Day 24: Support Those Unsung Heroes of Your Story
I have always said that the copyeditor (the person who checks for boo-boos in your story) is the sexiest person in writing. I stand by that.
But the humans behind DIYMFA, specifically Gabriela Pereira, have announced that your novel’s supporting cast are the unsung heroes of your book. I don’t disagree.
First let’s define what a supporting character is (it’s me, I’m the supporting character in everyone’s lives).
No. Really.
WHAT IS A SUPPORTING CHARACTER?
“All great stories have at least one protagonist and one antagonist with opposite goals and desires that create the initial conflict. Supporting characters are responsible for reinforcing the narratives that exist between the protagonist and the antagonist,” says Studio Binder.
BEFORE WE JOURNEY ON . . .
Below the jump, I talk about what’s awesome about supporting characters, tips on writing them (and using them), a writing exercise to help and a bonus video.
Whew. It’s a lot. Also there is a place to submit your story.
As a reminder, you can find the daily writing posts (my big February experiment) here on the main site.
WHAT IS AWESOME ABOUT SUPPORTING CHARACTERS
Supporting characters help your book in so many ways.
Supporting characters are cool because they add in a little spice to the story. Stories about one person who doesn’t get to interact with others (think Carrie alone hanging out in a closet for a week) gets a bit stale. supporting character of sorts and keeps the story interesting.
They make your story more interesting (that’s kind of like spice), but as Pereira says, “Supporting characters are characters in their own right. Fully fleshed out supporting characters bring with them a history and at least one goal, and these are different from those of the protagonist. These elements can lead to subplots that add depth and dimension to your story. When you explore where your supporting characters have come from (history) and where they want to go (goal), you can potentially uncover material for an interesting subplot.”
The characters bring you out of the bubble of the protagonist. They give perspective via interaction.
“When characters interact, we see a side of the protagonist that we may not have seen otherwise,” Pereira writes.
That means they help the protagonist chances to evolve.
“Supporting characters’ motivations will affect how they behave, which means that even when they are trying to help the protagonist, they might actually create conflict instead. This conflict gives the protagonist the opportunity to develop and grow as a character,” Pereira writes.
TIPS ABOUT YOUR SECONDARY CHARACTERS
Ellen Buikema over at Writers in the Storm has five tips about secondary characters. Those are basically:
Have the characters move your plot forward, too.
Make them well rounded. Make them real, not cut-outs.
Give them a flaw.
Don’t use them too much.
“Make them location or vocation specific”
I’m the most interested in #4, because I tend to make my supporting characters more interesting than the protagonist. This is a flaw.
“Secondary characters are a lot of fun to write. But sometimes they are so interesting that they might become overdeveloped and overtake the main character. If this happens, you can always set aside some of the story highlighting this particular character as notes for another tale. This secondary character may become a future protagonist,” she writes.
And her advice about location specificity is sound and kind of funny.
“Connect your secondary character to one locale when possible. This will make it easier for your reader to keep track of who is who and what their relationship is to the main character,” she writes. “It’s no fun having to page through the book to remember who a character is. The tie between location and character helps firm that piece of information in the memory of the reader.”
Other Tips
This comes from the Novelry’s summation of postings by Libby Page.
Think about how the supporting characters support your story
Consider using supporting character archetypes
Develop backstory and character traits to make your supporting characters feel three-dimensional
Give your supporting characters their own character arc
Keep the supporting characters distinct
Establish a unique voice for each character
THE WRITING EXERCISE!
The Object & Its Odd Keeper
Every supporting character has a story that exists beyond the protagonist’s. This exercise will hopefully help you develop a side character who feels fully alive—through a single lost object.
What?
Yep. Get out your laptop or pen and paper. Let’s go.
Step 1: The Object They Carry (and Misplace)
Your supporting character has an item that tells us something about who they are at their core. Pick one or create your own:
A scarf that smells like campfire smoke, no matter how many times it’s washed
A crinkled letter they always keep with them but have never opened
A harmonica they don’t know how to play, but still carry everywhere
A ceramic mug from a diner that no longer exists
A grocery list written in someone else’s handwriting, never updated but always kept
Now, answer:
Why do they have this?
What feeling does it bring them—comfort, nostalgia, guilt, hope?
What’s their reaction when they realize they’ve lost it?
Step 2: Who They Are
To make them real, consider:
How do they take up space? (Do they move through the world with confidence? Do they always make room for others? Do they hover near exits?)
What’s their default way of interacting with people? (Over-explains everything? Gives short, clipped answers? Speaks in metaphors? Asks unexpected questions?)
What’s the one thing they never, ever do? (Apologize first? Eat in front of people? Show up on time?)
What’s something contradictory about them? (Maybe they act like they don’t care about anything but secretly alphabetize their books by emotion. Maybe they seem cheerful but have a very dark hobby.)
Step 3: The Moment of Return
Write a short scene where your protagonist returns the object—but make it less about the object and more about the character’s reaction.
Do they brush it off like it’s nothing, even though it clearly matters?
Do they light up in a way they rarely do?
Do they deflect and immediately change the subject?
What does this moment reveal about their relationship with the protagonist?
Bonus Challenge
Let something about their response surprise even you as the writer. Maybe they cry when they didn’t seem like the type. Maybe they give the object away instead of taking it back. Maybe they share a memory that suddenly shifts how the protagonist sees them.
PLACE TO SUBMIT
Pure Slush: Editor-in-chief Matt Potter is looking for original fiction and essays from 150 to 1000 words (you can submit up to 3) and prose poetry from 80 to 1000 words (submit up to 5) on the theme of AGING.
Selected pieces will be published in print and ebook formats as a part of Pure Slush’s Lifespan anthology series. No simultaneous submissions. Submission is free.
BONUS VIDEO
This guy, Dave Trottier, wrote a book that I was so into when I started my writing journey. It was called The Screenwriter’s Bible. Here is a video he has about describing your characters in script, which is helpful for us novelists, too.