-reject is interesting and becomes an important part of the novel that cannot be discarded.

The writer comes up with this person by brainstorming. What kind of character might the hero or heroine find especially irritating and perhaps even dangerous?

The writer has done their character chart, and as they flesh out the problems and background of the H/H, they gain the ability to brainstorm what kind of individual will complicate things simply by their presence in the story.

Some main characters who are interesting opposing matches might be: A nun and a convict, a lawyer and a murderer, a rancher and a Hollywood star, a baseball player and a woman who hates sports, or a league owner, a detective who hates reporters and a reporter, or a ranch owner and a woman who likes town living, a preacher and a prostitute, a vampire and a doctor, a werewolf and a detective who wants to prove werewolves don’t exist.

Say the story is about a werewolf who has lived many lives and has a very old soul and a rockin’ hard body, and a detective who, although she admires a hard body now and then, still believes only in hard evidence.

What throw-away character can use to complicate things? An archeologist? A wolf expert? A spiritualist? This perhaps quirky spiritualist or wolf expert, originally meant to be a walk-on, walk-off character, could develop into a crucial part of the story solution.

Get your critique group or a few writer friends together to brainstorm just for fun. When they throw out ideas, the room will come alive with electrical energy—and perhaps magic will happen. Give it a try.

Happy brainstorming, Lynde