The Supporting Characters

They’re the people that hang around your main character, feeding them bits of information, pointing them in a certain direction or perhaps just being plain annoying. What ever they do, they populate your world and have back stories of their own – no matter how complicated or dull they may be.

A lot of new writers I find tend to get too wrapped up in their primary character that they forget about everyone else in the story. But the people around your character aren’t cardboard cut outs; they’re beings with emotions, thoughts and feelings that will often impact your character in one way or another. So whilst your story is focussed on your main character you need to remember to give your supporting characters as much life as possible, depending on the situation.

For the more prominent supporting characters, you will need to ask the same questions you did for your main character, eg who are they, what are they doing, etc. but don’t waste too much time to begin with as they often get created along the way as you’re writing.

‘But what if I don’t want anyone around my character! What if I want them to be a loner who is independent and doesn’t need anyone around them!’
That is fine in theory, but how many books have you seen where the main character is in what is basically solitary confinement. Would you like reading about someone like that? Whilst you don’t need to flesh out everyone around you, there will always be a few people around that you will interact with.

When creating your characters, something you may want to think about is the type of species that inhabit your world. What type of creatures are they? Do they act in character or in a particular way – e.g. the Ents in Tolkien’s’ Lord of the Ring or the whooping tree in Harry Potter both have characteristics to make them different, but still act like trees; their true nature. Characters and creatures should mirror the environment in which they came from as it shapes who they are.

WORKSHOP: Your main character is eavesdropping on two people. Who are they and what are they doing? Do they have any distinct features? What are they talking about? Write a passage to describe what your character is witnessing.