One of my favorite writing sites is Wordplay by K.M. Weiland and today's post was great.

Minor characters are often the neglected heroes of fiction. If the protagonist didn’t have other people with whom to interact, most stories would fall apart pretty quickly. So, whenever the need arises, we stick in a taxi driver or a receptionist or a bum on the corner. Often, these unnamed characters fulfill the needs of the moment, disappear from the story, and are never thought about again by either the protagonist or the readers. This isn’t necessarily a problem, particularly since you don’t want a bunch of dead-end characters cluttering up your story and getting in your hero’s way as he attempts to get from Plot Point A to Plot Point B.

We need to realize, however, that this nameless, faceless multitude of minor characters presents a wonderful opportunity for bringing depth and memorability to our stories. David Guterson’s East of the Mountains offers an incredibly complete cast of characters. Every person in this story, even those with the shortest of walk-on roles, strikes the reader as a complete human being. We never doubt that Guterson’s protagonist is surrounded by a world of living, breathing, three-dimensional people. The minor characters in this story don’t just serve to push the plot forward in necessary ways. Every single one of them leaves his fingerprint on both the main character and the reader.

The key to achieving complete minor characters is to envision them as complete people—and not just cardboard cutouts to fill the gaps in the plot. Every person has a story; every person has a life that extends far beyond his interaction with the protagonist. Each minor character is unique and detailed. We certainly don’t need to share each and every minor character’s life story with the reader, but if you keep their back-stories in mind as you write, you’ll end up with a rich and varied supporting cast.

Tell me your opinion: Do you have any minor characters you could flesh out a little more?

Don't just answer me, answer her too, and while you're at it, check out her video on the subject - http://wordplay-kmweiland.blogspot.com/2011/01/make-most-of-your-minor-characters.html

by William G. Tapply

"The secret of good writing," says William Zinsser, "is to strip every sentence to its cleanest components." Easier said than done, of course. But worth the effort.

Crisp, unambiguous writing (Zinsser's sentence is Exhibit A) performs magic. It transfers ideas, images, and emotions directly from the writer's brain into the reader's. Wordy, repetitive, vague writing, on the other hand, confuses and bores readers.

Think of your reader. If you don't want to lose her, make it easy for her.

Or if you prefer, think of the editor who stands between you and the reader. Verbosity makes it easy for him . . . to reject you.

Here are eight ways to strip and cleanse your sentences:

1. Use specific nouns. Dependency on adjectives signals vagueness and imprecision. Clear, sharp images come from specific, concrete nouns: "Wheaties" instead of "crispy breakfast cereal"; "raven" for "big black bird"; "Victorian" for "rambling old house." One word for three in each case.

2. Seek and destroy adverbs. Sharp writing begins with precise, active verbs. Adverbs are neon arrows pointing to weak, vague verbs. Find the strong verb and expunge the flabby adverbs. Instead of, "He moved quickly and evasively," write, "He darted"; substitute, "He yelled," for, "He spoke loudly and angrily."

3. Be positive. Say what things are, not what they aren't. Negative expressions are evasive and imprecise. Write, "He was careless," not, "He wasn't being careful." Instead of, "She didn't move very well," write, "She limped."

4. Be active. The passive voice is inherently vague and wordy. Convert passive sentences into active ones. Instead of, "Pete was stabbed by Joe," write, "Joe stabbed Pete."

Passive sentences that omit the doer of the action are obscure, confusing, and even evasive. In the sentence, "The expensive vase shattered when it was dropped," sounds as if it was the vase's fault. "I dropped the vase, and it shattered on the stone floor," is clearer because it identifies the source of the action.

5. Rewrite sentences beginning with "there." Any sentence that begins with the empty phrase "there were" (or "there" plus any other form of the verb "to be") can be sharpened and shortened by refocusing on the central action in the sentence and substituting a vigorous verb. Instead of, "There was a lot of snow on the ground," write, "A foot of snow blanketed the ground."

6. Show don't tell. Create the action vividly and trust your reader to understand and interpret what you show. "Joe crashed his fist on the table" shows; "Joe was angry and frustrated," tells.

7. Omit redundancy. Say it once, clearly, and don't proceed to explain it. Your reader will get it. If Susan blushes, do not add "in embarrassment."

Use precise verbs, and trust your reader to get what they clearly signify. Write "nodded," and resist the temptation to add "his head." What else could he nod? And please don't write, "He nodded his head in agreement." That is showing and telling.

8. Use concrete language. Vague generalities, bloated language, pedantic phrases, and euphemisms, especially common in academic, political and bureaucratic writing, obscure rather than clarify meaning.

Instead of, "The atmospheric conditions are extremely unpleasant," write, "It's raining." Don't write, "Her face revealed emotions of great happiness," when you can write, "She smiled." "He died" is clearer than "His spirit passed from this world." Notice, in all cases, how many words the preferred sentence saves.

* * *

Tight writing begins with a positive attitude. Embrace editing. Tinker with your sentences. Strive to maximize clarity and minimize word count. Rewriting is hard but satisfying work, and your readers (and editors) will thank you for it.

How can you tell if you have a passive sentence?

A sentence generally has three parts. There is the person or creature doing the action, the action itself and the verb. In a passive sentence, the subject is not the important part of the sentence, the action is.

If your sentence has:

is
are
am
was
were
being
has been
have been
had been
will be
will have been

followed by a 'past participle', you have a passive sentence.

Now, sometimes a passive sentence is what you want. Like I said above, if the action is what you want to emphasize, then a passive sentence is what you want. But if you are talking about your character, you want an active sentence. The easiest way to fix a passive sentence is to switch your wording around. I've found that excess words get dropped this way too.

Here are some simple examples:

ACTIVE: They speak English.
PASSIVE: English is spoken.

ACTIVE: They spoke English.
PASSIVE: English was spoken.

ACTIVE: They will speak English.
PASSIVE: English will be spoken.

ACTIVE: They are going to speak English.
PASSIVE: English is going to be spoken.

ACTIVE: They are speaking English.
PASSIVE: English is being spoken.

ACTIVE: They were speaking English.
PASSIVE: English was being spoken.

ACTIVE: They have spoken English.
PASSIVE: English has been spoken.

ACTIVE: They had spoken English.
PASSIVE: English had been spoken.

ACTIVE: They will have spoken English.
PASSIVE: English will have been spoken.

Here are some good reasons for using passive voice:

1. Passive voice is often used when the agent (the doer of an action; the subject of an active verb) is obvious, unknown, or unnecessary:

Oranges are grown in California.
Toyotas are made in Japan.
Her purse was stolen.

2. Passive voice is often used when the agent is known, but the speaker/writer doesn’t want to mention it:

She was given bad advice.
A mistake has been made.

3. Passive voice is often used when the agent is very general such as people or somebody.

English is spoken here.
The door should be locked.

4. Passive voice is often used when the speaker/writer wants to emphasize a result:

Several thousand people were killed by the earthquake.

5. Passive voice is often used when the speaker/writer wants to keep the same subject for two or more verbs but this would not be possible if both verbs were the same voice (active or passive).

For example, in a conversation about George, a speaker would probably use sentence 'a' below rather than sentence 'b' (both sentences are correct).

a. George had several interviews before he was hired by a software company.
b. George had several interviews before a software company hired him.

Most of this was taken from - http://faculty.deanza.edu/flemingjohn/stories/storyReader$22