Secondary Character Development

1. What Does This Supporting Character Want?
If you’re only going to ask one question, this is the one. If you’re
Dr. Frankenstein, and your characters are your little monsters,
then this question is the vivifying electricity that brings every
single one of them to life–from your protagonist right on down to
the walking-est of walk-ons.
Take a look at your cast of supporting characters. I’ll bet you a lot
of juice you’re going to find one of two things:
1. They really don’t want much of anything.
2. If they do want something, then that desire is either:
a. Help protagonist get what he wants.
b. Stop protagonist from getting what he wants.
Believe me, people, we can do better than this. I asked myself these
questions about my supporting characters, as a new outlining
exercise, while working on the sequel to my portal
fantasy Dreamlander. I was a little startled to realize the desires of
most of the minor characters in the first book fit neatly into one of
those two narrow categories up there.
So, what did I do? I started going through my supporting cast,

name by name, and coming up with a specific desire for each of
them in the new book.
The result?
Every single character–the protagonist’s relationship with them–the

main conflict–the entire plot–they all instantaneously bounced into
a new dimension. Boosh. Mind blown.
Try it. I guarantee your minor characters will go from

inconsequential smiling heads to full-on plot catalysts and
genuinely interesting humans.
2. What Is Your Supporting Character’s Goal?

It’s not enough for your supporting characters to sit
around wanting something. They need a plan of action for how
they’re going to obtain their goal.
This is where things get fun. Because, just as with your

protagonist’s goal in the main conflict, your minor characters need
to discover that the course of good storytelling never did run
smooth. They’re going to have a really hard time getting what they
want. They’re going to meet serious resistance. Conflict, baby,
conflict.
Want it to get even better? The majority of that resistance should

be the result of other character’s goals–particularly the
protagonist’s–getting in the way of the supporting character. And
vice versa.
Let’s say your protagonist is a spaceship pilot whose goal is to go

off and save the galaxy. Now let’s say he has a mother who loves
him and who desperately wants to keep him from harm’s way. Her
goal is to stop him any way she can, even if it means lying to
recruitment officers–or maybe even breaking her son’s hand in the
door to “protect” him.
Talk about conflicting goals.
3. What Lie Does Your Supporting Character

Believe?
Just like your protagonist, your supporting characters are going to
be less-than-perfect people. Their motivations for their desires and
goals will be driven by their own complicated and often
detrimental perspectives on life.
The fundamental heart of every character arc–however complete or

cursory–is the Lie the Character Believes. This is what creates the
underlying personal motivation and justification for everything the
character desires and does.
Let’s return to our overprotective mother from the previous

example: her Lie might be that she failed to protect her older son,
who has already died in the war, and so she must do anything short
of murder to stop this second son from also dying a hero’s death.
Or it could be something much smaller and less injurious. In

Charles Dickens’s Little Dorrit, the protagonist’s older sister and
brother believe they must “do the family credit” by acting high and
mighty, in order to somehow make up for the fact that their father
has been in debtor’s prison for twenty years. This creates a
wonderful undercurrent of conflict with the protagonist, Amy, since
she both recognizes the folly of this approach and rejects it as
ignoble.
The Lie marks the “starting place” for your supporting character.
It’s the mark on the wall, showing how tall he is at the beginning of
the story. At the story’s end, you’ll create another mark to contrast
the first and show how far the character has advanced (or
retreated) over the course of the story. Every prominent supporting
character in your story should be different in some way at the end
from who he is at the beginning.
4. What Flaw Results from Your Supporting

Character’s Lie?
Out of belief comes action. (On some levels, that’s the theory of the
novel unto itself.) It’s not enough for your supporting characters to
simply have a false belief. They must then translate that belief into
flawed behavioral patterns. The great script doctor John Truby
delineates two possible categories of flaws:
1. Psychological Flaws
These are interior weaknesses that harm only the character

himself.
For Example: Po, in Kung-Fu Panda, believes he has no worth

because he sees himself as a fat, smelly slob of a Panda, with no
innate skills. It “hurts” every day just being himself.
2. Moral Flaws
These are exterior weaknesses that harm others.
For Example: Tai-Lung, the antagonist in Kung-Fu Panda, believes

he is the only one worthy to be the Dragon Warrior, and he lays
waste to the Valley of Peace and nearly kills his own master to
prove it.
Note: moral flaws are inevitably extensions of psychological flaws.

(Arguably, Po’s self-revulsion harms others, since it keeps him from
realizing his true power to protect the Valley. And more obviously,
Tai-Lung’s destruction of others is certainly harmful to not just his
own desires but also, inescapably, his psychological well-being.)
Your supporting character’s flaw will be tied up in his desires and

goals, but it can also be a standalone characteristic of its own.
Although not as essential as the desire/goal, the flaw can exist
without them. It can be used to bring instant depth to a supporting
character, with no further exploration required.
After all, which is more interesting: a smiling neighbor lady who

compliments your new shoes, or a grumpy neighbor lady who
sprays you with the hose every time you pass on the sidewalk?
5. What Truth Will Your Supporting Character
Discover?
When I say “well-rounded” supporting character, what image
springs to mind? A circle, maybe? Makes sense, because well-
rounded characters must always come full circle. Remember how
your character’s Lie created a “mark” on the wall at the beginning
of the story, showing where he started out? That was the setup.
Come the end of this character’s participation in the story, you’re

going to need to pay off that setup. You do that by providing the
supporting character a Moment of Truth. He will come to a deep
and self-shaking realization about himself, his Lie, his goal, and his
flaw. He will react to this realization in one of two ways.
Either he will:
1. Embrace the Truth and reject the Lie–ending on a positive note.
2. Reject the Truth and cling tighter to the Lie–ending on a

negative note.
Because your supporting characters’ Lies/Truths will be much

smaller and less complicated facets of your protagonist’s Lie/Truth,
their journeys will be correspondingly much more simplistic. You
don’t have to plot every single beat of the supporting character’s
evolution. The less prominent the character is, the simpler the
comparison of his before and after states can be.
For the vast majority of supporting characters, you can get away
with hitting just two major beats: the setup, in which you introduce
his Lie/flaw/want/goal, and the payoff, in which you at least hint at
his Moment of Truth.
See how this works? The desire/goal/flaw will bring characterizing

dimension to even the most cursory of roles, while the setup and
payoff of Lie/Truth will sketch at least the essence of an
additional arc that supports your protagonist’s main journey. It’s
easy, it’s fun, and its effect on the complexity of your story is
absolutely transformative. Give it a try!

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1. What Does This Supporting Character Want?

1. They really don’t want much of anything.

2. If they do want something, then that desire is either:

a. Help protagonist get what he wants.

b. Stop protagonist from getting what he wants.

So, what did I do? I started going through my supporting cast,

Every single character–the protagonist’s relationship with them–the

Try it. I guarantee your minor characters will go from

2. What Is Your Supporting Character’s Goal?

This is where things get fun. Because, just as with your

Want it to get even better? The majority of that resistance should

Let’s say your protagonist is a spaceship pilot whose goal is to go

3. What Lie Does Your Supporting Character

The fundamental heart of every character arc–however complete or

Let’s return to our overprotective mother from the previous

Or it could be something much smaller and less injurious. In

4. What Flaw Results from Your Supporting

These are interior weaknesses that harm only the character

For Example: Po, in Kung-Fu Panda, believes he has no worth

These are exterior weaknesses that harm others.

For Example: Tai-Lung, the antagonist in Kung-Fu Panda, believes

Note: moral flaws are inevitably extensions of psychological flaws.

Your supporting character’s flaw will be tied up in his desires and

After all, which is more interesting: a smiling neighbor lady who

Come the end of this character’s participation in the story, you’re

1. Embrace the Truth and reject the Lie–ending on a positive note.

2. Reject the Truth and cling tighter to the Lie–ending on a

Because your supporting characters’ Lies/Truths will be much

See how this works? The desire/goal/flaw will bring characterizing

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