#1 Most Read Blog Post is - "Quirky Characters," Why are they there?

Have you ever read a book and became immediately taken with the plot and characters? I love those types of books and I also love it when “quirky” characters begin to show themselves, offering a bit of diversion from the main story.

At first, it almost seems like this odd character is there to simply interrupt the process of the story. But, on second take, it can be other things.

For example, in the classic novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” the main story is one of Atticus Finch, an idealistic lawyer, who defends a black man wrongly accused of a crime against a white woman in a small southern town. The story is set in the early 1920’s somewhere in the southern United States. The gist of the story is how Finch is able to open the eyes of his community just a bit to the injustices of prejudice and ignorance.

Then…somewhere in the middle of the story, Finch is driving his daughter, Scout downtown but suddenly stops on the road. A group of men have surrounded a dog, claiming it is rabid. They turn to Finch and ask, “What should we do?” Why do you suppose the author put this strange interruption in this story?
It’s not an interruption after all; it’s driving the point home. The rabid dog symbolizes the town’s bigotry, thereby causing a dangerous situation. Atticus Finch symbolizes justice and takes the appropriate action of putting down the dog, which simply points out that he was able to bring understanding to his hometown.


I tried to do the same thing with “The Pond.” Sprinkled throughout, you will see odd characters which seem to interrupt the action. Stop a moment and wonder if I am driving home a point.


Although “The Pond” is a thriller and “To Kill a Mockingbird” is a novel, this type of writing style works well in virtually any genre.

Be sure to order a copy of my book, The Pond and see what type of message YOU read into it.

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