Stories begin in an author’s mind in many ways. You might meet someone or go somewhere that sparks ideas in your head. Before you know it, you are spinning a tale, complete with fictional characters who will help you turn your idea into (hopefully) best-selling novel. There’s always a risk of over-writing, however, meaning you overload a story with characters who are not only unnecessary but might cause “clutter” for readers.
It can be challenging for authors to determine which fictional characters should remain in a story until the end and which should “exist stage left” at some point or be cut out altogether. Most novels include protagonists, antagonists and support characters, who are not essential to the story but who add substance or interest in some way. To be a successful fiction author, you must learn to not get so attached to your characters that you fail to recognize when a story would be better without them.
When to cut fictional characters out of a story
Ask yourself these questions to help determine whether fictional characters have staying power in your current work-in-progress:
- Is the character essential to the plot?
- If not, does the character’s presence add interest or substance to the story?
- Is there another character with more staying power who could fulfill the role?
- Would readers miss the character if he or she were not in the story?
- Does the story read better without the character?
It takes time and effort to develop fictional characters. There’s also an emotional investment for authors. Being a successful writer requires you to fine tune a story until it has reached its full potential; this includes knowing when to cut out a character who is taking up space without adding substance.
Will deletion of a character cause too much re-writing work?
If you find that deleting a specific character is causing you to have to re-write much of your story, then you might want to keep the character after all. Sometimes, a character serves a temporary purpose and doesn’t need to be eliminated altogether. For example, a character might die of illness or as a victim of a crime part way through the book but serves a purpose up to that point. Trying to cut out that character altogether might cause you to have to re-write the entire work-in-progress, which is counterproductive.
Another way to determine which fictional characters have staying power in a story, and which do not, is to ask friends and family members to read your work-in-progress and provide feedback. If several people keep mentioning a character as “taking up space and unnecessary to the storyline,” it’s a good indication that deletion would be the right way to go.
