Characters are central to fiction, although you have main, supporting, and incidental characters. Some that are seemingly minor in the few number of appearances they make can turn out to be pivotal, and the “prize” for most authors is to have the character, if not the entire story, to endure through the ages. You say, “Holden Caulfield”, and head nods begin – “Scrooge” became a descriptor that has lasted for centuries, and who doesn’t occasionally use the phrase, “Achilles” heel”? All authors though seek to create characters that the reader identifies with and can care about for the story, or perhaps are engaging to the point of wanting a series.

Authors have different approaches and styles of course, and for me, I sometimes start a character as minor and in the process add an extra layer to her or him and then expand the importance or shift a scene to make that character more prominent. The reason for that is while I have all the main elements of a book mapped out before I begin, as the sequence of events build, new directions may be required to carry the plot and subplot/subplots where I want them to go. Or, at other times, as I create a character, I just decide that I like this one more than I expected to and therefore, I think that the reader might respond in the same way. It is an intriguing process when that occurs, and no, the characters don’t exactly “take control” of the story. There are also times when a reader will perceive a character in a manner that I had not intended, and that, too always intrigues me.