Minor Characters Quotes

• I've always been a fan of the 19th century novel, of the novel that is plotted, character-driven, and where the passage of time is almost as central to the novel as a major minor character, the passage of time and its effect on the characters in the story.

  John Irving

  Character, Stories, Fans

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• Respect your characters, even the ­minor ones. In art, as in life, everyone is the hero of their own particular story; it is worth thinking about what your minor characters' stories are, even though they may intersect only slightly with your protagonist's.

  Sarah Waters

  Art, Hero, Character

  "Sarah Waters's rules for writers" by Sarah Waters, www.theguardian.com. February 23, 2010.

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• I'd always assumed I was the central character in my own story, but now it occured to me I might in fact be only a minor character in someone else's.

  Russell Hoban

  Character, Stories, Might

  Russell Hoban (2000). “The Turtle Diary”, p.174, A&C Black

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• Look at the Coen brothers. All their minor characters are as interesting as their protagonists. If the smaller characters are well-written, the whole world of the film becomes enriched. It's not the size of the thing, but the detail.

  Brendan Gleeson

  Brother, Character, Interesting

  "Brendan Gleeson: the character actor who steals the show". Interview with Ryan Gilbey, www.theguardian.com. March 18, 2010.

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• There is more story in a minor character like Boba Fett than there is in all the clutter of various vampires in the Twilight franchise.

  George Takei

  Twilight, Character, Vampire

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• Where would David Copperfield be if Dickens had gone to writing classes? Probably about seventy minor characters short, is where. (Did you know that Dickens is estimated to have invented thirteen thousand characters? Thirteen thousand! The population of a small town!)

  Nick Hornby

  Writing, Character, Class

  Nick Hornby (2004). “The Polysyllabic Spree”, McSweeneys Books

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• Most men have no purpose but to exist, Abraham; to pass quietly through history as minor characters upon a stage they cannot even see

  Seth Grahame-Smith

  Character, Men, Purpose

  Seth Grahame-Smith (2010). “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter”, p.138, Hachette UK

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• Death and resurrection are what the story is about and had we but eyes to see it, this has been hinted on every page, met us, in some disguise, at every turn, and even been muttered in conversations between such minor characters (if they are minor characters) as the vegetables.

  C. S. Lewis

  Character, Eye, Vegetables

  C. S. Lewis (1996). “Miracles: A Preliminary Study”, Touchstone Books

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• I talk about Breaking Bad being the most brilliant show ever, and even minor characters have subtle nuances and are fully drawn.

  Zach Anner

  Character, Nuance, Brilliant

  Source: abilitymagazine.com

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• I'm fortunate in that I'm what you call a utility player, in that I can take a scene, if there's five or six minor characters in a scene, that need voice and personality [and] I can supply those characters.

  Bob Bergen

  Character, Player, Voice

  Source: www.thestarscoop.com

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• Sometimes minor characters are based on people I know, on friends of mine. But I'm not writing a thinly veiled version of my own life.

  Cassandra Clare

  Writing, Character, People

  TheFandom.net Interview, www.thefandom.net.

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• Are you a minor character in my tale, or am I a lesser figure in yours?

  Jacqueline Carey

  Character, Figures, Tales

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• The person you are (in total, at that moment in time) is what creates the story you're writing. It's infused in every piece of punctuation, in the plot, in the most minor character who crosses the page. It's all your voice.

  Victor LaValle

  Writing, Character, Voice

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• There's no shortage of orphans in 19th-century literature, but it's hard to find a single happy, communicative, functional parental relationship in the whole of 'Great Expectations,' even among the minor characters.

  David Nicholls

  Character, Widows And Orphans, Expectations

  "David Nicholls: Adapting Great Expectations for the screen". www.theguardian.com. November 16, 2012.

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