Caryl Cerone – Blog #10, April 25th, 2019

I’m choosing to backtrack a little and talk about a character from the beginning of the book. Caryl Cerone, the bartender of Bytold’s Fallen Unicorn Inn.

I’m focusing on her for a special reason: character development. In my past versions, Caryl fell into something of a stereotypical character slotting. She reappears later in the story for a larger role. However, when she reappeared, her personality was awfully generic. She was interesting for some scenes with the other guys, but she blended in far too easily. In the long run, the cast was better off without her. But did I cut her?

No. In response to that, I renewed her character. As a bartender, Caryl’s supposed to be a little tougher and rough-around-the-edges than some of the other cast. She’s got some experience breaking up fights and all the fun stuff. Her father, Lindsor, owns a farm which she helps with during the day, making her stronger and used to that kind of work. She’s used to handling farm animals and the like. She knows her way around a knife and bow, even if she doesn’t feel partial to using them. There’s even some magical history to her family.

Of course, Caryl is a bit of a flirt. She’s caught the attention of characters like Ryoku, Will, and Alex. The difference now is that the romance isn’t her only point to the plot. Later on… well, you’ll have to read on to find out just why she is necessary.

This just serves as a lesson that not all weak characters need to be cut. Some just need to be revamped, and they can still have a large role in your book. I personally like to keep a very diverse cast. If I didn’t keep the witty, somewhat foul-mouthed, flirty, and altogether useful bartender in the books, I feel like I’d be letting a certain part of my potential readers down.

So here’s to hoping that shows.