"Undeclared" Release Week - Post 1
UNDECLARED
RELEASE WEEK POST 1
SUPPORT SYSTEMS
Supporting characters are a tricky thing. You want them to be great, but not so great that readers wish the story was about them instead. You want them to be familiar enough that they don’t feel like strangers popping in and out of the story at convenient (or inconvenient) moments, but you don’t want them to feel familiar because they’re taking up too much page space. At the same time, they can’t be so infrequent that readers have to flip back to remember who they are each time they make an appearance, either. They have to add value without detracting—it’s a difficult balancing act.
“Undeclared” has a lot of supporting characters, most of whom we met in “Undecided.” Crosbie and Nora are back, of course, and so are Marcela and Nate. We get to know Dane, Kellan’s frat brother who we met briefly in book one, and a new frat brother named Choo. These characters represent three different relationship dynamics: Crosbie and Nora are the settled down couple Kellan is terrified of becoming; Marcela and Nate are the dysfunctional pair he’s also terrified of becoming; and Choo and Dane are the safer middle ground.
When Kellan started college he had a vision of what his life was supposed to be like, the college life we see in the movies. And it’s only now that he has that life that he’s realizing it might not be what he wants. As the story develops and the various relationships deepen, he finds himself with a ragtag circle of friends he might not have expected, but most definitely needs.
If we were handing out awards for Best Supporting Character, I think we’d all agree that title would go to Marcela, and if we dared give it to someone else, she’d pull a Kanye and get up on stage and take the mic anyway. Characters like Marcela are a gift to authors: they’re impulsive and decisive, they take action, and they’re admirable even when they’re horrible. Marcela is a constant lurking threat of terror for Kellan, showing up to shove him along the story whenever he might linger or turn back. She’s not a friend he would have chosen, but he’s stuck with her now, even if she’s just as likely to club him with her award as mention him in her acceptance speech.
RELEASE WEEK POST 1
SUPPORT SYSTEMS
Supporting characters are a tricky thing. You want them to be great, but not so great that readers wish the story was about them instead. You want them to be familiar enough that they don’t feel like strangers popping in and out of the story at convenient (or inconvenient) moments, but you don’t want them to feel familiar because they’re taking up too much page space. At the same time, they can’t be so infrequent that readers have to flip back to remember who they are each time they make an appearance, either. They have to add value without detracting—it’s a difficult balancing act.
“Undeclared” has a lot of supporting characters, most of whom we met in “Undecided.” Crosbie and Nora are back, of course, and so are Marcela and Nate. We get to know Dane, Kellan’s frat brother who we met briefly in book one, and a new frat brother named Choo. These characters represent three different relationship dynamics: Crosbie and Nora are the settled down couple Kellan is terrified of becoming; Marcela and Nate are the dysfunctional pair he’s also terrified of becoming; and Choo and Dane are the safer middle ground.
When Kellan started college he had a vision of what his life was supposed to be like, the college life we see in the movies. And it’s only now that he has that life that he’s realizing it might not be what he wants. As the story develops and the various relationships deepen, he finds himself with a ragtag circle of friends he might not have expected, but most definitely needs.
If we were handing out awards for Best Supporting Character, I think we’d all agree that title would go to Marcela, and if we dared give it to someone else, she’d pull a Kanye and get up on stage and take the mic anyway. Characters like Marcela are a gift to authors: they’re impulsive and decisive, they take action, and they’re admirable even when they’re horrible. Marcela is a constant lurking threat of terror for Kellan, showing up to shove him along the story whenever he might linger or turn back. She’s not a friend he would have chosen, but he’s stuck with her now, even if she’s just as likely to club him with her award as mention him in her acceptance speech.
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