Hidden Character

At some point, “that which is hidden will be brought into the light.” In book two of The Pure Line Series, a hidden character comes into the light. 

In Chained, I wrote in a nameless character. This background person had no physical features, no lines, and only three appearances in the entire book. Adrian never met this person officially. So, what’s the point of a nameless, featureless, speechless character? Why write it in at all?

I unconsciously used what I’m calling “A Series Thing.” {That’s right, it’s just a thing. Many who write do it, so it’s our thing.} A Series Thing gives me a reason to add meaningless background characters in one book and fill in their attributes in another. It allows me to create ongoing intrigue and add ‘new’ people into subsequent books.

There are three reasons to write nameless, featureless, speechless characters into stories. I will give them to you all in a lump.

First, it’s fun. As a reader, the unknown irritates me, but, as an authoress, writing unknowns for readers makes me happy. {It’s the oxymoron of being both a reader and a writer.}
Second, it gives readers something new to discover in old books once they’ve gotten farther in the series. It gives them another reason to re-read the books.
Third, it builds a connectedness in the series. Without my first book, the discovery of this person in the second book isn’t half as much fun.

On a side note, this is the quickest character you will ever write. Just say a person is standing in the room and, poof, you’re done. That is until you introduce the character in the next book. Then, the person becomes like every other one in your book.

I encourage you to write a nameless, featureless, speechless character into your story and fill out their attributes later! Readers, I hope that you will not only find our hidden characters but love them when they come into the light.

So, about this elusive character of mine…Oh, you thought I was going to give a sneak peek and tell you who it is? Well, no. You’re going to have to order Trapped and find out for yourself! 

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published.