Young Writers Society

Hey YWS, my question is on introducing a secondary protagonist into a story. How should it be done? Should it be gradual, sudden, how would you do it?

Well, what does the story need?

Introducing secondary protagonists can be fast, slow, sudden, or gradual. How it ends up is a combination of personal preference, genre, and that individual story's needs.

A Game of Thrones introduces other protagonists chapter by chapter, by changing points of view to their perspective. However, Tamora Pierce introduces secondary protagonists gradually, with them being introduced early on in the first viewpoint character's segments and them eventually gaining "secondary protagonist" status.

Game of Thrones is far broader in scope, with the story unable to be told in full without multiple protagonists right at the beginning; the story is about dozens of people and how they're affected by the plot. However, Tamora Pierce is far narrower, focusing on one character's story and how they develop themselves in a situation; the story is primarily about one person's struggles, and secondary protagonists only reach that status when they're either required to tell the story (from their perspective) or when the struggles get bigger than one person.

Gradual introductions are nice when you're primarily talking about one person, and sudden introductions are nice when you're primarily talking about one event. I'd probably go by that rule of thumb when considering your secondary protagonist.

One thing to note: I am equating "protagonist" with "point of view character" when I probably shouldn't be. The point of view jumps make it a little more obvious who's the protagonist when talking about having multiple. You by no means have to make each protagonist have their own perspective; you can simply make them very important to the plot and stick with one perspective.

It really depends on the story. There's no right or wrong way to introduce a character, as long as you do it if that makes sense, lol. However, if I were you, if the story works with this, I would introduce the character as soon as possible. The more time the readers have to become acquainted with the characters, the better.

Introducing a secondary character, like Sparks said really depends on the type of story and plot you're writing for. However, in my opinion I think that characters (unless they are minor characters who appear only once or twice) should be introduced gradually. With a small amount of foreshadowing for that particular character's appearance into the novel. Otherwise, too sudden an appearance will give the readers an unpleasant jolt from the rhythm of the story.

But it also, depends on how secondary your character really is. It depends on the role the characters play. If it is a minor character, Minor characters should make an impression when they come on the scene, just not a big splash. Here’s an example from Devices and Desires by P.D. James.

The door was already closing when he heard running footsteps and a cheerful shout, and Manny Cummings leapt in, just avoiding the bite of the closing steel. As always he seemed to whirl in a vortex of almost oppressive energy, too powerful to be contained by the lift’s four walls. He was brandishing a brown envelope. “Glad I caught you, Adam. It is Norfolk you’re escaping to, isn’t it? If the Norfolk CID do lay their hands on the Whistler, take a look at him for me, will you, check he isn’t our chap in Battersea.”

Is Manny tall or short? Fat or thin? Balding or sporting a crew cut? Who knows and who cares. It’s what he does that counts: He leaps into the elevator, arriving like a whirlwind, delivers three lines of dialogue with a hint of an Irish brogue, and gives the protagonist an all-important brown envelope that pushes the plot along.

[That was quoted from Writer's Digest]

Also be wary that when you introduce a secondary character, don't make them overtly complex. You don't want to spend ages explaining the mystery behind those secondary characters. Secondary characters are usually made them either highlight the protagonist's traits or provide a contrast to it.

Best of luck in your writing!