Let's celebrate your one-shot, one-scene-only characters!

[underthecity]

We're always talking about our main characters in this forum. Let's now list the characters in your book(s) that appear just once or twice. They don't necessarily advance the plot; they're probably just there to direct the MC someplace, to offer information, to answer a phone someplace, or to just give background atmosphere.

Tell us who they are and what they do.

Here are some of mine:

The MC's wife's mother. She appears only once in a phone conversation. To be honest, I was thinking about changing her to the sister in law.

Sheila, the clerk at the new-age bookstore. She's in one scene, then calls the MC later on. Never seen again.

Several members of a ghost-hunting club. One-liners only.

A businessman who interviews a secondary character. We see him once.

A nurse at the hospital.

Alice, a member of the ghost-hunting club. One scene only.

A librarian. "Miss, the library closes in fifteen minutes."

The doorman at the Magic Castle. "Have a magical night."


Those are a few. What are some of yours?

allen

[JoNightshade]

Believe it or not, my WIP does not have any one-shot characters. I have three MCs, and three supporting cast members. And that's it. They're very lonely people. ;)

Oh wait! There's a waiter and a waitress at a cafe. But neither of them have lines. And there might be an old lady librarian.

[Stew21]

Dee-Dee - waitress in St. Louis - one scene

Charlie - hotel bar patron - great one scene for him, he stole the show

barber (not given a name)- one scene - but a couple of important lines

Percy (bartender) same bar as Charlie - doesn't talk much but sets an example.

[Feathers]

Umm...

Big Mean Intervier for New Job: obvious

Wierd Blind Lady: she gives a MC advice.

Evil Scientist's Assitant's Twin Sister: drives one of 3 MC's to new foster-home.

Gatekeepers at WhiteHouse: one-liners each, right before they die.

Dawn: whiny stuck-up popular girl, whose sole purpose is to be annoying.

Very Mean Very Rude Hospital Director: self-explanitory.

Actually, i'm having trouble thinking of these, here.

[ChaosTitan]

Freddie the Bus Boy. Gets stepped on. Asks a few dumb questions. Goes about his business.

Sasquatch the Bourbon Drooler (not his real name). He hits on the MC, makes some lewd comments, and gets a knee to the groin for it.

Neanderthal the Potential Rapist. Meets the MC in a dark alley. Gets his ass handed to him.

Captain Hooper. In charge of a disaster site. He technically appears in two scenes, but it's all at the same location/same time frame.

Alan Bates, Channel Four. The obnoxious reporter. He ends up much-hated.

Julie Bent, ICU Nurse. Is mentioned twice. Is a dead body for her only on-screen appearance.

[Varthikes]

Would it count if the character fits your criteria for one book, but plays a much bigger role in a following installment?

In the novel that I completed 6 months ago, one of the main characters meets Sonaphing, who just appears in one scene, but later on becomes the mate of another main character.

There's Sremiphing, who appears in that same scene. She, like Sonaphing, is used in a later installment for a larger role.

In another story of the same series, I've got Selphgaring, who just reports an odd occurance.

[Tasmin21]

My fantasy WIP has one right off the bat:

Mikel, sergeant of a unit of the city guard. Gets cowed.

Hmm...not to far into the second work...I still reserve the right to have any and all become recurring characters in the future.

Waitress Brit: Waitress. Fatally perky.

[Sassee]

So far I have a few:

Melissa, the front desk girl in my MC's college dorm.

Heather, the MC's RA (resident advisor, i think. the person who is in charge of a hall in a dorm)

Random werewolves who are either part of the local pack or are visiting.

Jordan, the MC's roommate's boyfriend. (cousin's daughter's brother's former roommate... oh wait, this isn't Spaceballls)

[MissAimee]

Harold the divorce lawyer,

Bob the ex husband

and my MC lawyer..

[glassquill]

Oh, this sounds like fun. I'll play too. :D

Let's see what I have so far.

The midwives that appeared in the beginning only had one scene.

The royal family and everyone else who works in the castle either ran away or ended up dead.

Narei, Luesyn's late mentor and guardian, appears in only one scene to offer information.

Kevil, Aleanna's late mentor and guardian, comes in only one scene to offer information and stays long enough to wreck havoc.

That's all for now.

[Saanen]

The priest who causes a minor argument and is later killed.

The taxi driver who makes a few unsettling statements to the MC on page one and never appears again.

Lily the assistant cook--she has a few lines but nothing important.

I find that if a character really steals a scene, I'll morph my outline to fit him or her in as a more important character. Some characters absolutely refuse to stay in bit parts!

[glassquill]

The priest who causes a minor argument and is later killed.

The taxi driver who makes a few unsettling statements to the MC on page one and never appears again.

Lily the assistant cook--she has a few lines but nothing important.

I find that if a character really steals a scene, I'll morph my outline to fit him or her in as a more important character. Some characters absolutely refuse to stay in bit parts!


They all want a piece of the spotlight, don't they? But then, that's part of the fun in writing. :D

[CaroGirl]

Lyle runs a used bookshop and lets my MC borrow books and return them without having to buy them.

Abdul runs the local corner store and sells my MC Shake 'n' Bake and a box of chocolates on Christmas Day.

A security guard (read: mall cop) moves my MC along when she loiters at the mall.

[Sage]

I have a lot of important plot characters who we only see once (or not at all, but they get talked about a lot), so I didn't know if they counted or not. As it is, I have a lot of one-scene characters.

Spirits: Ted Banks, an old woman, a Filipino-American girl, Daniel Castro, Dawn O'Reilly, Troy Banner, Kelsey, & various unnamed dead people.

Helen gets talked about a lot, but never is really seen. She is a major character's girlfriend.

Penny Lane is only in one scene, but has an important role. She's my MC's best friend.

Michael also only has one scene before he becomes the catalyst for the plot by getting himself killed :D

The waiter who makes an annoying "Penny Lane" joke to PL & my MC.

Edna Mae Hopkins's daughter-in-law who took care of her before her death.

Alice White, a bank customer & aunt.

Three tellers & four bank clients, plus two unnamed bank robbers, & a few unnamed cops all related to a bank robbery the MC is a party to.

Ala, mother to a major character & head of the Nursery.

Ray, owner of Maestro's Bar & Grill and PL's boyfriend.

God B & god C. They're gods, but they don't do much.

Muut, head of the animal department.

Phantom, loyal ghost dog.

Dicey & Rusty, clubgoers who die... or not... or so...

The club's DJ & a skankily dressed clubgoer.

Merau, an Angel of Death who messes up. Various unnamed Angels who do filler stuff.

[Danger Jane]

Various students like

Beth - thinks it's gross to eat just the inside of a sandwich and skip the bread

Various teachers like

The chemistry teacher - tells students not to bother learning concepts they don't get because it's not major anyway :crazy:

[ccarver30]

Lady Belden - whorish widow my MMC nailed when he was drunk one night.

Lord Silverton - Wants to "get to know" my FMC.

The watch fixer guy that I can't even remember his name. :) LOL

[Jack Nog]

Nurse Myers - I only know her name because one of th doctors mentioned it. She's dead now. Got kicked in the face by a possessed little boy and broke her neck.

Steve-O - Deputy in the police department, stealer of pot from the evidence room.

Marcus Boles - Popular kid who my MMC referred to as the "Most Likely to Commit Date Rape"

[Soccer Mom]

hmmmmm. Fun.

Let's see......One scene wonders.....

Cookie Jimenez: goofy wedding planner. (kiss, kiss).

Eric: The tatoo artist who pierces MC's belly-button

They're both memorable.

[Jordygirl]

For Wishing On Stars:

Kirsten and Danny are in one scene and it seems like they're going to have a bigger part, but then they don't. So I might edit them out in take two.

Insulting Lady sits on the beach insulting people walking past her in one scene.

Creepy Guy hits on Caris. (One of my MCs.)

Harvard Guy also hits on Caris.

Annoying Suit gets into an argument with Jasmine. (The other MC)

Kate is the aunt whose home they're staying at even though she only appears in one scene. She always seems to be at work.

Also a few of Jasmine's friends are heard from once and never again. (She has a lot of friends.)

[Shady Lane]

Gab--MC's boss, who basically desecrated his writing. I think he'll reappear later.

Jackie Hurlwitz--had a party and had sex in the bathtub where my MC was trying to pee. MC freaked out and went to pee in a closet instead.

Guy with Purple Sunglasses--complimented MC's brother.

I wrote a lot of my WIP while I was in Spain on a school trip, and one of my friends would sit by me while I wrote and whenever I came across a minor character, I would tell her and she would create an entire history for them. They were always absolutely ridiculous and fantastic. The bit with Jackie in the bathtub is actually one that she thought up (and actually the only one that didn't involve sex on a roof, come to think of it....)