What is the Most Essential Element to Any Story?

What is the Most Essential Element to Any Story (and is Too Often Ignored by Emerging Writers)?

Hint: It's Not the Main Character, nor Structure, or Even a Marketable Hook.

The Secondary Character Affect and Core Relationship

Welcome back everyone! You’re reading my fourth Substack post, which leads me to believe that you might actually be getting something out of this, or you’re just interested enough to see how crazy this newsletter series may become. I’ll ruin the ending for you; it’s a Substack on screenwriting. It doesn’t get that crazy. Nonetheless, I’m kind of excited to share this one with you. We’ve talked about the Main Character Stage of Life for Sequence 1, and the Set- Up Event for Sequence 2, and really I could have gone on and on a lot longer than I did for those two posts and, really, this post isn’t any different. Sequence 3 is a big one. It marks the end of your 1st Act (of a feature), propels the reader on the journey and gets the Main Character prepped for the 2nd Act, and most importantly introduces the impact of the Secondary Character. The sidekick. The mentor. The best friend. The type of Secondary Character totally depends on your story, of course, but ultimately it’s the core relationship in your story. 

Frodo’s Samwise. Luke’s Obi-Wan. Don Quixote’s Sancho. Marty’s Doc Brown. I could keep going. As memorable as any Main Character can be, his partner is equally memorable. Why? Why is it that when Harry Potter is quite obviously the hero, we fawn over Albus Dumbledore, Ron or Hermione? Yeah fine, these characters are well-developed, layered, emotionally charged, and just plain well-written. There is, however, another reason, one of extreme importance when building and developing a concept. 

You know the line, “Behind every great man there is a great woman”. Or in this day and age, you could say, “behind every great woman there is a great man, or woman”, but whatever, no need to dive into gender roles here. Any story’s Secondary Character is as important as its Main Character. Here’s something to stick on your wall,

“No Main Character or hero can change, evolve or develop without the assistance of an outside force.” In other words, a relationship.

We’ll dive deeper into that a lot more, but understanding the importance of a Secondary Character within your story will likely be what propels you to craft a more exciting, emotional, and enjoyable project as a whole.

Many of you, I am sure, have heard of these basic story structure or thematic statements, “Man vs. Nature”, “Man vs. Man”, “Man vs. Self”. 

I am going to go so far as to beg you to stop thinking along those lines. It’s boring. They mean nothing. And they don’t help you develop a dynamic story or adventure. Plus, they are far too general when attempting to create entire worlds and engaging characters. Think about it. “I’m writing a Man vs. Self story.” That’s nice, but...so? 

Is your Main Character punching himself in the face all the time? Is he sitting in front of a mirror all day, every day, and having conversations with his own image? Does he have a doppelganger that mimics his moves, intent, thoughts? All of these questions create completely different stories, adventures and potential themes, so why be vague? It’s crucial to understand a particular aspect of such a statement as “Man vs. Self”. All stories have some semblance of “Man vs. Self”.

No matter the movie, book, theatrical play, poem or TV show, every single story has an aspect of a person fighting to gain control over some kind of aspect of his or her life, and therefore becoming a little better than they used to be, or failing at becoming better than they used to be and thus learning a valuable (albeit potentially depressing) lesson. And here’s a newsflash; all of these stories had a Secondary Character of some kind embodying the qualities that will allow the Main Character to change. I’m going to say that again, all of these stories had a Secondary Character of some kind embodying the qualities that will allow the Main Character to change. 

And oh, I can hear the comments now

“But what about Tom Hanks in CAST AWAY?He spent the majority of the movie alone on an island! Who was his Secondary Character?” Robert Zemeckis needed more than a photo of Helen Hunt for Tom Hanks to evolve, so he did what? He created Wilson, the volleyball. What does Wilson do in the end? He floats away, forcing Hanks to make a decision. Wilson embodied Tom Hanks’ need to let go, move on, and trust the unknown. What was Tom Hanks’ character’s job in the movie? He was an overly organized logistics manager for FedEx that lived a life based completely around schedules and planned expectations. The following scene, after Wilson floats away and Hanks is rescued, is an amazing monologue – which I think every actor and screenwriter needs to study - where Hanks describes his time on the island and how he, “had power over nothing”, and all he could do was “keep breathing”. Could it be argued that the island itself was his Secondary Character? In some ways, yes, but the island was embodied by a bloodied volleyball named Wilson because there was a human, relational aspect to that dynamic, and in a subtle, but very real sense, Wilson helped him change because he never gave the character any answers. Hanks’ character had to come up with the answers on his own.

So, our specific topic of the day is focusing on Sequence 3. There are so many ways to dive in and explain how it can work, because really, it’s the most adaptable and changeable sequence of all of the twelve. Like I mentioned in the last Substack post (link above), where I reference BACK TO THE FUTURE and when Marty meets up with Doc, the 1st Act combines Sequences 2 and 3 into a long, 15 minute-or-so scene. It’s an example of how sequences can seemingly be combined without actually seeing the structural shift. The general rule – the very formulaic way of approaching this sequence-based process of creating your script – is that in Sequence 2, the Main Character is presented with a new opportunity of some kind. In Sequence 3, a Secondary Character comes along and enhances that opportunity in some way. Those things can happen in one scene if you want it to (and you see this happen most often in sit-coms).

The Secondary Character

They can do a multitude of things to help define your 3rd Sequence, he can give the Main Character an ultimatum, “Do this, or this will happen.” Or he could force the Main Character to jump into the adventure without giving him any kind of ultimatum at all – kind of like Marty and BACK TO THE FUTURE. Or the Secondary Character suddenly becomes the teacher like Luke’s Obi Wan and goes on this adventure with the Hero in order to help and assist. Or like in 40 YEAR-OLD VIRGIN, Steve Carell’s co-workers force him into the dating scene. It completely depends on the type of Main Character you have created that then spawns A) the type of Secondary Character that co-exists with the Hero and B) what that Secondary Character offers the Hero. Again, this could be in the form of assistance or inadvertent adventure. 

Let’s take a second and look at this from another angle. This might help you develop that third sequence a little. When this element of the story process dawned on me and I really ‘got it’, it was kind of like a light bulb that exploded over my head. 

Just as a thought exercise, consider the Secondary Character as an Opponent and yet, a best friend. The best of friend is not someone who consistently says ‘yes’ to you, agrees with everything you say, and dotes upon you like a servant. The best kind of friend is the one who challenges you, pushes you toward a mountain that he knows you can climb even when you’ve given up. This friend knows what’s best for you because she knows the best in you has yet to shine. Can she be annoying? Can she frustrate the hell out of you? Can she even assume the role of an enemy sometimes? Does she put obstacles in front of you? Yeah, but let’s look at the “why” for a second. It’s because they are forcing us to make the hard decisions, to change, to be better than we used to be, all while we personally admit – after a lot of teeth pulling - that we’re imperfect. Since character development and evolution most often drives an adventure, the essence of change becomes evident through every obstacle, and such change is charged and catalyzed by and because of this dynamic Secondary Character.

So, in order to create a strong Secondary Character, your Main Character’s internal struggle and problem needs to be clearly defined. Without knowing what emotional struggle your Hero is trying to manage (or in some ways, trying to ignore), then you won’t truly understand how the assigned Secondary Character will be able to help, much less provide moments and scenes during the 2nd Act Adventure that affect and change that Main Character. I will summarize and simplify that…

“the Secondary Character provides moments and scenes during and throughout the Adventure”.

This is such a vital aspect of storytelling that writers tend to either forget or just not understand. When you are having difficulty brainstorming scenes and moments for your concept or your 2nd Act, look to your Secondary Character and how she can make things more difficult for your Hero. By brainstorming a list of ways your Secondary Character can place obstacles in front of your Hero, you suddenly create a list of scenes and moments that outline the 2nd Act. Evolving such obstacles so that they become more and more entertaining, challenging and/or difficult will then create more conflict, drama, action, suspense...you get the idea...and the relationship between the Main and Secondary Characters is tested. That’s the basis of any story, really. 

And just as a reminder in general, every character in your story is tasked with the responsibility to affect change in, and therefore develop, your Hero. They each have a specific reason for being in your story. If there are characters in your story that do not progress your Hero’s Adventure in some way, they just need to go. In other words, if they aren’t adding to the evolution of, or change in your character, or they’re not progressing the basic plot of the story, please do yourself a favor and dig that character a six foot hole and push him in. 

The Unsung Hero

As a way to visualize the idea behind your Secondary Character, think of him or her as The Unsung Hero. That invisible energy that propels action, conquest, and resolution, and yet finds solace in never receiving credit. Your Hero needs help, whether he knows it or not, and the Secondary Character will be there for him to spot the cracks in the hull and either make the cracks even bigger in order to prove a point, or to patch them up. Samwise Gamgee from The Lord of the Rings epitomizes the role of a Secondary Character – ever loyal, ever helpful, and always pushing Frodo to keep moving forward without ever expecting to receive credit. And when Frodo physically couldn’t go on, what did Sam say?

“I may not be able to carry it for you, but I can carry you.”

Samwise knew what was best for Frodo, despite Frodo’s plea to stop. Had Sam given in, there wouldn’t have been much of a story in the first place. Your Secondary Character deserves more credit than you may be giving her. Let her shine by focusing just as much time on her character’s development as your Hero’s. 

So Sequence 3 is all about introducing your Secondary Character AND/OR how he or she will affect your Main Character. I am emphasizing “and/or” because you do NOT need to wait until the 3rd Sequence to formally introduce this Secondary Character to your audience or Main Character. Many stories introduce this secondary lead very early on - that’s completely fine. What the 3rd Sequence does is show the audience how this Secondary Character will be an active part of the Main Character’s pursuit going into the 2nd Act, AND because of this Secondary Character’s personality, beliefs, abilities, or overall talents, the Main Character will learn something through their particular relationship. By the time the 3rd Sequence rolls around, we know what the plot set up is and we know what kind of role the Main Character will play in it, what they want personally and what they need to pursue from a plot perspective. So we then naturally need to present the core relationship in the story before the 1st Act ends, and that core relationship is with the Secondary Character. 

If you want an incredible example of a Secondary Character, I beg of you to watch EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE. Even if you’ve already seen it. If wild, universe-hopping, mind-bending movies aren’t your thing, then another perfect example is FINDING NEMO. Dori could not be a more perfect Secondary Character. 

Again, it completely depends on who your Main Character is in terms of what the Secondary Character does, who she is, and how she will direct the 2nd Act and the Hero’s role in it. Do yourself a favor and develop the hell out of your Secondary Character. Even if that character is just a volleyball! Make sure you understand how that damn volleyball is going to change the Hero in some way and why that volleyball is so critical to the overall story. 

Like I said at the beginning, I could keep going here. The third sequence is pretty damn crucial to the story because it ends and brings a culmination to the first act. This will happen somewhere between page 20 and 30 and vault the reader into the 2nd Act Adventure (if we’re counting pages of a feature, though it isn’t necessary to follow page count). This is why that Secondary Character is so critical. As a reminder, yes and again it’s perfectly fine for the Secondary Character to show up in Sequence 1 or 2, but just make a note that if he does, then he must do something in Sequence 3 that catalyzes the 2nd Act. 

Remember Doc Brown telling Marty, “We have to get you back to the future!” after the crazy realization of needing 1.21 gigawatts of electricity? Yeah…that happened in Sequence 3. 

Even though the audience may already be familiar with the Secondary Character by Sequence 3, there should be a big window into who the character is and how he or she will be affecting the Main Character throughout the middle of your movie. And yes, if you’re writing a TV pilot – a sit-com or hour-long drama – there will still be an introduction to the episode’s adventure and situation by way of a Secondary Character. Though it may happen earlier than the Sequence 3 beat, it still happens. There is still the presentation of a new opportunity, or the launching of your Main Character into the episode’s A-Story situation. What TV does so wonderfully is also focus story time on the relationship between the Main Character and Secondary by way of a so-called B-Story - they spend time away from the plot so we can delve deeper into the relationship between the two. TV simply has more time to do so due to a multiple-episode approach. Those A and B Stories, though, better be really damn engaging, though, otherwise we won’t be bringing the audience back to watch upcoming episodes.

In Conclusion

To finish off this newsletter, I have two quotes for you. The first one epitomizes a Main Character’s adventure, and since the third sequence may be focusing on how the Secondary Character may affect the Main Character, it’s important to remember that this is still the Hero’s journey. It’s still his or her story, and in just about every story, that Hero sets off thinking she wants something, but in the end realizes what she truly needs. And that is what the Secondary Character’s purpose is, to help her find what she needs. So, here is my favorite author, JRR Tolkien, and a little excerpt from his Lord of the Rings:

“There is nothing like looking if you want to find something. You certainly usually find something, if you look, but it is not always quite the something you were after”.

And for the Samwise Gamgees and Obi Wans out there, I’ll leave you with this newsletter’s final quote that happens to be exactly the kind of advice a Secondary Character would give....

“Cinderella believed in dreams, alright, but she also believed in doing something about them. When Prince Charming didn’t come along, she went to the palace and got him.” That quote comes from a little-known creative genius named Walt Disney. 

There is a lot more to come, but let me be your own Secondary Character for a moment; do not rely on this Substack to take the place of your writing. Nothing takes the place of your writing sessions. Not research, studying a show or actively watching a film. This Substack is to aid you in your pursuit to improving your craft, but you must apply what you’ve learned, otherwise this is all just fun theory and musings. 

Get writing and create something.

Subscribe to The Story Farm