: Re: How to prevent secondary characters stealing protagonist role when using exposition via dialogue? Due to the evolution of modern media I prefer to depend on exposition through dialogue. I try

@Vandalay250

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A viewpoint character isn't necessarily a protagonist, no matter how ubiquitous. What marks a main character, even to the audience, is that they're relevant; they do things that matter. Lisa can be present in these scenes, but if Karen and Cindy are the ones with agency—if they're the ones driving the plot forward—then the audience is much less likely to mistake a mere observer for the protagonist.

If this is a film or play, or if Lisa is never a viewpoint character, consider limiting the number of layers you give her character. A character that's too flat, of course, will fall short in other ways, but a character with a few quirks, maybe a couple secrets that the audience can deduce relatively easily and then dismiss, is going to draw less focus in the long run than one who has obviously had a lot more thought put into them. One does have to do this subtly—any character that's too obviously an archetype will stand out—but our brains are naturally wired for pattern-matching, and we do it subconsciously. It's the characters we can't place so easily that are going to ping our main-character sense.

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