HOW TO MAKE MINOR CHARACTERS SHINE

Photo by Ajay Zula on Unsplash

Give Minor Characters Five Minutes of Fame

Some writers give little thought about minor characters. They’re written into a scene to relay information so the main character has a link to move on to the next scene. Too often filler characters do clichéd things and add nothing to the story. When they’re written in this way, it’s a missed opportunity.

To avoid minimizing the minor characters, imagine that they want to be the star of the story as if the story is about them. Let them shine though their part is small. Minor characters can add interest to the scene by helping or hindering the protagonist. For example, in the story, Cinderella, the stepsisters have minor parts, but they are unforgettable. 

Here is the link to the original story by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm: https://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm021.html It’s different from the Walt Disney version and is quite interesting.  Below is a piece of it illustrating how the stepsisters were irritants to Cinderella.

 "Why should that stupid goose sit in the parlor with us?" they said. "If she wants to eat bread, then she will have to earn it. Out with this kitchen maid!"

 They took her beautiful clothes away from her, dressed her in an old gray smock, and gave her wooden shoes. "Just look at the proud princess! How decked out she is!" they shouted and laughed as they led her into the kitchen.

Later, when the prince searched for Cinderella and presented the gold shoe to the stepsisters, one cut off her big toe to make it fit. The other sister chopped off her heel. This was a shocking surprise.

The birds were also minor characters. They were Cinderella’s allies. When the stepmother made her pick lentils from the ashes, the pigeons and turtledoves helped. During her wedding, the pigeons punished her stepsisters by pecking out their eyes. This made the story memorable.

When writing about minor characters, give them dialogue, mannerisms, and descriptions

that set them apart from the other characters. If they’re too common, the reader will yawn and put down your book. I hope this post helps you write better. Let minor characters do the unexpected, giving them five minutes of fame. Sprinkle a little spice into your stories.

DANGLING AND MISPLACED MODIFIERS

                                             Photo by George Bakos on Unsplash
 

I've been away from Blogger for several months now. Since things are changing here, I will probably move my posts to a different site. After the pandemic started, I didn't spend as much time on social media. Like this unplugged, abandoned television in George Bako's photo, I was isoloated and felt out of place. And I noticed other bloggers either stopped posting or moved their posts off Blogger. 

Today, I wanted to blog again. Dangling and misplaced modifiers came to mind. Sometimes writers write unclear sentences and end up with something silly. This is the case with dangling modifiers. A dangling modifier is usually a prepositional or participial phrase that describes, or gives more detail about the wrong word. The word it was supposed to modify was left out of the sentence, and the modifier was placed near the wrong word, leaving the modifier dangling.

Let me give you some examples:

While still in diapers, my father remarried. 

Ha ha. Babies don't get married, so we know this is a messed up sentence. Since while in diapers is next to my father, the sentence means my father was still in diapers. It should refer to the narrator, and the word I isn’t in the sentence. To correct this, the I should be added. While I was still in diapers, my father remarried.

Here is another dangler with the same problem:

While reading a book on the sofa, my cat jumped onto my lap.

Cats don’t know how to read, so this is silly. Instead, it should say: While I was reading on the sofa, my cat jumped onto my lap. Or: While I read on the sofa, my cat jumped onto my lap. 

 Here is a misplaced modifier which has a similar problem:

He read from his Kindle wearing glasses.

We can assume it is the male in this sentence who is wearing glasses, but the way it’s written says the book is wearing glasses since the modifier is next to Kindle. Maybe rewrite it as: He wore glasses and read from his Kindle.

Here is another problem sentence:

At the bottom of the aquarium, Leslie saw the eel.

Leslie wasn't swimming in the aquarium with the eel. To fix this issue, rewrite it like this. Leslie saw the eel at the bottom of the aquarium.

One day, I walked the dog in my pajamas.

A four legged dog can't wear two legged pajamas. The fix: One day, while I wore pajamas, I walked the dog.

I am selling several old hats from grandpa in great condition.

Is grandpa in great condition or are the hats? How about: I'm selling several old hats in great condition that belonged to my grandpa.

It’s important to edit your writing to avoid silly mistakes. I hope this brief post helps you understand how to identify a misplaced or dangling modifier and how to fix it.