User blog comment:Mroddy/Writer's Workshop: Organic Elimination Orders/@comment-1844926-20151106131409/@comment-5424252-20151106213509

I'll be honest, I use Organic Elimination Order every arc- but I do plan it all the way through. So if I wanted to I have a story line, and elimination for Total Drama Tides that I ~could~ follow all the way to the finale, it's just a matter that I know it will (likely) change when I get to my next arc and I replan it.

As for satellite characters, I call them, Story-Givers... and in 24 days you MAY or MAY NOT be seeing a full-on writer's workshop on the topic.... But until then...

I think in Canon, an example of this is Sierra. In my own opinion anyways, she was never used for her own plot purposes whats so ever, and was only around to shove Cody forward. That being said in World Tour she is a top 3  character for me.

I think the big questions you need to ask yourself is, is the character enjoyable? If the character is someone who you like, and the readers like then there isn't a major issue in keeping them around as long as they keep providing plot for someone else... If that stops and they become a Watcher than you might have an issue.

However, the best solution is to try and find a plot for them. It can be hard, but you might be able to come up with a plot for them that is even MORE interesting than the plot that they are giving right now, so you could switch things around... Try and mix things up. A character can be giving a story in one chapter, but be on the receiving end the next.

That being said, you mention plot-overload, so that may not be your best. I think, in your case, your BEST option is to keep it going, unless the character is boring and disliked, in which case get rid of them - A different character could likely fill their slot to give the same, (but different) story to someone else. The big thing for this though, is until you do eliminate them, make sure they are still interesting and dynamic. Think Beth (TDI) Vs Sierra (WT), both can be considered Story-Givers (Heather/Cody) but they each do it in very different ways. Beth, more or less only interacted with Heather (Boring), Sierra interacted with a number of characters to provide more of a story to Cody, (and herself to some degree) and it ended up making Sierra much more interesting in the long run.

I hope this helped somewhat ;3 I know I explain things oddly, but I swear the new Writer Workshops (spoilers?) Are much more thought out :3 Good luck and if you need help PM me  <3