Who is that guy?

I'm doing an interesting and very educational thing with a book. The third book in the Kincaid Bride series. Over the Edge, the crazy brother's story. At my editor's suggestion I'm taking out a character.

Not taking out a character like I'm a a HITMAN or something, that would be rude. No, my editor asked a very smart question, "Do we need this character?"

He didn't say "Get rid of her." He said "do we need her?"

So, I gave it a lot of thought. This is a secondary character and I know what motivated me to create her, but I mentally examined the book, thinking of scenes this character was in and I asked myself, what is it she does in this scene that will be hard to have someone else do?

I couldn't think of a thing. Oh, she does stuff that someone else will have to do, but they can do it, easily.

Out of Control

So, because I was afraid to make such a drastic change in some way that was irreversible…what if I'd forgotten a scene and her existence proved crucial? I saved as a new document the book with a new name "Over the Edge without sister."

And I started deleting. I'm about a third of the way through the book with this single goal (though I'm remembering the other requests from my editor but those aren't my main focus now), get rid of the little sister. You know what? I haven't missed her yet.

In fact, it's been so SIMPLE to get rid of the sister that I've had a real AH HA moment and that's what I want to share today.

How to decide if characters are necessary.

Have you ever been writing along and realized that you don't remember where some of your characters went? Maybe they are in the room but they haven't spoken or moved or in any way been pivotal to the scene for so long that you forgot all about them? I do this a lot. I'll admit here that it's mainly with small children and babies. Babies are especially hard to manage because they have to be SOMEWHERE. They can't just nap in another room all the time. They can nap a LOT but not all the time. So someone has to hold them and I have to remember who's holding them. Babies are difficult. Toddlers, my thing with toddlers is I'm always worrying about them staggering (toddling) into a hot fireplace. You've got to be careful about stuff like that.  So toddlers are a little more interesting than babies but they're also active. They move. You've got to keep track of them.

In Too Deep

Let's get away from little children. Do you have a (okay, this is cowboy talk but it applies) band of outlaws? How many? Who are they? Do I need a band or will one villain do for the whole book?

Do I have hired hands in the bunkhouse? Okay, we need some cowpokes in this book, but do they need an identity? Can one foreman speak for all the parts of the cowhands? So the bunk house can be full but there are no recognized, developed characters.

And there's another thought. Developing characters. I knew how this sister felt. I knew what was going on with her. I knew her backstory. But how well developed was she really?

I remember reading a book for an aspiring author and at the end of it I said. 'You've got three bad guys. But the way they come and go, you can combine them and only use one."

"But," my poor defenseless aspiring writer said, "It's an older woman, a young woman and a middle aged man. I can't combine them."

Over the Edge

Yes, they're very different from each other but they all serve the same purpose and you're cluttering up your book with a bunch of characters who enter a scene, need to be developed, then vanish only to go to the NEXT bad guy when it's time for more trouble. I can't keep up with your bad guys."

Are there characters in your own work you can combine? Could you have one guy take over what three guys are doing? You may have to change their voice--their dialogue. (You'd BETTER have to change their voice because each character should have his own) but you won't have to change the ACTION hardly at all, just change who's doing that evil thing.

I may yet find that I need this sister for some scene so I'm glad I saved the original. But for right now, the only real work of cutting her is now I have to have punk brother who formerly said "us" and "We" and now he needs to say "Me" and "I" and that's a lot of work. But it's not changing the story at all.

You can pare away characters and simplify your book somethin' fierce. (that sounds like cowboy talk, too!)

Cowboy Christmas

Of course you can't get rid of your hero and heroine. But what about the rest of your characters? Are they just confusing. Do they clutter up a scene? Could you give your readers a break by tossing out a few of them?

Go pick a section of your manuscript and throw out a character and see if you even miss her.

What do you think? Do you have characters in your book that need to go?

And now....in solidarity with all those who totally abuse and ignore Thanksgiving, I am giving way a copy of my Carol Award Winning CHRISTMAS ROMANCE. 

Cowboy Christmas

Leave a comment to get your name in the drawing. Even if you already have it, throw your name in and donate it to your church, or ask me to sign it to someone for a Christmas present.

Then you just have to hope and pray I'll let them think it was all your idea.

http://www.maryconnealy.com