This week in the MFA program, we had a great discussion about creating and using secondary characters in a novel. While I did have interesting side characters in my two previous novels, The Stone Harvest and Deadlined, I can see how I could have used them to better contrast or highlight the protagonist. I hope this new information helps you build a fuller world around your main character. New writers tend to pour all their energy into the protagonist, treating everyone else as background noise. That's a missed opportunity. Secondary characters have real jobs to do, and when you build them with intention, they make your whole story feel richer. Give them a reason to exist. Every secondary character should do something for your story: reveal key details, motivate the protagonist, contrast with them, or help establish your setting. If a character doesn't serve one of those purposes in a given scene, ask yourself whether they need to be there at all. Build them out, even if readers never see them. It helps to develop a mini character bible for each important secondary character: backstory, personality, maybe even an arc of their own, even if most of it never makes it onto the page. Characters who feel real to you as the writer tend to feel real to the reader too, even in small doses. Let them live in the gray. One-dimensional secondary characters (the purely helpful friend, the purely evil rival) are easy to write and easy to forget. Give your supporting cast virtues and flaws, the same complexity you'd give your protagonist. That contradiction is what makes them memorable. Don't overcrowd your story. A large cast of secondary characters can overwhelm readers fast. Keep the cast manageable, make sure each character is distinct, and if two characters serve similar functions, consider combining them into one stronger character. One tool worth knowing: the foil. A foil is a specific kind of secondary character built to highlight another character's traits through contrast, not necessarily through conflict. Foils aren't villains. They can be best friends, rivals, or simple side characters whose differences sharpen the protagonist's strengths and flaws. For instance, pair a stubborn, controlling protagonist with a flexible, collaborative foil, and both characters become clearer by comparison. The differences should be distinct enough to notice, but not so extreme that they feel like a gimmick.

Hi, I'm Daniel. Welcome to the community! I'm the author of two novels, The Stone Harvest and Deadlined, and I'm currently working through my Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing (Fiction). Before writing became the center of my life, I spent years as a soldier and a police officer—work that still shapes how I think about character, consequence, and the kind of stories I'm drawn to tell. I want to be clear about something up front: I'm not here as an expert handing down rules from on high. The internet is full of folks who proclaim they're experts. I'm just a peer who's a few steps further down the same road you're on; still drafting, still revising, still learning constantly through my MFA program. Everything I teach here comes from what I'm learning myself, not from some finished, certified authority on storytelling. What I can offer is structure: a place to learn the fundamentals of craft, share your work in a low-stakes setting, and get honest feedback from people who are genuinely trying to help you grow. We will build a collection of skills and ideas I wish I'd had when I started writing. A little about what's ahead: every week, expect a craft lesson and a motivation post, plus regular chances to share your work in progress. I'll also be around in the discussions, not just posting and disappearing. Glad you're here. Introduce yourself below — tell us what you're working on and where you get stuck.