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Q&A Are different levels of character development required for primary as opposed to secondary characters?

I'll go right ahead and declare that you're far too versed in 'writing theory' than the practise of writing itself. All the writing techniques being questioned are related. Once you understand tha...

posted 7y ago by Surtsey‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T06:37:17Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/28826
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar Surtsey‭ · 2019-12-08T06:37:17Z (about 5 years ago)
I'll go right ahead and declare that you're far too versed in 'writing theory' than the practise of writing itself.

All the writing techniques being questioned are related. Once you understand that basic fact all the other technical terms fall into place.

Start with the basic "SHOW DON'T TELL".

As an egotistical writer you are itching to tell YOUR story but it's not YOUR story it's the character's story.

BAD WRITING

You want to tell us that Bob's wife had left him and ever since he'd taken to drinking after work - don't do it. SHOW us Bob dragging his young intern Vanessa (a secondary character) to the bar every night after work. Bob confides in Vanessa but the more Bob talks and Vanessa listens you are developing both characters. Why does Vanessa put up with this shit? Does she fear for her job? How far will she go to get ahead? Or does she fancy her boss? Or maybe she's just a good listener.

Every time characters interact you are developing both characters.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2017-06-20T16:01:22Z (over 7 years ago)
Original score: 1