The Value of Strangers in Stories
I’ve discovered a favorite plotline or event of mine. In many of my stories, main characters going about their day will have encounters with strangers. These people step briefly into the story, contribute to an anecdote or give voice to something the main character could not express, and then retreat. They never come back into the story, but I rather like having them there. I want to talk about the good and the bad of having strangers in stories.
The Good
Having interesting, non-cliche strangers enter a story can be a great way to accomplish several things. One, they give the story atmosphere and mood; they color the story in a unique way based on the tone of their interactions. They also let the story breathe a little. A short story is usually closely fixed in on one or two or three characters, and having strangers there gives the sense of a world that is wider and has other people in it. Also, strangers can often be used as a device to bring out something about the main character that you can’t say explicitly. If your main character is the taciturn type, it can be difficult to gain insights into him/her without an outside stimulus. (One final good: you don’t need to develop these characters much. They’re strangers! They can save you a lot of work.)
After the jump: the bad.
The Bad
As my creative writing professor brought up this week, because strangers aren’t intimately connected to the inner machinations of the story, they might not deepen the story. Unless handled with a lot of skill, they won’t challenge the main character, push him/her that forcefully, or get him thinking too deeply. There’s also the problem of overcoming the barrier of politeness. People will go to great lengths to mind their own business and it takes a lot just to get them to talk to a stranger, much less engage in a meaningful conversation. It takes a lot of careful orchestration to make a stranger interaction seem meaningful without being forced. So when writing strangers into your stories, tread with caution, and ask yourself if more couldn’t be accomplished with a scene between two people who know each other well.
I’ve sold 35 books (mostly fiction) and taught fiction writing for years, and I don’t think I ever gave “strangers” any thought. But what a great way to add texture, show some reactions, and get some interaction with your hero/heroine when your main character is alone. Even if they are more formal or polite with a stranger, that can also characterize by contrast when the main character is seen behaving much differently with people s/he knows well. Thanks for the tip!