Secondary Characters & Conflict

Cheer on the sidelines and in quiet conflict

You’ve imagined your teen novel and main character, but you conjure up more characters. Carefully consider your main character’s friends, frenemies, and enemies. Secondary characters are not the focus. However, secondary characters have their own goals and are the stars of their own life; remembering this is incredibly powerful when writing.

When we consider a conflict, it exists because people have their own goals and may view someone as blocking their path to achieve their goal. This is true on the page and in real life. For example, several people may compete for the same promotion at work. Can you imagine the amount of drama that can surface? In a teen (YA) novel substitute the promotion for a spot on the cheer squad or an athletic team. Once again, the characters will react a certain way. Fictional characters should react like people in real life. If you’ve lived long enough—chances are you’ve seen some crazy shenanigans.

Your job as a writer is to makes well rounded and believable. So, when the pom-poms go missing and there’s way too much roughness on the field—readers will believe your characters as real.