My Best Friend Is a Superhero, and All I Got Was This Lousy Near-Death Experience

Willow Rosenberg. Neville Longbottom. Calvin O'Keefe. Lilly Moscovitz. Logan Echolls (dreamy sigh).

Sure, they're not the ones who save the world or inherit the kingdom. They're not the stars of the story (although sometimes they might think they are!). Imagine if your best friend was Buffy or Harry or Mia—you'd probably be thinking, ruh-roh...I might be a sidekick!

But being a sidekick doesn't necessarily mean you're boring, right? We love them all because the authors (or TV show writers) made them hilarious or surprising or adorable in a way we hadn't seen before. They're not empty nobodies who only say: "You're so right about how to kill that vampire" or "No, it doesn't make you look fat." They have personalities of their own. So take a minute and think about your smaller characters. How can you make them as fun to write about as your hero?

Some things to think about:

What are they obsessed with?
Who do they love? (This could be the answer to the first question, too!)
Do they have any secrets they're hiding from the main character?
Would they want to be the hero of the story, if they could?
What makes them mad?
Why are they friends with the hero? (Or. . . why are they not?)
What would their theme song be?

Of course your hero/heroine is the first character you have to develop. . . but don't forget the little people! I love writing about these side characters because they can be as funny or weird or important as I want them to be. Think about Jane's friends, or her annoying sibling, or the mysterious Max. What makes them unique, too? (Do any of them also have paranormal powers?)

Who are your favorite supporting characters? They can be from books, TV, or movies. What made them stand out? Why do you like them? Who in your life would make a great supporting character in a story?

Tui Sutherland
Author of Avatars, Book One: So This Is How It Ends