Write the story from the sidekick’s perspective, too – Things I learned while writing Dead Ringer
During one particular rewrite of Dead Ringer, I felt like I’d tied myself up in knots. My protagonist was breaking up with her boyfriend, but he seemed to be taking it too well. I couldn’t figure out what he was thinking or feeling during the scene.
So I decided to write the entire novel from The Boyfriend’s perspective.
Well, in note form, anyway. I wrote down every major scene of the novel and scribbled down a few words about what he was thinking at that point in time.
It was a simple exercise, but it solved all my problems.
We never get to hear his thoughts in the novel, since he’s not a POV character, but suddenly I knew how he would act and what he would say in certain situations.
I unknotted my problematic scene, and I think the novel got better overall.
I now do this type of exercise (reimagining the novel as if the sidekick or love interest were the main character) with all my non-POV characters.
