Learning from Fan Fiction: Minor Characters Work Best

In an earlier post, I mention that my Georgette Heyer fan-fiction only works if I pair the couple's problems to the world's expectations. 

I have also discovered that the most satisfying stories are usually about minor characters. That is, in Venetia (one of my favorite Heyers), I kept the main characters' story but expanded on a story of Venetia's younger acerbic brother, Aubrey, and Venetia's erstwhile suitor, Oswald, who keeps forgetting to maintain his pose of a brooding Byron. 

The satisfaction of the minor characters' story arises not just from creating an hitherto absent pairing but also from using the minor couple to mirror the larger action.

In Heyer's text, Oswald is amusing because he immediately realizes that Damerel, the true Beast of the tale and Venetia's soulmate, is the "real thing" when it comes to Heathcliffian angst. Oswald cannot possibly compete. Aubrey is interesting because his acerbity masks a deep irritation at people who condescendingly pity him for his limp. Venetia never does. Venetia's expectations regarding a relationship--a soulmate who will take her statements seriously--begins with Aubrey. 

Taking Aubrey and Oswald forward, so Aubrey admits that he still desires companionship after Venetia marries and Oswald grows out of his Gothic-phase and accepts himself as a non-disillusioned romantic, was an interesting process. Venetia and Damerel's resolution dovetailed with Aubrey and Oswald's forward momentum.

Many viewers' favorite couple from Joan of Arcadia

I think potential and mirroring is one reason minor couples work so well on television shows and sitcoms. Not only do viewers still get a romance, they also get to see why the main characters work or don't work. Bones was quite happy to marry off the people who surround Bones and Booth, before and after their marriage. Those other relationships highlight that Bones and Booth are one type of marriage, not the only type of marriage. They are quintessential Bones and Booth, not a generic couple. 

The important (and often missed) point is that the minor characters' romances cannot substitute for the main characters' romance (though Chandler and Monica got awfully close, especially for those of us who think that Ross and Rachel are too awful separately and together to really work). The minor characters work because they occur in reflection; they operate as foils.

They do become many people's favorite couples!