What about side characters?

[Empathy001]

Hi! I haven't really been active in a while, but I haven't seen this question yet so I thought I may as well ask it.

There's a lot of discussion on main protagonists and villains, for good reason too. They're the ones the story mainly focuses on and (more often than not) are the ones driving the plot. But side characters are important too. Many of people's favorite characters aren't the main protagonist!

I guess I don't really have a specific question, but what are some good tips to write and use side characters?

Have a lovely day/night! <3

 

[skip.knox]

What's the old line? Every character is the hero of their own story? Something like that.

My WIP has multiple characters in a group (a troupe of performers). In the largest sense, there's one main character and the rest are supporting characters. And I could have left it at that. In the first book, they were mostly that--they helped the main character solve a mystery, and in that it was a convenient device. Instead of having my MC going around doing all the questioning, I could have the other characters do some of the interrogation.

In this second book, though, I have part of the group more or less trapped inside a tower, leaving the other three outside for almost the whole story. What do I do with them?

They could wait, docile and obedient. Instead, after a while they decide that the others need rescuing, and these three are the ones to do it. The reader knows they're out of their depth, but they don't.

But in the course of considering the plot from their point of view, one of the three emerged as a leader. And in thinking about that, I was able to develop that character--why he chooses to lead, why the others decide to follow, and how the MC will react in the end. What had felt distinctly like a side show has become a worthwhile plot point.

Which brings me to the reply (finally!). If you look at your story from the side, you can see it from a new angle. You see your characters from a new angle. Every character should be a supporting character, in that you think about how each of them supports the story. That approach also helps you spot redundancies and gaps in that support.

 

[JBCrowson]

Side characters tend to get fewer words devoted to them cf MCs. I think that means you have to be more selective in those few words since you need to do enough showing to make them real in less space.
Minor characters are more likely to become plot props - a role rather than a person. Someone has deliver that message / guard the prisoner / get eaten by the dragon, but it doesn't really matter what they're like.

I think of my characters in tiers of importance:
1) MC
2) POV characters
3) Plot altering characters
4) Background characters

1 2 3 get named, 4 rarely does;
1 and 2 get detailed backgrounds going back a couple of generations (most of that info is not used in the story, but allows me to see who / what their influences are, and what verbal / thought / behavioural mannerisms would be consistent for them)
3 get background of why they arrive at the critical moment to do what the plot needs them to do, again mostly not described.
4 have minimal development beyond culture / race and geography. They are effectively living furniture.

 

[pmmg]

I have a lot of side characters, but several to many have so much screen time, they may not seem like it.

One thing they all have in common is they are all involved in the main conflict of the story, and play some role in helping me shape and display it. All of the side characters have stories and goals which relate to the MC's story line, and help make the MC's story stronger.

Some characters will never quite make the list of totally fleshed out, but most characters who are not just there for a scene, have goals and ambitions of their own. To be more fleshed out they also have things to prevent them, and things to over come, along with internal and external problems. As Skip once said, sometimes I have to write them for a bunch of scenes to find out who they really are. Sometimes they grow and become bigger characters, sometimes they dont survive the rewrite. But the best way to write them well, is write them long enough to know who they are and how they really fit in.

 

[skip.knox]

One thing is evident from just a few posts: how far to the side does a character have to be? What does the OP consider a "side" character?

 

[A. E. Lowan]

We tend to run with 7 - 9 PoV characters per book, so far. And oh, all of the side characters. If anyone can find a reason to complicate a plot, it's Team Lowan. So, of course everybody has to have their own lives and backgrounds and places in the political structure of the city - yes, we three are those kinds of geeks - and they often pop up and influence events in profound ways because they also take up space in the story. We may not put some of these events and influences on screen, but their presence is felt. And I really do think that's a major contributing factor in giving the setting and the story depth.

 

[Diana Silver]

Oooh, cool question.

In what I'm writing now, I have the main character who is the first person PoV character, and the story is about his emotional arc. But the whole of the book is more about him meeting his best friend, who is really my own favorite character ever. She pulls the MC into her adventures and never lets go again, she's kind of the wizard archetype who knows the world that he is only starting to explore. Most of the time he's trying to balance his life against her chaos. Their story really helps me balance the magic with the human side of things, in part because she makes the story plot-driven while he keeps it based in his character development that goes alone with it. I think the dynamic is working out great, although sometimes my beta readers tell me her self-confidence needs to be nerved a bit to keep the feeling of imminent danger palpable.

I'm not even sure if side character is the right word here, I'd sooner go for supporting character.

 

[Finchbearer]

My writing has evolved to multiple POV characters written in third. Essentially I’ve taken what once were side characters and have brought them front and centre stage, and they’ve almost become more interesting than what were once the main characters.

 

[Ned Marcus]

Main side characters I develop in the way I would the protagonist, but with less depth. I give lesser side characters a verb to describe their main orientation and then just write.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

I'm not even sure if side character is the right word here, I'd sooner go for supporting character.

Yeah, I think that supporting characters and side characters are two separate categories. We can certainly have movement from one to the other, and back again, too. That movement can also give us a chance at creating more tasty conflict, which is always a good thing. You can ramp conflict down more easily than you can ramp up from meh, and Conflict = Story.

 

[JBCrowson]

My writing has evolved to multiple POV characters written in third. Essentially I’ve taken what once were side characters and have brought them front and centre stage, and they’ve almost become more interesting than what were once the main characters.

I love when that kind of organic growth happens around 'side' characters and their arcs.

 

[K.S. Crooks]

Side characters can do several things. They can provide skills and knowledge the main character doesn't have (Dr. Watson for Sherlock). They can provide motivation to the character to strive for something they don't want for themself (Primrose for Katniss). They can provide a connection and caring to the reader (Lois Lane to Superman)- Superman would still be a hero without Lois, but would readers care as much?
I'm sure there are others, but theses are what came to mind right away.

 

[Super Fantasy]

Side characters can do several things. They can provide skills and knowledge the main character doesn't have (Dr. Watson for Sherlock). They can provide motivation to the character to strive for something they don't want for themself (Primrose for Katniss). They can provide a connection and caring to the reader (Lois Lane to Superman)- Superman would still be a hero without Lois, but would readers care as much?
I'm sure there are others, but theses are what came to mind right away.

Those are good ideas.
I feel that side characters can fill in the gaps in the plot of novels.
Or perhaps provide social ambience as the main character explores.

 

[Diana Silver]

They can provide...

I think apart from providing stuff, they can withhold things, highlight the MC's lacks and flaws, demand things the MC cannot give, and in general bring out every little bit of conflict that lies dormant in the story.

 

[Karlin]

The Romance of the Three Kingdoms has almost 1,000 characters. that would be considered slightly excessive these days.

 

[Mad Swede]

I tend not to use the terms side and supporting characters. I simply treat them all as characters, and I use them as a way of developing the plot. Yes, these characters can provide the protagonists with things like information, tasks, food etc. But I feel that these characters shopuld also have their own aims in life, their own agendas. In this way they influence what happens in the story. I use this to deepen the plot and make it more complex, in the sense that their actions have an impact both on what happens to the protagonists and in particular on what is happening in the wider setting which in turn allows for hooks into other stories.