I love this post. I've absolutely been in this position with a couple of my books - where, at some point, I ralized I liked a side character so much more than my main character. And you're 100% right: this happened with the stories where I had the story idea, as opposed to the character concept, first.
Hey Kody! :D Thanks so much - and man, the number of times I've done this...you'd think I'd learn our lesson, but nope. I'm still constantly falling for my sidekicks.
I had this happenw ith my last YA novel, where I had a fun best friend character who was so charming and funny that at one point I was like, "Should HE be the love interest???" The answer was no. Because he had his own purpose, but it did challenge me to really work hard on making the actual love interest more interesting so that no one else had the same thought of "Wait, why isn't HE the love interest?" while reaidng the actual book.
this is why i love writing ensemble cast stories so much. as much as i love my MC, she has a job to do (and that's getting the story to keep moving), regardless of her own challenges and ways of interacting with the world.
writing broadly with an established cast helps the world feel bigger and more diverse, and characters who may have been shuffled aside instead get their own "main character" energy in ways that feel organic to them and their side stories.
One reason a side character might seem more authentic is that they are more distant from the author. The main character might have more of the author in them; so they end up an amalgam.
Thank-you, this is just what I needed to read today. I just got my developmental edit back and this is one of the points made. Now it makes sense why my second POV character resonates with me more. He was the first character I had in mind for this story. He's an ancient shape-shifting cat. Who wouldn't like him lol. The 12 year old human is the main POV and I've struggled fidning her voice - something pointed out by the editor. She said I had a setting and plot driven narrative - I am going to work on making it more character driven. My challenge - which MC? I love King Nigel, but one of the suggestions is to try an outline without him in it. Makes me sad thinking about it. Michelle have you ever dropped a character?
Great post, Michelle! I can certainly rattle off a few tv shows and movies where this is problem - charismatic side characters with a meh main character who we don't care about - and those writers could've definitely benefitted from this post (as well as the YouTube video).
But I really needed to read this today; I'm having similar issues with my YA fantasy WIP: I've got pages of backstory on side characters but I can't for the life of me figure out the MC's backstory or even her goal for that matter :( I'll easily brainstorm for hours on side characters then get to the MC and... crickets. I think I know what I need to do now :)
I love this post. I've absolutely been in this position with a couple of my books - where, at some point, I ralized I liked a side character so much more than my main character. And you're 100% right: this happened with the stories where I had the story idea, as opposed to the character concept, first.
Hey Kody! :D Thanks so much - and man, the number of times I've done this...you'd think I'd learn our lesson, but nope. I'm still constantly falling for my sidekicks.
I had this happenw ith my last YA novel, where I had a fun best friend character who was so charming and funny that at one point I was like, "Should HE be the love interest???" The answer was no. Because he had his own purpose, but it did challenge me to really work hard on making the actual love interest more interesting so that no one else had the same thought of "Wait, why isn't HE the love interest?" while reaidng the actual book.
That is such a tricky thing to navigate!!
this is why i love writing ensemble cast stories so much. as much as i love my MC, she has a job to do (and that's getting the story to keep moving), regardless of her own challenges and ways of interacting with the world.
writing broadly with an established cast helps the world feel bigger and more diverse, and characters who may have been shuffled aside instead get their own "main character" energy in ways that feel organic to them and their side stories.
One reason a side character might seem more authentic is that they are more distant from the author. The main character might have more of the author in them; so they end up an amalgam.
Thanks for this! I have a shelved ms with a side character I love. She will emerge again in some form!
yes!! she appeared for a reason!
Thank-you, this is just what I needed to read today. I just got my developmental edit back and this is one of the points made. Now it makes sense why my second POV character resonates with me more. He was the first character I had in mind for this story. He's an ancient shape-shifting cat. Who wouldn't like him lol. The 12 year old human is the main POV and I've struggled fidning her voice - something pointed out by the editor. She said I had a setting and plot driven narrative - I am going to work on making it more character driven. My challenge - which MC? I love King Nigel, but one of the suggestions is to try an outline without him in it. Makes me sad thinking about it. Michelle have you ever dropped a character?
umm this character sounds AMAZING. Yeah, write that cat POV!!!
Great post, Michelle! I can certainly rattle off a few tv shows and movies where this is problem - charismatic side characters with a meh main character who we don't care about - and those writers could've definitely benefitted from this post (as well as the YouTube video).
But I really needed to read this today; I'm having similar issues with my YA fantasy WIP: I've got pages of backstory on side characters but I can't for the life of me figure out the MC's backstory or even her goal for that matter :( I'll easily brainstorm for hours on side characters then get to the MC and... crickets. I think I know what I need to do now :)
So happy this helped, Avi!