Thread: Could use a little help on a character

So I'm sure we all struggle with this at times. Without going into to much detail, I have a minor character showing up for one scene in a novel i'm working on, and I would like for him to be more than just a plot-forwarding robot. He's only in the story for about 10 pages and exists primarily to be suspicious. I've already got him doing plenty of suspicious things, but I am blanking on more character traits.

Any suggestions? Just a few random character traits to give this disposable person a bit more depth.

I think what might help is if you think about character traits he has that the reader will never find out about anyway. This way the character will feel real enough to you that getting him through a ten page scene should be a breeze. As for suggestions of character traits, what does he do in his function as a plot-forwarding robot?

Originally Posted by Slugfly

I think what might help is if you think about character traits he has that the reader will never find out about anyway.

That's typically what I do, but today I'm just not able to come up with any character traits in general. It's been a long day.

His role in as a plot-forwarding robot is mostly to raise suspicion at himself while drawing it away from another character. The heros of the story know by the end of the book that they are beign chased by a villain, but they don't know anything about him. Over the course of the book, 4 different characters appear that might be this villain. The character I am having trouble with today is one of these four, but not the villain. His job is essentially to show up, look suspicous, then disapear and never be heard from again for the rest of the 70,000-word novel.

The real challenge is that he has to look suspicous enough to raise a few red flags for the reader, without it being to obvious to the other character. Though, to be fair, the hero and his side kick are still kind of idiots at this point in the book, so that might not be too hard.

Also, I can't do any internal monologues. This part of the book is told entirely either from third-person or from the perspective of one of the two main character, so this random creepy guy can't just turn to the proverbial camera and say "hahaha! I am so creepy!"

Hmm. Well, you could make him into a mini villain. Kind of like your everyday, pedestrian dink. Maybe he could be a thief, or a compulsive liar with alpha-male syndrome. Maybe he's a womanizer who isn't violent, but treats women like crap while paradoxically getting lots of them. Maybe he's just rude and aggressive, one of those fools that insults everyone around them thinking its funny, then thinks that the people's reactions are approving. Maybe he's a mix of these. All of these traits are from people I've had the displeasure of mixing with, and I've never met anyone I would honour with the term "villain."

That's actually really helpful, thank you. Definitely a good pool of suspicious traits to draw from. The best part is, the main characters can easily shrug it off, but a few "show not tell" instances out of their eyeline might easily send up the required flags for my reader.

Thanks again, you've been most helpful.

Originally Posted by NoaMineo

a few "show not tell" instances out of their eyeline might easily send up the required flags for my reader.

The instances can't really be out of their eyeline if the story is told through a main characters eyes.

Don't forget gossip. Stories within stories. The good part about gossip is that this "narrator" is allowed to be wrong, biased, or lying. Somebody could be completely benign (say, a geek with serious social incompetence) who is suspected of being sketchy (suspected of any of the already talked about traits) by another character.

Originally Posted by Blueblade

The instances can't really be out of their eyeline if the story is told through a main characters eyes.

Through the main character's eyes or third-person, just nothing from the perspective of this minor character.

Gossip is definitely a good idea, especially since it can be happenign right next to my characters and they wouldn't even notice!