by Teagan Berry
A little more than a year ago, I was hard at work on a novella about a main character from my in-the-process-of-editing book trilogy. This main character made new ‘friends’ (if that’s what you call cellmates in prison) who were required to help push the plot along. One of these side characters sparked an interest in me and then poof! All of a sudden there was a whole life story to explore.
To dig right into the topic at hand, side characters provide a very interesting conundrum for authors. It’s not their story you’re telling, but they are completely integral to the overall success of the project. Without them, the story won’t function as it should. Can you just ignore them? Sure, you can. Can you work them further into the plot? Absolutely. Sometimes, the side character even becomes more interesting than the main character. Is that a problem? It depends.
In my opinion, there are different ways to deal with this particular problem.
Try giving the main character a more interesting voice. Sometimes, side characters (whether good or bad) have more interesting things to say, or maybe they think in a more obscure manner. This can provide more interest for a reader since the side character’s perception is more colourful. To fix this, put your main character in situations which allow for their inner voice to flourish – something to flesh them out more and gives the reader something to sink their teeth into.
Define your main character more. This kind of goes along well with my previous point. Sure, you may have told readers what they look like, but what about how they feel? How they act? Are they too perfect? Do they have any faults? To make a character convincing, they need to be human and humans make mistakes. Try to think of what the main character is like outside of the story’s situation. If you can form a concrete character profile about them using that information, then they should become more interesting all-around.
Make your project a multi-P.O.V. story. If possible, and if it fits with your narrative style, try giving the side character a more prominent role in the overall story. Give them a point of view, let them tell the reader what they see the main character doing through their eyes. Put them in more scenes with the main character, or let them have a sub-plot and then find a way to tie it into the climax. This way, everyone wins. The main character gets to continue having the story revolve around them, but the side character gets more screen time, so to speak.
Write about the side character, but in a separate piece – maybe a novella or short story. Using this option is something I’ve done a couple of times in my past experiences. Allowing the side character to grow and expand into their own separate story can be helpful. Not only do you have a new piece to work on, but it helps with many other areas of your writing. You get to world-build. And with that urge to learn more about the side character gone, you get to focus back on telling the main character’s story in your original piece.
Make the side character your main character. This one involves the most amount of work, but if you’ve tried everything and it just still doesn’t seem to be working, maybe making the drastic change is for the best.
So there are a few suggestions for dealing with an intriguing side character. Comment if you have any other helpful suggestions! And as always, keep writing!
Guest post contributed by Teagan Berry. Teagan writes books, watches sports, and reads. She started her blog initially to beat writer’s block, but it’s turned into so much more.
I love this picture. It is so real, but not. Seeing it brings a smile.
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That’s why I picked the image. It made me smile. : )
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It was a great choice!
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Thanks!
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Great tips. I’ve run into this a bunch of times and I’ve never been quite sure how to go about resolving it. Thanks for sharing.
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Reblogged this on apboustead.
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Reblogged this on From Story To Book and commented:
Part of this could have been written about my recent experiences. There are some good ideas here. I now have a short story prequel to my trilogy…!
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When writing my novel, Relations, I kind of made my side character a co-major character. He was a sounding board for my main character; however, he had his own storyline as well, albeit it a smaller one.
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This is a problem I was having. My original draft was about three people and their friendship, but I ended up liking one of the three so much, that it focused on her and turned the other main characters into bad guys almost. So I’ve redone the conflict, I am in the process of rethinking all of the characters, and I am making a multi-POV series out of it. I’m very excited.
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Reblogged this on Kim's Author Support Blog.
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Reblogged this on Archer's Aim and commented:
Great ideas for handling side characters who threaten to take over!
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Reblogged this on Books and More.
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[…] Source: When Side Characters Become Interesting […]
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Reblogged this on WILDsound Writing and Film Festival Review.
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