It’s always useful to have someone your novel’s or screenplay’s protagonist can talk to, to reveal things you want the audience to know. In a novel, these might just be his or her thoughts, but having them told to another character allows you to show a reaction as well.
However, there’s a danger that this character becomes just a device for exposition rather than a three-dimensional person in their own right. Here are five ways to make sure they come alive:
- Give them an ongoing story of their own that may or may not be tied to the protagonist’s plot. Make sure they have ups and downs as the story progresses;
- Don’t have the protagonist tell them things they’d already know. Let’s say your protagonist has a bad relationship with his brother. Chances are that the protagonist’s best friend would know this, but you could have the brother do something new that would become the topic of conversation.
- Create an incident that changes their relationship. It could split them apart, perhaps temporarily, or it could bring them closer together, or both—initially create a split but find a way for them to overcome it and then be even closer. Making it a dynamic relationship rather than a static one makes it more real.
- Make the character fallible. One definition of a friend is someone who knows all about you but likes you anyway. The fact that your protagonist can overlook the other person’s faults (and vice-versa) humanizes both of them.
- Let them play an important role in the resolution of the protagonist’s story. This will give them an importance beyond being a confidante.
Often the best friend character is quirkier than the protagonist, so have fun with him or her (just be careful they’re not a lot more interesting than your protagonist, otherwise they can overshadow him or her).
(How did the great classic authors like Dickens, Twain, and Austen, and the modern greats like Hemingway, Fitzgerald and Vonnegut go about creating great characters and stories? You'll find their secrets in my newest book, "Your Creative Writing Masterclass." You can get it from Amazon or your other favorite book seller right now.)
