Main Characters versus Side Characters
This chapter hopefully answers some questions about how to categorize characters, and how this helps simplify and streamline your cast of characters. I struggled with this a lot. Perhaps because I come from a large family and thus always introduced way too many characters (all of equal importance) into my stories. That’s why I developed my own simple rule(s) to combat this.
The three types
In my view, there are three types of characters.
- Main Character: they get their own chapters ( = you’re in their head), they kick off the story, they are attached to the main storyline and get the biggest arc.
- Side Character: these are crucial to the story, but not main characters. They support the main story and perhaps have their own storylines on the side.
- Extra: these are relevant to the story, but not crucially so and they don’t get much time or depth.
Some call these major and minor characters. But then I don’t have a good name for the third category. (Minuscule characters?)
They’re also called main cast and supporting cast. But then the third category is left out again. (The “just hanging around for a tiny bit” cast?)
If you’ve studied plot structure, the main character is usually called the “A Plot” (which is sustained for the whole story), while the side characters go on a “B Plot” or even “C Plot” (which spawn from the A plot, then return to it). They have their own fun little adventure, but always bring back something to help the main characters of the A Plot.
Let’s say you write a YA novel. Then you might have one main character: a young adult boy. Around them are three side characters: their friends. Throughout the story, we might some teachers and parents. They are certainly relevant to the plot and setting, but don’t play a huge role and don’t have their own storylines. So those will be extras.
How many characters to use?
This is my personal rule.
- Main Characters: a typical story can handle at most 3. (Unless you write a long fantasy epic, which can have many more viewpoint characters.)
- Side Characters: add at most thrice the amount of main characters.
- Extras: add at most thrice the amount of side characters.
In all the stories I’ve written (and read), this seemed to be a good general formula. Add fewer characters, and you’re limiting yourself severely, probably losing some richness the story could have. Add more characters, and there’s just no time to give them all enough value, or the reader loses the thread on who everybody is.
Take that YA novel from the previous example. With 1 main character, this means 3 supporting characters, and 9 extras. This seems about right: if you include the parents of the other kids, some teachers, or some more classmates, you quickly reach 9 of them. Add more, and your simple YA story will have 14+ characters! Too much, if you ask me.
Simplify & Combine
It’s better to simplify and make sure every character counts, than to introduce a load of characters that barely do anything. Remember the importance of empathy and purpose. If you add too many characters, you have no room to explain their personality or to give them multiple connections to the plot. Even if those characters are really interesting or fun, they’ll fall flat and reduce overall enjoyment of your story.
The easiest way to simplify is obviously by removing characters.
I once wrote a script for a musical that ended up having way too many roles. When I revised it, I realized that I had added the parents of both leads to the story by default. Yes, they are very relevant to the life of a child, but they didn’t actually influence the story or get much time.
As such, I simply … removed one parent for each protagonist :p Gone, dead, divorced, whatever the reason. The character could just be removed without damaging the story, and if that’s true, do so.
The second method is to combine characters. Characters are often standing around doing nothing. They might have served their purpose in chapter 5, but now have to wait until chapter 10 to serve their purpose again.
Similarly, if you have too many characters, they often share duties or have strong overlap. Multiple people could’ve done the same thing for your story … so why not combine it into one? Check if characters are active and relevant all the time. If not, seek to combine multiple of these “mediocre” characters into one “great” character!
Say you have one character who is great at sword fighting, and another character who’s a great military strategist. They might work fine on their own. But there’s clear overlap here: they’re both useful when it comes to fighting and war. If you find the characters doing nothing a lot, or your cast of characters is too large, combine the two.
Not only does this make the story more efficient and streamlined, it also often leads to creative solutions. A character that is both a great strategist and a swordfighter? Those could be conflicting desires: they want to be in the vanguard on the battlefield, but they’re also needed behind the lines to draw up the plans.
But remember the tip I gave you in the Arcs & Growth chapter. Once a character stops being relevant, you can try to find new purpose for them. But the better option is, usually, to just take them out of the story. “You’ve accomplished your goal? Great, now I give you a reason to stay out of the plot for the rest of the book.” (And if you’re going to kill characters, kill them when they’re at their most relevant.)
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