Nerdy admission: I love reading the Star Wars extended universe novels. I've probably read more than two dozen of them already, and there are literally a few hundred out there, so I have much more to go. Currently, I am reading a series titled X-Wing Rouge Squadron, which take the focus off the main movie characters and puts it on some movie-secondary characters and introduces new ones. I like that. I've always thought that there was so much more to the universe than just the movie plot, and there is! There is probably more than six times the content in the books than there is in the movies, and that's a conservative estimate. But hey, reading isn't for everyone. You really have to use your imagination, especially with these sci-fi books, to make them interesting and fun to read.
Try what I do: before you start, get a list of all of the friends, family, and people you know and keep it on you. Some books have a dramatis personale, meaning a character list, meaning you can see all the characters beforehand, but it's easier (for me) to just assign them as I go. As you read and characters are introduced, assign your friends as those characters. You can do it based off of traits/looks described in the book or totally random. You can even assign them to characters you know will die because secretly, you want to imagine that person dying or being saved. Sometimes you lose the universe effects - meaning the atmosphere, clothing, etc. - of the book, but it's a heckuva lot more fun to read and can get quite interesting when characters decide to interact in different ways. (rest assured, I glaze over the sex scenes; I don't want to imagine anyone doing that...)
I'm currently on book 7, with two more to go! After this, I don't really know what's next, but hey, like I said, there are hundreds of more books to read, Star Wars and non, and I can already tell college will be having me read my share of literature books (Can anyone say Spanish novel time?).
The extended universe is a lot like real life. There are main characters, secondary characters, antagonists, and support personale. Everyone plays a role, regardless if they know it or not, and multiple roles are being played daily. Our perspective is the movie - we only see a small portion of what really goes on. Sure, some of us see more than others, but ultimately there is so much more that goes on behind the scenes, that we are all minor/insignificant characters at some point from someone's "movie". Because so much goes on outside of the movie, we can't possibly understand everything that occurs and why; it's simply impossible. Only when our minor characters come into focus as major do we understand that situation and it's motives, beliefs, and course, but in doing that, we have to demote some other characters to minor; we can't have everyone playing a major role at once!
With this, I've realized that soon, some of my current major characters are going to take a break and sit back as minors. In the novels I'm reading, Luke Skywalker doesn't come to the rescue, swinging his lightsaber and saving the day; no, Luke is a distant figure that few know apart from general gossip, and life goes on without the daily heroics. We all have our own Luke Skywalker (man, I'm getting into this...), and just as he has to rest, so do ours. We can't obsess over one person - usually our significant other - forever; sooner or later we have to take a break and bring into focus other characters - friends, family, work buddies. The same goes for them; they're going to drop you out of main character focus at times, and guess what? You're both going to survive. In the novels, they shift focus from one squadron to the other, and that upset me because I had spend the last four books focused on one. But three books in with the other squadron I've realized that those characters live on despite me not "reading" over their shoulder (pardon the pun). In fact, it makes it that much more rewarding when the former main characters intertwine with the new ones periodically, as they are now. It's kinda like a reassuring pat on the back that they're big boys and can handle themselves without you. The same goes for life - your significant other can live without you for a while, and you without them. Let them go and conquer new heights without you - with new main characters such as their best friend, boss, or parent. Because ultimately, the universe is going to play on with or without you, and your choices determine your role to many. And trust me, you don't want to be the red shirt of the story...
Because ultimately, "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players..."
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