Reader Question: How should I go about developing “minor” characters?

From Melinda Mahaffey:

My question is about “minor” characters — where do you start with them, in terms of fitting them into your script? By minor characters, I mean the significant characters who aren’t the protagonist or nemesis. I’ve read a couple of screenwriting books and of course, I read GITS, and I feel like they’re hardly ever mentioned (but in a recent post, Tom Benedek wrote that subplots are often the most important narrative elements in a script).

I have my main character, nemesis and basic plot nailed down, but I just don’t know where to start with the other characters. Should they have somewhat of their own journey, or are they just there as they relate to the main character? Any discussion on working on the other characters would be appreciated!

First let’s draw a distinction between three categories of characters: Primary, Secondary, Tertiary.

Primary characters are those that play a significant role in the narrative and have their own subplot, associated with the Protagonist’s involvement in the Plotline.

Secondary characters play a less important role and yet appear in two or more scenes.

Tertiary characters exist for the purposes of a specific function in one scene.

When you use the word “minor,” I think of Tertiary characters. Primary and Secondary characters are vitally important to any narrative, really only separated by page and scene count.

If you have your Protagonist and Nemesis in order, you have the foundation for developing other Primary and Secondary characters. In my view, they are all tied to the Protagonist, both the character’s Physical journey [External World] and Psychological journey [Internal World].

And this is where the value of using five primary character archetypes comes in: Protagonist, Nemesis, Attractor, Mentor, Trickster.

Attractor: Which characters are most connected to the Protagonist’s emotional development?

Mentor: Which characters are most connected to the Protagonist’s intellectual development?

[Note: Both of these character types function as allies to the Protagonist.]

Trickster: Which character tests your Protagonist, switching from ally to enemy, enemy to ally?

That’s a great starting point for you.

By the way, I teach this content about character archetypes, both theory and practical applications, in several Screenwriting Master Class courses including the Core class on character and Character Development Keys.

Comment Archive