A Book Coach's Top Character Development Tip
This book coach's top character development tip is simple: Never create more characters than you can develop.
There is no room in a story for a character who is given nothing more than a name and one line. Every character deserves a purpose.
You would never adopt twenty children you couldn’t feed just to take nice Christmas photos. I mean. . .I hope. So don’t introduce a character you don’t intend to develop.
There is no such thing as a “side” character, and characters should never be used to take up space or add another warm body to an ensemble. Every character has a journey, even if this story isn’t about them.
Consider what happens when you jump into the last book or movie in a series and have no idea who anyone is or what is going on. There’s always a thoroughly disorienting scene where the cast assembles and it is supposed to mean something.
Imagine you’re watching the scene where Cap says the word “assemble” in Avengers: End Game, but you haven’t seen any of the other movies. To you, it’s a bunch of battle-ready strangers having a moment that you weren’t invited to. That’s what it feels like to your reader when you don’t develop all the characters. They feel like they weren’t invited and they won’t buy the plot from that moment on.
Now, consider Luna Lovegood, Boo Radley, Peregrin Took, and Charlotte Lucas. At some points, the plot hinges on them or represents deep truths about the MC. They should. A good “side” character reminds the reader that the book in their hands is an invitation. All are welcome. Everyone matters.
Every character is valuable, and the plot should break at least a little if a character were to be deleted. So, if you can remove a whole character and change nothing. . .well, do it. I know your characters are important, but if you really like that one, you need to feed him, laugh at his jokes, and let him carry some of the weight of the plot.
Who is your favorite “side” character, and what corner of the plot did they carry?
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