Lesson 12 – Three Ways to Strengthen your Secondary Characters

The Long Story Short – Avoid turning your secondary characters into caricatures.

The Short Story Long –  Have you ever struggled with writing tangential characters? I certainly have. Tangential characters are those who have a few lines in a chapter or two. They can be anyone from a waiter or waitress who offer a bit of comedy to an otherwise grim situation. Or they can be librarians or lore-experts who pop in to give some much-needed advice. Then there are annoying characters, like angry customers or stick-to-the-rules law enforcement who prevent your main characters from achieving their goals.

Even though these characters may only be on-stage for a short amount of time, they need to be developed. You don’t want cardboard characters, even if they are in minor roles. At the same time, you don’t want to spend hours and hours working on their backstory if they only appear for a chapter or two.

So how do you develop these characters?

I like to develop characters in the same way that artists develop a portrait: start with a sketch, add some basic color, then finish with some details.

Start with a sketch. Begin with a general idea of who this character is. What’s their age, gender, and basic appearance? What are they wearing, what does their hair look like, or what is their age? Ask yourself what would make this character stick out in a crowd.Add some basic color. By this, I mean that you should give your character some personal attributes to make them less cardboard and more human. For example, do they have a favorite expression they like to use in conversation (I’m thinking of, “Bless your heart,” or “Damn, that’s interesting”). You can also give them a habit, good or bad, such as gum chewing or knuckle cracking.Finish with some details. These details are up to you, but they’re very important especially if this character appears several times throughout the book. You don’t want your readers scratching their heads and asking, “Now, who was that again?” Details could include a small amount of background information, such as marital status. They could also come in the form of location, such as where the tangential character typically hangs out, such as a restaurant, library, or park. Emotions work well for this, too. Is your tangential character typically angry, worried, or cheerful?

Overall, you need to make your tangential characters interesting enough to grab the reader’s attention. They need their own personalities and spark. Remember, they’re as important as every other part of your book, and deserve attention, too.

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