Is it acceptable to use the MC only to show contrast to the extreme personalities of other characters? Or is this a waste of an MC? Should the main character (the POV character) always be the centre of the story? In my current project, the main character serves a significant purpose, but his friend's life and character is described in much more detail. Is this okay, or would it make more sense to have the friend be the MC?
Are you confusing the main character with the POV character? Tey are not necessarily te same character. The main character of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous detective series is Sherlock Holmes, but the POV character is Dr. Watson. But you can also have a pivotal character who acts as a catalyst in other people's lives, although himself or herself unaffected, like Fantasy Island's Mr. Rourke. His role also serves to unify what otherwise would be separate stories.
...I had forgotten all about that. Thank you. My MC is more than just the POV character because there are scenes where he is alone and things revolve around him, but I feel as though he is getting lost in the story. Like he's being overshadowed by the other events. I have written scenes where he is alone, before the other 2 primary characters appear in the story, but after the point in the story when he meets them, his character becomes dull and doesn't really matter anymore whenever they are around because his friend is all-around more interesting.
It sounds something like you started writing about Bill Clinton, then came along Monika Lewinsky, you started writing about her and forgot about Clinton IMO you have to be very clear about whom the story is about and never lose sight of that. Yes, there can be interesting characters other than the MC/MCs, but their story should never overwhelm the story you started out telling in the first place. Their stories should somehow push forward the story of the MC.
