The Supporting Cast (aka why secondary characters matter)

A sidekick to your story is the protagonist of their own.

Yes, developing your secondary characters can be the difference between a good novel and a great one. Your story is about your protagonist’s arc of change as they navigate the external plot. They are, after all, the star of the show. However, this doesn’t mean that your novel is all about them.

A distinct cast of secondary characters is a key component in bringing your manuscript from boring to unputdownable.

There are a few steps to ensure that these supporting characters are acting in a way that contributes to your story rather than detracts from the overall message. But the most important action you can take to mastering secondary characters is treating them like mini-protagonists of their own world rather than sidekicks to your main character.

The secret to a memorable cast of characters that is both interesting and cohesive is a set of overlapping goals, motivations, and desires. Though they deserve your attention, secondary characters can run away with your story if you are not careful. A side quest is only as valuable to your story as its meaning to the global story plot. In short, your supporting characters must serve the main storyline. But how do you strike a balance between well-developed, but not too audacious secondary characters? With most writing advice, it comes down to specifics, meaning and details. Don't worry, I am putting the full force of my editing expertise behind helping you write supporting characters with my best writing tips. 

1. Goals, Motivation and Conflict

Just like your protagonist, your secondary characters need goals, motivation, and conflict. Let’s break these down:

Goals - What does your secondary character want?

Motivations - Why do they want it?

Conflict - What is standing in their way?

These elements build complex characters. In order for your reader to believe your story world, every element should be crafted to feel as though they are stepping inside a perfectly realistic situation. In reality, people have nuanced and complicated goals and motivations. Utilizing these in your novel makes your supporting characters feel like people rather than props that exist solely to support your protagonist. Their character development is an important component of making them believable. Leverage their backstory to help build out their shared history with your main character. If the secondary characters feel like cardboard cutouts, it’s going to be difficult for the reader to suspend disbelief when reading your story. Fully formed characters with clear motivations are exactly what your story needs to hook readers. 

These goals and conflicts also provide ample room for conflict within the story. By giving every character competing goals with your protagonist, your story will have grounds for tension and conflict. If all the characters in your story have the same goal, the story can feel repetitive. If multiple characters must have the same goal for the purposes of the plot, consider having them want the goals in a different way or for different reasons. This variety helps keep things interesting for your reader.

Now, there are some minor characters that don't necessarily need distinct goals. These are roles that don't experience an arc of change. When writing these types of characters, you can rely on character archetypes to create a seamless reading experience for your reader. Archetypes are like default modes of your characters based on assuming that your reader will understand their personality traits. We've all experienced in literature and movies the mean popular girl or the wise old mentor. Writers intentionally make these flat characters by capitalizing on the reader's previous experience with these types of characters. These feel real despite having limited details about their goals and motivation, but they don't contribute to the story in the same way that a dynamic secondary character does.

Static characters help develop your main character's arc as well. While static characters do not experience an arc of change, they can help your protagonist's journey by serving as a fixed point in the narrative. Supporting characters do not have to exhibit an arc of change in order to provide value as they interact with the world around them.  

2. Your secondary characters help your protagonist learn the theme.

Jessica Brody refers to this concept as “B Story characters.” The B Story, or sometimes called the internal character arc, or the theme, is the lesson that your protagonist learns. Your B Story characters are essential helping your protagonist learn the theme by representing small parts of the lesson. Some characters will represent extreme versions of the theme in either the positive or negative direction. By helping the protagonist on their journey, the secondary character's role fills with depth and richness giving their story meaning within the context of the main narrative.

Let’s say your theme is that true faith requires trust. You might have one B story character who exemplifies the negative consequences of someone’s inability to trust. Another might demonstrate the pitfalls of blind trust. Sometimes these characters act as forces of antagonism or villains against the protagonist, but not always. There are ways for a B Story character to exemplify the theme without necessarily standing in the main character's way, as is required by the antagonist. It could be a jaded friend or mentor. Their purpose is to supporting the character development of the protagonist in service of the main plot of your novel. 

Another tool in your tool belt is to use the protagonist’s relationships to the supporting characters to teach them the theme. Here, the key to learning the theme is not in the example set by the secondary characters, but in the interactions between them. The character’s conversations, combined actions, and journey together might teach the primary character something new about themselves or the world around them.

Every side character exists to support the protagonist and add depth to the story. Supporting characters don't exist in a vacuum meaning the context of your story arc contributes to who they are as people. 

3. Vary the roles played by your Secondary Characters.

Often when writers think about side characters, their minds immediately go to villains and love interests. While these are two very important supporting characters, there is a whole host of other relationships that you can use to help build your supporting cast. These include, but are not limited to: friends, siblings, aunts, uncles, grandparents, godparents, friends of parents, friends of friends, parents of friends, coworkers, mentors, mentees, bosses, subordinates, and more! Within these roles, you can also give your supporting cast unique quirks, backstories and distinct personalities that help to make them recognizable within the scope of the main story. Some tropes and clichés have their place here, but consider exploring relationships that buck tradition within your fictional world. No two characters are exactly alike, but unique features of your characters profile will make them stand out. 

Each of these relationships comes with a certain dynamic of power, responsibility, and trust. There’s lots of room for you to creatively make interesting relationships out of these combinations. Many genres have conventions for this character relationships. For example, in fantasy novels, there is often a more experienced mentor figure that helps the protagonist. However, feel free to break the mold here when it comes to these conventions.

Your supporting roles can get your protagonist thinking about their world around them. Their role in the story can be to challenge the protagonist or to be someone to talk to about the conflict in their lives. 

Not all side characters need to meet reader expectations. How you deploy these characters within your novel is up to you. They are tools at your disposal to be used in whatever way you see fit. However, when editing, you might take a closer look at any characters that are serving duplicate roles. Too many characters with the same purpose can be redundant.

4. Use your Secondary Characters to create Tension.

People are messy. They cause fights. They disagree. They are overwhelmed. They have a hard time trusting. They lie. All of these things can cause conflict in your story. Your supporting  characters are in the perfect position to cause chaos for your protagonist. Depending on their relationship, the ties between your protagonist and your secondary characters are ripe for creating conflict that moves your story forward. Conflict stems from opposing goals, opposing opinions on how to accomplish those goals, and misunderstandings. Perhaps your supporting characters dislike your protagonist, but they aren’t sure why. Maybe your side characters disagree with your protagonist’s plan to solve the external plot problem. All of these competing desires create conflict, which makes for a great story.

Overall, the goal is to put your protagonist in situations that challenge their internal flaw. A supporting character's motivation in contrast to your main character's is ripe for causing problem for your overall story. Personal conflicts are some of the most motivating. For a very specific reason, our brains are hard-wired to tune out the mundane and focus on unusual events. Our brains are hard-wired to focus on conflict. This means if your story is lacking tension, you risk losing your reader’s attention. Your supporting cast plays a significant role in keeping things interesting, including acting as a catalyst for conflict in your primary plot. 

5. Use your Secondary Characters to Move the External Plot Forward

Have you ever gotten to the point in your external plot where you feel stuck? Your side characters might be just what you need to get yourself out of the situation. Your side characters are perfect for getting your story moving by introducing new conflict or helping your protagonist when they need it. They can also provide new information, which can contribute to the external conflict. A secondary character can be the perfect person to shake things up when the story starts to stagnate in the dreaded middle.

Now, the trick here is ensuring that this information does not seem random. If it does, you run the risk of your reader losing interest because the protagonist ‘didn’t earn their solution. Subplots can sometimes run this risk. To prevent this, utilize the relationship between your protagonist and your supporting character as a setup and payoff. To learn more about those, check out my other blog post.

Secondary characters are an important part of a cohesive and well-rounded story. They are essential to the plot of your novel. Of the mechanisms available to you for providing an interesting narrative, these can often be the most fun to implement. Who among us doesn’t have a favorite side character? Often they provide comic relief, make our protagonist’s more likable by association, and move the story forward.

A distinct supporting cast can provide opportunities for your reader to resonate with your characters even if the protagonist is not someone that they are like. Keep your supporting cast interesting to keep your reader engaged. Side characters can do so much for your story including help your protagonist learn the theme, causing conflict, and getting your protagonist information when they need it most. All of these are great methods to get your secondary character involved in your story. Remember, they must be serving some type of purpose to earn their place in the narrative. In other words, they must matter to the story.

All of this to say, all of us are profoundly impacted by our relationships.

Our world is made up of thousands of imperceptible threads that tie people together. Your protagonist is no different. The richness of their world is dependent upon your ability to leverage the tiny nuances of their life to create a complicated thread of joy, conflict, and the conditions that will lead them to change. Secondary characters are one piece of this equation, but they’re an incredibly function and versatile tool for you to use.

That’s all for now! For more writing tips and tricks, feel free to reach out to me or learn more on my instagram below: