Great characters are a key component of great fiction—especially for kid readers. Great characters pull readers into your story so deeply that they’ll want to read your novel instead of playing video games, messing around on their phone, or goofing around on the Internet.
What do I mean by “great” characters?
I mean characters who have interesting problems, wants, needs, and flaws. They have internal lives, they have wounds, they have back stories. They are three-dimensional. They seem like a real person.
Now, of course your main character will be great in this sense. But I argue that many of your secondary characters will benefit from this development too. (I’m using the term “secondary characters” loosely in order to encompass any other character in a novel who’s not the main character.)
If that sounds like a lot of trouble to go to, creating great secondary characters, you may wonder if it’s worth the effort.
Why, in other words, does it matter if your secondary characters are great?
Great secondary characters have more impact on your story and on your reader’s experience of the story. Here are several ways they matter:
1. They create multiple ways for your readers to become interested in the story.
In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, for example, the first characters introduced are secondary characters, Harry’s maternal aunt and uncle: “Mr. and Mrs. Dursley [who] … were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much” (p. 1). It soon becomes clear that they are not remotely magical. And they don’t like magic one bit.
By the end of the first chapter, we learn that poor infant Harry is going to be raised by these people. Yikes! How’s that going to work out for everyone?
Two other secondary characters who appear in the first chapter include Albus Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall. They are a stark contrast to the Dursleys. Both are magical, both know Harry’s parents, and both will come to know Harry well.
And yet another magical character in the first chapter is Hagrid, the very large man who arrives on a flying motorcycle with baby Harry in his arms. He’s an adult, but kid-like and certainly a character to watch for in future chapters.
2. Great secondary characters help your main character to grow and change, to learn about themselves, to develop understanding of and empathy for others.
One of the most important secondary characters in the Harry Potter series is a kid his own age, Ron Weasley.
After Ron’s mom helps Harry access the proper train platform (9 and ¾) Ron and Harry become friends on the train to Hogwarts. They’re curious about each other—the Muggle-raised boy and the Wizarding-family boy—and bond over shared treats and wizard trading cards. Harry, who’s never had money before, enjoys being able to share with Ron, whose family is less well-off financially.
Harry and Ron are virtually opposite each other in terms of their families. Harry’s an only child (if you don’t include his cousin Dudley) while Ron is the youngest boy in a family of six boys and one girl. Ron gets to be Harry’s tutor about this new culture Harry has entered.
3. Great secondary characters provide more opportunities for readers to connect emotionally and to develop empathy.
When Harry stumbles onto a magical mirror that shows him not only his parents but other relatives too, he’s thrilled. He wants to show his family to Ron, but when Ron steps in front of the mirror, he doesn’t see Harry’s family. Or his own.
Ron sees himself winning accolades like being named head boy. He sees himself alone, standing out from his family.
By presenting the boys side by side in this way, J.K. Rowling shows readers that one boy craves family and one boy craves recognition. They each have what the other wants. And what kid (or adult, for that matter) hasn’t wanted what someone else has?
4. Great secondary characters can affect the plot in significant ways.
This is especially true for secondary characters who are antagonists. A perfect example is Voldemort, the antagonist of the entire Harry Potter series. He kicks off the plot when he kills Harry’s parents and tries to kill Harry. This happens several hours before the events of chapter one in the first book.
5. They can also provide background information.
When Harry and Ron are riding the train to Hogwarts for the first time, Ron schools Harry about Chocolate Frogs, a type of candy that includes cards of famous witches and wizards. This leads Harry to his very first card, one of Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts. The short bio on the card includes a clue that’s important to book one’s plot.
Rowling then cleverly distracts readers from the bio by having Harry turn the card over and discovering that Dumbledore’s face has disappeared. Ron says, “Well, you can’t expect him to hang around all day” (p. 103). And in that way, readers learn that photos aren’t static like in our world.
Which of your secondary characters need more development?
Here’s a way to assess your novel’s characters.
Envision a target like the kind Robin Hood would shoot with his bow and arrow. The main character would occupy the center, the bull’s eye. The most important secondary characters would be in the first circle. Less important secondary characters would go in the next outer circle and so on.
In the Harry Potter novels, his two best friends would certainly go in the first circle because in each novel, they participate in Harry’s journey in a major way. For Ron and Hermione, one thing Rowling needed to know about was their families. Giving Ron a large, loving family is an excellent contrast to Harry’s awful aunt, uncle, and cousin. Plus, each of those family members shows up in the series with a significant role to play. Hermione, on the other hand, didn’t need any siblings. Instead, she’s an only child and raised by Muggles, just like Harry.
Another character to go in that first circle is Tom Riddle, AKA Voldemort, the series antagonist. Rowling needed to know a huge amount about Tom Riddle’s childhood, how he became a dark wizard, how he attracted followers and who they were and still are. Much of this comes out over the course of the series.
As the god of your story, you don’t need to know every last detail about each character. You need to know the details that are relevant to the story you’re telling.
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Looking for a roadmap to make your novel irresistible to publishers?
One key to writing exceptional fiction is creating great characters. Whether they’re smart or dim, sweet or mean, funny or sad, great characters stay with readers long after they’ve finished the book.
Why? Because great characters create emotional resonance for readers, which makes them fall in love with a book.
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