When creating characters for a story, whether it’s a novel, short story, screenplay, play, etc., remember that every character you introduce must serve a purpose in the story. It’s pointless and a waste of time for you and your audience to have to deal with characters that have no reason for existing within the context of the story being presented.
Yes, there are different types of characters in a story that serves a multitude of purposes. But even Henchman #3 has a reason to be in the story. If he’s just there doing nothing and has no purpose in fighting the main character or helping to escalate the obstacles for the main character than they should be removed ASAP.
Your main character is surrounded by supporting characters. Those characters exist to help the main character, to support the main character, to give exposition and context to the main character and their world. They, in essence, ground the main character in the reality of the story.
The antagonist exists to upend the world of the main character, and the characters associated with them are there to cause chaos for the protagonist as well. They serve a purpose in the story: to help drive the action and conflict of the narrative and create obstacles for the main character.
Utility characters are those that the main character interacts with that often help the main character in some basic way: a cab driver; a cop; a barista; a witness who heard something. They help propel the story forward but they aren’t integral to the main character’s overall growth over the course of the narrative. On TV shows, these are also usually the random characters that pop up in an episode only to be killed off so the main cast can stay in-tact.
If you are taking the time to create and write about a character, they must serve a purpose that serves the main character on their journey. Don’t spend hours creating a random character who appears in one chapter who is fascinating and clever, only for them to never be seen again. If this does happen when you’re writing, maybe save that character for another story or integrate them more into what you’ve written.
It’s okay to have crowd of people in a story, but don’t get too focused in on who they are as individuals unless the ones you select to describe more have a purpose later on. For example, if you have a group of protesters, you can give us an idea of what they look like and what they are doing/protesting, but naming them and giving them backstories is only worth your time and the audience’s time if we will see those particular characters later.
The most important characters are your main character and the antagonist. Everyone else exists to serve them or oppose them over the course of the story.
How do you make sure you are keeping your story focused and on track? We’ll talk about that topic on Monday!
