Writing new characters can be a lot of fun. But this isn’t always the case. We might find ourselves looking at certain characters in our cast and wondering if they should even be in our story. Cutting out a character entirely from the story can be 

They don’t add any value to the story. Every character, from the main cast to the side characters, should advance and support your plot. If a character is holding your story back or is not adding anything to it, then you should probably take them out. The bottom line is if your story still makes sense without a particular character in it, then you should probably delete them from the story all together. 

You forget about them.If you are constantly having to squeeze them into every scene or if you find it difficult to find a place for them in the story, then you should probably delete them. Each of your characters should be fun to write and you should always be wanting to fit them in. If your characters are forgettable to you, then they certainly will be to your readers. Don’t give your readers a forgettable character, so just delete them. 

Writing them is difficult. Writing a character should be fun. It shouldn’t feel like a chore. Yes, writing can sometimes be a process and building up a character takes time and work, but it should never feel exhausting or boring. If a character is getting on your nerves or is feeling like a pain to write, then you should probably delete them from your manuscript.