Episode 388: How to Craft Your Supporting Characters – Interview with Sacha Black

by Gabriela Pereira
published in Podcast

Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Sacha Black.

Sacha is an author, rebel podcaster, and professional speaker. She has five obsessions; words, expensive shoes, conspiracy theories, self-improvement, and breaking the rules.

Sacha writes books about people with magical powers and other books about the art of writing.

When she’s not writing, she can be found laughing inappropriately loud, sniffing musty old books, fangirling about film and TV soundtracks, or thinking up new ways to break the rules.

She lives in Cambridgeshire, England, with her wife and genius, giant of a son.

In this episode Sacha Black and I discuss:

  • The main types of supporting characters and what you should do with each type.
  • Why you need to create contrast between your supporting characters and your protagonist.
  • How to balance giving supporting characters depth without letting them take over the story.

Plus, her #1 tip for writers.

About Sacha Black

Sacha Black is an author, rebel podcaster, and professional speaker. She has five obsessions; words, expensive shoes, conspiracy theories, self-improvement, and breaking the rules.

Sacha writes books about people with magical powers and other books about the art of writing.

When she’s not writing, she can be found laughing inappropriately loud, sniffing musty old books, fangirling film and TV soundtracks, or thinking up new ways to break the rules.

She lives in Cambridgeshire, England, with her wife and genius, giant of a son.

You can find Sacha on her website or follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and Patreon. You can also join her Facebook group.

8 Steps to Side Characters

Sacha Black

Do your characters fail to bring your story to life? Are they flat, boring or have no depth? Is your story lacking a little cohesion or sparkle?

In 8 Steps to Side Characters, you’ll discover: 

  • A step-by-step guide for creating side characters that bring your story alive
  • The main types of side characters and what you should do with them
  • The key to crafting character depth that hooks readers
  • How to harness your character’s voice to deepen your reader’s experience
  • Tips and tricks for using details to enhance characterization 
  • Methods for killing characters that will help deepen plot, theme and story
  • Dozens of ideas for creating conflict with your side characters 
  • Tactics for differentiating characters and making them feel real to your reader 
  • Character archetypes and functions
  • The most common pitfalls and mistakes to avoid 

8 Steps to Side Characters is a comprehensive writing guide that will help you create the side characters your story needs. This book is packed with tips and tricks for polishing characters for writers at any level.   If you want to power up your characters, eliminate dull and lifeless archetypes, and perfect your characterization, this is the book for you. By the end of this book, you’ll know how to strengthen your characters to give your story, prose and plot the extra something special it needs to capture readers and fans for life.

If you like dark humor, learning through examples and want to create better side characters, then you’ll love Sacha Black’s guide to crafting supporting roles with intention, purpose, and power. Read 8 Steps to Side Characters today and start creating kick-ass stories.

If you decide to check out the book, we hope you’ll do so via this Amazon affiliate link, where if you choose to purchase via the link DIY MFA gets a referral fee at no cost to you. As always, thank you for supporting DIY MFA!

Link to Episode 388

(Right-click to download.)

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Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome!

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