So I am currently working on my next novel, a sequel, and as is often the case with progress, change and new additions come along. And that's exactly what's happening in my book. The story is progressing, and the characters are growing, giving room for some new characters to come in to help the story along. But I find myself facing one of the difficult parts of writing - chopping off characters that have no business being in the story. I have such a character in my novel, who I introduced with such excitement and high hopes, but as I get further into the story, I'm coming to the realization that he may not actually have a place in it. That leaves me with the question: putting aside my own preferences and emotions, does that character serve a purpose or is he just filling up space? Is he a useless character?
Now, bear in mind, when I say ‘useless character’ I don’t mean ‘wasted character’. A wasted character is one who plays a part in the story but it is very clear that they were not fully utilized; they could have served a bigger purpose. That is not what we’re here to discuss today.
So, what exactly do I mean by 'useless character'? Simply put, a character is useless if they do not add anything of value to the story - if their presence does not impact the narrative in any way. In other words, if that character was not in the story, their absence would not affect it at all. That is a character who is just there to fill up space.
This is one of the things I find difficult to handle because many times, the useless characters I have slipped into my stories turned out to be the interesting ones, ones I personally liked. That’s the thing about writing - writing is subjective and flexible, but it has to be objective as well. Sometimes an author must make sacrifices for the benefit of the story. You need to do some weeding so the narrative can flourish.
Another thing you must bear in mind is that a wasted character does not mean a minor character. For example, if in my story a woman is walking down the road and asks a random person for directions, and receives those directions along with a compliment, that random person doesn’t qualify as a useless character. If a man has staff in his office who we encounter a few times but they exist only to be in the work scenes, those staff members don’t qualify as useless characters. They’d be minor characters or extras.
So what am I talking about then? A useless character is a character who you as the writer introduce and treat as a valuable or important player in the story; someone you took the time to flesh out and present to the reader, but then they never really do anything significant to further the story. Something must come out of a character’s presence, especially if you are giving the impression that they are worth reading about. That is key. Every character you build must serve a purpose, regardless of how enticing their personality is. People are drawn to characters who add to the story, not those who are just along for the ride.
Now that we know what useless characters are, how can we detect them? For planners, it is much easier to weed out the useless characters from the start because they plan the book more meticulously. But for those of us who are pantsers, it may take some time to figure those things out. The good news is, pantser or planner, there are things you can ask yourself at any stage of the story in order to detect the likelihood of your character being useless:
- Why did I create this character in the first place?
- What specific arc did I intend for this character?
- How does his presence impact the story?
- Would his absence affect the story in any way?
- Does this character stand on their own as an independent force in the story, or does their sole justification depend on others?
Applying those questions to my own dilemma with my character, the answers do not favour my preferences. I created that character to be used as a pawn by the villain; to be manipulated by him. So basically, I created him to be a tool; a means to an end, to be the avenue by which the villain arrives at his goal. That is not to say that characters cannot be manipulated, but you find that their being manipulated does not negate their own solid purpose and place in the story. My character, on the other hand, has no journey, no arc; he exists only to be used and then that’s it. No matter how hard I try to give him an arc, it’s just not working. It is forced and doesn’t serve any purpose in the story. And since I am mostly a panster, the story has already gone in a direction that has veered away from his usefulness, making him dead weight - which is sad because I actually liked that character. He was interesting…but it would seem this is just not his story, at least not this book. Perhaps he will find his place in the future installations in the series - which brings me back to what I said earlier on: Sometimes an author must make sacrifices for the benefit of the story. Sacrifices like chopping off a character, or chopping off entire scenes that are really amazing but pointless to the story. But that is a discussion for another day.
Do you struggle with useless characters sometimes like I do? Try out these questions and see. You can get the detailed printable template (The Character Weeding Template) expounding on these questions with spaces for you to fill out. And if you would like a template that guides you on how to build your characters from the ground up, you can follow this link (Dynamic Character Blueprint) to get it.
Happy weeding!
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