StoryCraft Novel Challenge Day 12: Who is helping or hindering your main character?
As writers, most of us immediately connect with our protagonist and spend a lot of time working on their backstory, their wants and needs and flaws. And that’s the most important character to focus on first because they are the lens for the reader to experience the story.
But a protagonist is only as strong as the world and people around them, so we need to make sure we’re also developing the other characters supporting the story. Ideally, your supporting cast are going to be interesting and complex enough that they could lead their own view of the story. If you don’t have characters who fill the Antagonist or Mentor roles, today’s challenge is to brainstorm how you can create these characters to add more conflict and depth.
A good antagonist is someone who has a strong reason why they are living in opposition to the protagonist. They might both be striving for the same thing and are in direct competition or have opposing values that put them head-to-head. And as your protagonist grows and changes, so too should your antagonist. This might see them and your lead moving closer together or they could double down and strengthen their opposition. Either way, they should be as changed by the protagonist as the protagonist is by them.
If your protagonist is able to forge ahead on their path without any conflict, then the story is probably going to get boring quickly for your reader. We need drama and stakes to breathe life into the book.
A mentor, on the other hand, exists to aid your protagonist in the right direction, even if they don’t want to hear it. This isn’t about making it easy, though. It’s about embodying the inner need. A mentor is often a best friend character or family member who provides a safe haven for your protagonist when the going gets tough, or a teacher who can help guide them. In The Hunger Games, Katniss’s mentor Haymitch Abernathy provides a lot of guidance for the Games, even if it comes out through his rough and alcoholic way.
You might even consider love interests a mentor, in some cases, because it’s through them that the protagonist learns what it is they really need inside. (Or the true meaning of Christmas, for all of our fellow Hallmark fans!)
Keep in mind that a mentor’s arc should deepen the stakes or can even add an additional obstacle for the protagonist. They should have their own goals that they are striving for and this means that they aren’t just providing blind support no matter what. Think of YA stories where the best friend feels neglected because the protagonist has been so wrapped up in their own drama.
We want to make sure our secondary characters all have a purpose and their own versions of an arc. Consider what their goals are alongside the protagonist. All of Elizabeth Bennet’s sisters want to get married and make different choices to reach that goal, some with disastrous consequences. In a more contemporary book like Daisy Jones and the Six, each of the band members have their own hopes and dreams which are affected by and contribute to the conflict of the central relationship.
When we can formulate multiple arcs within our stories, then our novels can feel rich and deep, and readers can connect through more than one touchpoint. It’s a great way to showcase that you as the author understand your craft and have put the time into building a complete story for all your characters.
Use hashtag #StoryCraftNovelChallenge to connect with other writers and share your progress! And check out our StoryCraft Course, currently in Beta, for more in depth lessons on creating strong arcs and more. Use the code SCBETA for $150 off during the Challenge!
Happy Writing,
Jess and Theo