Can You Start Your Novel With a Minor Character?

If your novel begins with a minor character, is that bad? What if you need to do that to make your plot work? 

Bruce posted this question on my “Ask A Question For My Blog” page:

i began writing a novel whose first chapter is from the POV of an unimportant character but writing so is important for the plot. the rest of the novel is in third person narrated by the author, i feel that this is complicating things. what should i do?

Randy sez: I don’t see a problem with it. 

There are any number of reasons why you might want to start a novel using some minor character.

If there’s a good reason, then do it. If there isn’t, then don’t.

Usually my blog posts are much longer than this. Usually, there’s a good reason to write a longer post. Today, there isn’t.

Got a Question for My Blog?

If you’ve got a question you’d like me to answer in public on this blog, hop on over to my “Ask A Question For My Blog” page and submit your question. I’ll answer the ones I can, but no guarantees. There are only so many hours in the day.