I attended a play the other week. It was a musical comedy with the main character also acting as a narrator. All the cast members were brilliant and played off each others lines and really made the play come together.
One thing I noticed was how well the supporting characters filled in the details and made the story come to life as the main character narrated the action.
When writing either a short story or a long novel it is always tempting to give the best lines or leave most of the action up to the main character. Some writers put something of themselves into the main character and it’s tempting to give this character the best lines and most action. But think about it. Does this really happen in real life? Of course not!
If you really want to write a more realistic and more in-depth story then spread the action around some. I don’t mean totally dilute what your main character does but think about how situations and how conflicts begin, evolve, and are resolved in your real life.
News comes in from some sources, others add more details, you make decisions, you explain these to others who in turn make their decisions, everyone talks about it and then either take action or not and the event gets resolved.
The other thing about supporting players is that too often they are merely props that are not fleshed out. They serve to deliver one or two lines of dialogue but are never fully explored. Look into their background almost as closely as you would for your main characters. Sometimes the backgrounds of these supporting players can be even more interesting than your main character.
Same thing goes for villains as well. The better your villain is developed and fleshed out the better your hero will look and your story will be that more interesting because of it.
I think if you take this advice you will not only end up with a more interesting tale to tell but you will find that you will enjoy the writing process more.
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