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When developing characters and generating scenes, a "mind map" illustrating relationships can prove revealing and useful. A single page allows you to visualize such relationships. Your mind map instantaneously communicates which characters are blood relatives, know one another intimately, casually, or not at all. You can diagram how characters feel toward one another: love, indifference, contempt. Or, indicate the archetype the character represents: mentor, gate-keeper, etc.
Start with a variety of colored markers or crayons. Draw two circles in the middle of a piece of paper. Enter the name of your protagonist in one, your antagonist in the second. Radiating out from these circles, draw a series of new circles or other shapes. In each, write the name of a supporting character.
Next, using a color-coded key, draw lines linking characters, differentiating between those who are blood relatives, or have an intimate or casual connection. If there is no relationship between one character and another, simply omit the connecting line. You may also wish to color code how characters feel about one another, or write that by the connecting line. Illustrate how relationships change-moving from love to hate.
After creating your mind map, study the relationships. Do they suggest new scenes? If your main character has no contact with another-two different characters might describe the unknown person in totally different ways. Which will the audience consider most accurate? Ask a number of such questions: What if I create a new scene in which two unrelated characters meet for the first time? Do I have an extraneous character who fails to advance the plot? Can two characters be combined into a single individual?
Seeing such relationships will spark other "what if's"-suggesting new ways of clarifying the function they play in your story and how characters interact.
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