Throwaway Characters

November 27, 2020

A throwaway character is a character that comes up once or twice, serves their purpose, then disappears forever. They’re more important than background characters, in that they have something significant about them, but they aren’t important or relevant enough to become regular characters, side or otherwise. As with all characters that are brought to the readers’ attention for only a moment, the trick is to not make them so interesting that the readers keep asking “Where’d So And So go?”

In Girl in Red, characters dropped in and out of the story constantly. For instance, I gave many of the prefects names, but even so, they remained background characters. Having a name or a line or two doesn’t necessarily bring a character out of the background. In year four, I introduced several characters from the other schools, in particular when there was an inter-school Quidditch match. These characters were brought out of the background, making them, at least for a time, side characters.

Throwaway characters aren’t necessarily a bad thing. For instance, I introduced a Chaser from Beauxbatons named Adele Caron. She mostly remained relevant to the story during the Quidditch match. Because she’d become friends with Sally-Anne, she popped back into the story later, but mostly disappeared. She served her purpose, and there was little reason for her to return to the story. No loose ends, no one wondering why she didn’t come back.

I ran into a problem with another throwaway character, Sophie Caron, Adele’s younger sister. She befriended Luna, but despite this, was rarely mentioned, if ever. I might have tossed a reference to her in a few times, but for the most part, it felt like a loose end, a forgotten part of the story. I was able to find a use for her in year seven, when Adele, Sophie, and some friends of theirs were staying in England, where Luna and Hermione found them. They provided shelter when the girls were on the run, allowing me to use the characters about whom I’d nearly forgotten. It felt as though a loose end had been tied up.

Especially when writing a series in which characters come and go, there will be times when a character disappears from the narrative. While neither of the Caron sisters were particularly interesting, I didn’t like that I’d introduced them, then left them. It’s important that when a character leaves the story, that they come back when it becomes relevant again. At the very least, they should be mentioned, if only asking “Where’d they go?” The best way to handle them, at least that I’ve found, is to trust your instincts. If it feels like they should come back, bring them back for a moment. It’s up to you.

#Essay #Characters #SideCharacters