An attendee at a recent webinar asked me whether a minor character can take on a bigger role as a novel unfolds. The answer is absolutely yes, and in fact, some of the most memorable characters in literature started small. In this quick video, I share a perfect example from Rex Stout’s mystery “The Mother Hunt,” where a button expert becomes surprisingly central to solving the case.
Hello, Jane Cleland here. The question is, can a minor character be given a more major role as the story evolves, develops? Yes.
And an example that comes right to mind is Nicholas Lassoff in Rex Stout’s The Mother Hunt. He has described, I always think this is so funny, as a button fiend. He knows everything there is to know about buttons. And he is someone that one of the detectives consults that try to trace a person through a button.
And that’s it. He was just one of those people he didn’t know about it. And that was that. But then later, the detective needs a decoy.
He needs a place to pretend where he is an employee. So he has an actual location in case someone follows up. And he makes a deal with Mr. Lassoff, where you let me spend the day in your office.
I will give you a button, one of the buttons, if we ever find this person, this document, if it’s possible. It became actually quite an important role in solving the mystery. So yes, I would say, let the story tell you what’s right, let the characters tell you where they fit in. I know you can do it and make a sensible, perfect decision for your story.
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