Alright, so you’ve looked at the prior blogs about character creation, and you feasibly have a working character idea. They have a few goals, a motivation to propel them forward, a love interest and a narrative foil, and even a rather polite way of speaking! How fancy. You’ve also decided they like tea, but only particular kinds, and they abhor littering. Seems like you’ve already put some good thought into your character. Good job!
But, well, as the saying goes: Action speaks louder than words.
Your character needs to do things, not simply be. Even if you know their favorite tea flavors, even if you know they always use impeccable grammar, even if you are already fantasizing about their beautiful wedding attire for when they elope to Marseille with their love interest—all these are pleasant and make a character, but do not make a story.
Protip: You could write about their beautiful wedding attire for when they elope to Marseille with their love interest. That’s what the cool kids are calling a Plot!
Jokes aside, characters, no matter how major or minor, do need some sort of arc* or plot to go through. Taking actions and doing things are not the same as a plot or arc, but they are a main component of it.
*Even static characters arguably need some sort of plot to do. A dynamic character is a character who goes through growth or change due to their arc; a static character does not undergo growth or change. This does not necessarily make them a minor character, and it does not mean they aren’t part of the plot. Characters can do things without evolving.
Another caveat: Many minor characters don’t need an arc. Yes, despite what I just said. This is a case of ‘you won’t know until you do it’—a neighbor character who stops in to tell the MC that their dog is off the leash doesn’t really need an arc. But, arguably, their little message delivery is a miniscule bit of their own plot, even if the narrative doesn’t focus on them in a way that explores their motivations.
Some minor characters, however, especially recurring ones, can and do need a plot and an arc. “Minor Character” is really a spectrum unto itself. It is up to you, dear writer, to figure out how much attention they need, how much action they will partake in, if they have any goals that need to be narratively aired, or if they’re secretly the main villain but you have to get to the end of book 4 to realize that.
Do you need to create a tiered hierarchy of your entire cast to figure out who is major, who is minor, and who deserves an arc? If that works for you, then yes! Most authors don’t need that (or rather, don’t want to do that), but one of the biggest parts of committing to writing is to figure out what outlandish methods work best for your process. We all have at least one.
But you don’t need to agonize over giving all of the neighbors, baristas, pushy salesmen, ghosts, pets, or any other barely-there characters their own thing. If they do something in a scene to warrant their presence, that can be enough plot for them. Save the rest for bigger characters.
So, you’ve established a character in your mind’s eye, and from here on out, we will assume they’re a Main Character. You know they have to do things. Things that will likely align with their goals and motivations, but hey, maybe sometimes they don’t, just for spice. You need to figure out a story plot, but also the plot for that character.
And that’s for next week’s post!
