Chapter 5 “Choosing and Designing Characters” – Section 3 “Introductions”
With Links to Supplementary Material
When a reader first picks up a book, they create an instant connection with the author of the story—formed through a required level of trust just so that the two of you can immerse yourselves in the world you have created. The writer and the reader are, at that point, friends or pleasant acquaintances; and at that moment of relationship and immersion into the realm of story, the characters become just as real as the reader/writer relationship. The writer, in this situation, has the benefit of already knowing all the characters, and it is up to him/her to create an introduction for the reader to meet the characters. The lack of a good, comfortable, and insightful introduction will be as rude and awkward and detracting from the experience as if it were a real party with a host who didn't care to introduce those in attendance. Today, we're going to discuss how to do just that.
Tip 1: Find examples of bad character introductions, and figure out what makes them so.
Go through your list of boring and poorly written books and find one that has particularly bad character introductions. You'll note them because they'll feel awkward, forced, not very revealing, boring, and leaving you with no other knowledge other than the character's name and some bad exposition that is either too revealing or shallow enough so that the character just seems like some sort of stereotype. Note every bad detail, and then think about what you missed or felt cheated out of from the experience.
Tip 2: Read a book and note when you actually start to care about a character's name enough to remember it.
Introducing a character's name means nothing if there is no impression to make that information important to the reader. Find the point in a novel where you found the narrator describing a character or what the character was doing, and the exact moment you took enough of an interest that you would have actually bothered to commit the name of that character to memory. Knowing and attaining a feel for this sort of timing is essential, because giving a reader too many pointless names at once will overwhelm them with disposable information. In addition, having to flip pages back to figure out which character is which will detract from the reader's ability to immerse themselves in your story.
Tip 3: Introduce each character with a scene that gives insight to who they are and how you want your reader to perceive them.
Few introductions are as bad as one laced with exposition—telling you as much or as little information about the character as the narrator subjectively feels like, and then telling you how you should feel about the character. Treat your reader with more respect than that. Show them a scene—the character talking, thinking, or performing some action—and then let your audience come to their own conclusions.
Tip 4: Hold off on the formal character introduction until you are ready.
Going back to the metaphor of the party, imagine that you—the writer—are a host, guiding your newest guest through the party-rooms, meeting all sorts of characters who are new to them. You want your guest to have certain impressions of certain people and to actually be interested in them so that they can enjoy the party. So you point out a particular character, one at a time, and then you tell your guest a little about this character's personality, let them see what the person looks like, how they walk, talk, and then let the guest watch them for a moment before the formal introduction begins. This entire process is a long and more insightful introduction, and it serves to create the image of a real and interesting person to go with the name. Note that this doesn't mean that the reader has to be enthralled or in love with that character before the intro begins, just interested and with a clear picture of them in their heads.
Tip 5: A character introduction event should be part of the plot.
What could possibly be more awkward and disrupting to the flow of a party than stopping it, taking everybody outside to get acquainted in the most forced manner possible, and then ushering them back inside until more guests show up? Similarly, you should not make your character introductions feel forced and out-of-place by creating introduction events that have nothing to do with the story. Link the event that introduces each character to the overarching plot, in order to make the intro seem fluid and natural.
Tip 6: Note the differences between the introductions by and for different sorts of characters.
While the above tips are important and the ideal to strive for, there will be variations in your introductions based on who is doing the introducing and which sort of character the reader is being introduced to. For example, if you introduce your reader to a Narrator, a Protagonist, a POV Character, or anyone else, chances are that the character will then take your reader and introduce them to even more characters (again, just like a party). Then, there may be some exposition where the character shows how they feel about another character before the reader can get their own impression, or the character might give intimate details that expose a Universe Filler Character. This is a completely valid and honest tool in storytelling; just remember to strive for the ideal introduction when at all possible, and know the lack in information you must compensate for if you do not reach that ideal.
Tip 7: First impressions are as essential in a book as they are in real life.
Remember that whatever the first impression you create will be the outstanding impression that the reader has for the rest of the story. Also, the first character you introduce (unless obviously not the protagonist) will be interpreted as the protagonist of the story. If you introduce a character who is acting like a jerk (even if they are not, really) the reader may go through the entire story with a sour taste in their mouth for that character (even more so than if the character does something cruel later in the story), or possibly even discontinue reading if they perceive this character to be the protagonist. So just note the power of the introduction, and make sure to use it to give the reader the impression that you want.
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When a reader first picks up a book, they create an instant connection with the author of the story—formed through a required level of trust just so that the two of you can immerse yourselves in the world you have created. The writer and the author are, at that point, friends or pleasant acquaintances; and at that moment of relationship and immersion into the realm of story, the characters become just as real as the reader/writer relationship. The writer, in this situation, has the benefit of already knowing all the characters, and it is up to him/her to create an introduction for the reader to meet the characters. The lack of a good, comfortable, and insightful introduction will be as rude and awkward and detracting from the experience as if it were a real party with a host who didn't care to introduce those in attendance. Today, we're going to discuss how to do just that.
