Between a workshop I’m running anonymously for a writer who doesn’t write, Reddit writing subs, and a nepotism hire at my soulless corporate writing gig, I’m being besieged from all sides by mistreatment of supporting characters. I’m doing what I can to address specific abuses, but I’ll collect my general thoughts on the subject here.
The Problem
People don’t seem to be interested in their non-main characters. Their side characters exist solely for main characters to monologue at and get things from. There’s resistance to shifting attention to non-MCs for even one sentence to allow them to react to what the MC is doing. This leads to passages in which the non-MC could easily be replaced with an inanimate object.
Bob strode into the exchequer’s office. “You’re going to give me what I need,” he told the vase on the desk, which didn’t resist when Bob stuck his hand inside and pulled out the necessary information.
Yes, that gets Bob from point A to point B, but in the least dramatic way possible. It’s not doing much for the story, and frankly, it’s doing a disservice to Bob because we can all see the author’s hand stuck up his butt and flapping his lips.
If you really love your MCs, the best thing you can do for them is provide people for them to interact with.
Interaction
Interaction is defined as a “mutual or reciprocal action or influence.” In order to be mutual or reciprocal, an interaction requires the full participation of at least two characters. One character performing to a passive audience that remains faceless in the murk outside the spotlight doesn’t qualify.
The MC enters every interaction with a goal and leaves with something, even if it’s only defeat. Because interaction is mutual or reciprocal, change will not be one-sided. The side character loses or receives something in the exchange, whether an item, a task, or a grudge against the MC. Even if they never appear again, the reader should be able to infer that they were affected in some way by the encounter. If the MC is unable to leave an impression on a side character, they can’t credibly make a mark on the world.
Detail
There’s no need to build a dossier complete with backstory and a rich inner life for every character who will appear in only one scene. A few decisions are enough to create a personality.
Bob recognized the faded tattoo around the first knuckle of the cook’s left thumb. “How’d a member of the lumberjacks guild end up as the cook on a pirate ship?”
One whack of the cleaver separated the shark’s head from its body. “You’ll live a lot longer if you ask fewer questions, sapling.”
People often don’t answer probing questions! You’ve done your job giving them a life before they appeared on the page. Let them maintain an aura of mystery if the answers aren’t important to the story.
Busyness
People have jobs, hobbies, chores, family, friends, lovers, routines, plans. The MC’s story is an interruption of theirs. Nobody should be standing around as though they’re waiting for the MC to show up and give them a reason to exist, nor should they immediately drop whatever activity they’re engaged in to do the MC’s bidding. Make the MC wait or help or live with the disappointment of not being someone’s priority. Make the MC work or pay for everything, including the attention of people required to meet more complex needs.
Being in the midst of an activity also goes a long way toward solving the talking heads problem. You don’t have to invent excuses to break up the dialogue when the MC has walked into someone else’s life in progress. The props and movements are already in use.
Moods
Some moods will be directly related to the MC. (MC’s mom is ecstatic to have her day interrupted by a visit, while MC’s former business partner prefers a baseball bat to the MC’s windshield as a form of greeting.) Others have nothing to do with the MC. (The exchequer was up all night with a fussy newborn and is therefore listless and inattentive in the performance of exchequing duties.) You don’t necessarily have to explain the reason behind every minor character’s behavior. Do work against having everyone in a default state of vacant normalcy when it’s time for your MC to engage them.
This isn’t merely decorative. Functionally, side characters will be more or less helpful to the MC as a result of their emotional state. If the MC needs something from a character who’s pissed off about something before the MC even arrives, achieving the goal will be that much more difficult. If the MC can cheer a character who’s sad, that character might reward the MC with even more than the MC initially wanted.
Social Skills
Being interested, curious, and observant will give the MC a tactical advantage in many interactions.
“My mother used to crochet, but never anything this fine.”
Hortense preened. “Two of my pieces are displayed in the Museum of Modern Fiber Art.”
“Duke Uverl must have misunderstood when he sent me to you. An artist of your caliber would be insulted by the simplicity of my task.”
They do not, however, have to possess good social skills.
Bob’s grandma said he couldn’t go wrong starting every conversation with a compliment. “I like your underwear.”
The biker drew himself up to his full six and a half feet of height. “Say that again.”
Not for the first time, Bob considered the possibility his grandma was trying to get him killed. Words were always a mistake. He made finger guns with both hands and aimed them at the biker’s crotch.
The biker took a menacing step forward.
“Sir, your zipper is open!”
These are wildly different interactions. The common thread is the MC making an effort to engage another character and responding (for better or worse) to that character’s cues. The MC is interested in other people. This shows that the MC lives in a world with a cooperative society rather than being the center of an imaginary universe in which everyone else is a mere prop. Even the most malignant narcissists know they need to get people on their team in order to use them. “But my MC is a selfish asshole” isn’t a valid excuse for being oblivious to others.
Exercising social skills gives the MC opportunities to respond to other characters’ moods. The MC can offer empathy or sympathy, offer to help, offer unsolicited and unwelcome advice, or choose to barrel ahead with no regard for the other party’s state. The consequences of these choices may or may not ripple beyond the scene in which they occur.
All Narrators Are Unreliable
Bob can strut around thinking about what a nice guy he is for 20 pages, but his self-assessment is meaningless until readers see how he treats other people. If characters familiar with Bob aren’t pleased to see him, they obviously disagree that he meets community standards for “nice.”
Writers often intentionally contrast the MC’s opinion of self with obvious public opinion to prove the MC is wrong. Other writers have no idea side characters are making a liar of the MC because those side characters haven’t been written with any care.
Values Are Comparative
The MC can’t be the “best” without evidence that other people fall short of the same level of achievement. The MC can’t be “short” without evidence that average height is greater. Whether a $100,000 inheritance is a windfall or a snub is determined by societal factors beyond the MC’s control.
The people populating the world are the yardstick against which the MC is measured.
Context
(ETA January 1, 2023) Minor, everyday encounters will be presumed to reflect characters’ relative position in the world.
When Bob walks into the corner store, how the shopkeeper reacts to his entry gives the reader information about Bob and perhaps the world he lives in. Is he greeted warmly and by name, a long-time customer who’s never given the staff any grief? Is he greeted with a scowl and an “I’m keeping my eye on you” stare because he has a history of being present right before inventory goes missing or because he’s “not the right sort”? This shopkeeper, whose total presence may amount to two sentences, now has a history and a values system by which more significant characters can be judged.
This holds true whether the society in question is large or small. If surrounding characters treat Bob with respect and deference in prison, that’s a very different version of Bob than one who’s routinely targeted for abuse. He’s been judged and sorted by those around him before the reader was even introduced to him. Freed of that chore, the reader is left with choosing a side.
Frenemies
(ETA February 19, 2023) People who love us and want the best for us often try to stop us from taking risks, leaving, or changing. In this way, allies become obstructions.
A benefactor might provide encouragement, information, and tools necessary for the success of the MC’s quest, only to snatch the prize when the dirty work is done. In this way, allies are revealed to be enemies.
Ally/Antagonist is a spectrum, not a binary. Characters who are wholly helpful or wholly harmful are the least interesting choice. Make allies irritating, unreasonable, burdensome, or ultimately traitors. Give antagonists a reason to do something “nice” occasionally. Maintain internal logic while being less than entirely predictable to readers.
In Conclusion (For Now)
It’s possible for every character who drifts through your story to liven up the page, but even if you love your MC to the exclusion of all others, you should use supporting characters to create varied circumstances that expose who your MC really is.
Stock Image Credit: AlexNazaruk via Depositphotos