find them crying at a social setting like party or meeting, and trying to hide from others’ eyes
have a character stumble in on another character practicing an instrument they play
you know that “oh, look a dog!” that goes to “can i pet it?” to “what’s his name?” meeting with an owner and some random pedestrian on the street? yeah, that. make that for your characters, and if it’s fantasy and you have fantasy creatures, why not replace the dog with a fantasy pet?
have a prankster/troublemaker kind of character crash (either literally or figuratively) into another character who’s currently in the middle of committing theft, and have them help each other out :D
“i was sent here as an assassin to kill you, but now i have to help you instead because it can benefit me, but that means i have to UGH work with you”
How you introduce your protag depends on what you want to emphasize about them:
Their introduction can be a montage of them getting ready for work - or, if they’re a superhero, maybe they’re getting ready to patrol the city. This gives the audience insight into what the protagonist’s life is like. What time do they wake up? How do they wake up? Is there anyone there with them - and if so, who, and how do they interact? Do they rush their way through getting dressed and eating breakfast, or do they take their time? What’s their house like?
Or you can introduce them in the middle of a mission. It may or may not have anything to do with the main plot, but either way this is very effective if you want to emphasize how your protagonists solves problems and what their typical approach to an adventure is. What their general attitude is during those missions - are they serious, jovial, snarky? This is especially effective in ensemble stories where there’s a group of protags, because you get to demonstrate how they work together as a team, as well as lay the groundwork for any conflict within the team
Or they can be just hanging out. Luke Skywalker playing with model ships and wanting to go to Toshi station to pick up some power converters. Ben Tennyson throwing a paper aeroplane with his teacher. That kind of thing. This kind of introduction is most effective at giving you a general vibe of the character’s personality. In their spare time, are they active or do they goof off? Do they have a specific interest they engage with? Do they hang out by themselves or with friends?
Another way to introduce your protag is to have them be talked about by other characters before they show up. Batman (1989) did this, with two criminals discussing Batman before he comes in and attacks them. A more conventional way to do this is “bad thing happens, high-ranking military guy says he’s calling in a specialist, two minor characters discuss the specialist being brought in, then the protag is revealed”. This is effective if you want to establish the character’s reputation. How do other people think of them? Are they scared, impressed, sceptical?
And there’s also the most common method, introduce them by having them narrate to the audience. 9 times out of 10, this falls flat, because it gets used as a shortcut to get the character’s name and backstory out of the way in a really unorganic fashion. When opening narration is done right, though, it emphasizes how the protagonist sees themselves and their situation, and where their priorities lie. The Batman (2022) has a really good example of this with Bruce’s opening narration, and also contrasts this with a closing narration that shows how Bruce’s self-view, worldview, and priorities have all shifted. The Spectacular Spider-Man starts with Peter narrating about how great being Spider-Man is - with Peter’s narrations in later episodes contrasting with this as he starts to question if being Spider-Man really is that great. The other way to effectively utilise opening narration is to have an explicit fourth wall break to establish that this is a fourth-wall breaking movie - see Deadpool and the Emperor’s New Groove
There might be other big ways to introduce protagonists, but these are the main ones that I could think of.
Okay, I can't guarantee instant, but... gotta have those attention-grabbing titles, folks.
This guide is actually three guides!! Aren't you lucky! We are going to discuss:
How to effectively introduce a character
How to get readers emotionally invested in a character instantly as quickly as possible
How to make a new character likeable (or dislikeable) in a few lines
Let's get started!
Effectively Introducing a Character
Introducing a character effectively means demonstrating that character in a way that best encapsulates them and gives the audience the impression you want this character to convey. It also means setting up the scene so readers can grasp whatever interactions may follow.
How do you do this?
That's the magic word: interaction. It doesn't have to be exaggerated or grandiose or explosive. Even the smallest moments can tell a lot about a person, and that's what readers crave most: your characters interacting.
Incorporating Interaction
There are three main avenues for interaction: with another person, with an object, and with a situation.
Interacting with a person
The most common interaction, and easiest to make effective, is with another person.
One way to do this is through the main character (or current POV). When the interaction directly involves them, it allows you to use the audience's attachment to and knowledge of the protagonist to "see" this new character. A reader is more willing to accept someone and accept the given information about them when it is directly through a trusted (or at least familiar) source.
On the other side of this, if you are introducing the protagonist, having them interact with someone they are familiar with will give readers a lot of clues as to what kind of person they're investing in.
You can also showcase an interaction with a minor or throw-away character and not involve the protag directly. While the scene may still be seen through your protagonist's eyes, the lack of direct contact leaves more room for false impressions and ambiguity, which you can use to your advantage.
Interacting with an object
Your character can also interact with an animal. No, an animal is not an object, but in most stories, any interaction with an animal will inherently be less dynamic than with another person. That doesn't mean it can't still tell a lot about someone! How they approach, speak to, and treat an animal can give clues to the kind of person they are. And I don't just mean being cruel vs. kind. A person who approaches an animal with eagerness and baby talk is different from one who approaches them with gentle calm and normal speech.
Interacting with an item is another technique. It tends to be the least effective but if you're determined, there are ways to utilize this method. Your best bet is making the item either dynamic in itself (a river, a magic ball, a weaving loom, etc.), important to the character (a beloved possession, their favorite weapon, their pirate ship, etc.), integral to the story somehow (an enchanted pendant, a lost doll, a stolen loaf of bread, etc.), or all three!
Interacting with a situation
"Isn't everything in a story a situation?" you may ask. Well, yes, technically. But there is a difference between acting within a situation and interacting with a situation. A character running out of a burning house to then watch their childhood home be destroyed is acting within a situation. It's not telling us anything other than the fact that they have the most basic human instincts (and that their childhood home is now destroyed).
But a character frantically sprinting through a burning house, screaming for their sibling, then kicking down a door to reach them? That's interacting with a situation.
As in the above example, it's pretty easy to turn a lame introduction into a compelling and illustrative one just by making a character more active in a scene. If a scene is falling flat but there are no characters that you can add to liven it up, consider what the introductee would or could do to interact with the situation itself that will demonstrate their character well.
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Incorporating Effective Interaction
Remember, you are the writer. The creator. The god! I love writing impulsively and letting the characters take me where they will, but at the end of the day, it is your decision what stays, what goes, and what gets changed completely. If a character introduction falls flat, it is up to you to revise it to demonstrate that character most effectively.
When deciding how to do this, consider the following to guide you:
Do you want to show the character's most authentic self? Add someone they know. People are most authentic around those they have an established repartee with.
a) Do you want to display their best qualities? Make it a person they like.
b) Do you want to display their worst qualities? Make it a person they hate.
Do you want to show the character's artificial self? The mask they put on for the world? Then create a situation that would best establish this. For example:
a) If the artificial self is swanky and cool, establish a scene in which other characters are decidedly not swanky and cool, and it will emphasize this trait.
b) If the artificial self is caring and sweet, make their introduction happen during a distressing moment for another character, when the introductee can best demonstrate their "kindness." (Kudo points if the introductee secretly caused the distressing moment.)
c) If the artificial self is angry and defensive, incorporate actions or words into the scene that will make them bristle and turn on this defense mechanism.
Do you want readers to immediately pick up on the fact that this is a mask the character is putting on? There are several ways to do this:
a) Breaking - a split-second drop of the façade is very telling.
b) Exaggerating - if a trait is over-exaggerated and emphasized, it comes off as contrived.
c) Body cues - most people cannot suppress primal impulses. For example, when a character is acting suave and put-together, but won't stop fidgeting. Or acts cold and indifferent, but instinctively lurches forward to help someone tripping.
d) Scene cues - the scene around/behind the character hints at duplicity, such as a character acting calm and collected but the room behind them is inexplicably trashed.
e) Background character cues - the other characters in the scene belie the true nature of the introductee. They might act bad ass and dangerous, but the barkeeper treats them with jovial familiarity. Or they act harmless and innocent, but all the locals give them a wide berth.
This is not an exhaustive list by any means. There are infinite possibilities and combinations that you can play with. These are just using extremes to give helpful examples. Most characters (and people) fall somewhere between "authentic" and "artificial" as they interact with others. These techniques still apply and can serve you well.
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Common Mistakes
The mistake most often made is introducing a character with a lengthy description of their every physical trait.
Yes, it is important your audience can visualize your characters, but a short description of the basics is much more effective than launching into a whole paragraph describing every feature of their face and article of clothing they're wearing. When you start with a long description, there is no character for your audience to attach it to! Without an emotional anchor, descriptions (and exposition, for that matter) flee into the night the second your reader's eyes drift to the next paragraph. This can be slightly combatted by subtle reinforcement throughout the narrative (think, "she tied up her sun-bleached curls" kind of moments), but at the end of the day, it's best not to waste any words on something that will be immediately forgotten.
If you prefer your descriptions in chunks instead of scattered through narration, at least save that chunk until readers are familiar enough with your character to want to know what they look like in the first place. This doesn't have to be chapters into your story (and in fact shouldn't be, because the longer a character is not described, the more ingrained a reader's personal mental image becomes), but a few lines of dynamic introduction before the info-dump can do wonders.
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The other big mistake is introducing a character during pointless action.
This is most often done when introducing the first/main character (think: starting out the gate with a chase sequence), but it can be an issue with later introductions as well. For example, instead of introducing a captain in the middle of a storm where they stumble around deck and shout orders, introduce them beforehand: while the protag is boarding their ship and the captain shoves past them to throw a stowaway off, perhaps shouting a few choice words after. You can see how one better demonstrates the actual person behind the character, instead of adding a character-less prop to a scene.
It is possible to introduce a character during an action sequence and introduce them well! Just make sure that it is 1) not action for the sake of forced stakes a la chase scene described above and 2) is effectively introducing / demonstrating the character. If they just become a prop to propel action forward, there are probably better ways to introduce them and have the time and space to do it well.
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So! Is "interact" no longer a word to anyone? Because boy it's sure lost meaning for me. Remember, it's your story. If you disagree with anything I've said here, good on ya! Write what you want to write. But I do hope you gained some benefit because whew that's a lot to read!
Stay tuned for Part II, being posted tomorrow: Getting Readers Emotionally Invested (Quickly).
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Remember to write a sentence of your story today~ Thanks for reading!
you do not need to describe your character’s every physical feature or piece of clothing. rather go for:
do they stand with confidence? alertness? what’s their posture?
the way they look out of their eyes
their most interesting physical feature
show what the narrator thinks of them
how done are they with everyone else in the room right now?
dark circles under their eyes? mouth turned downward slightly? “wtf” wrinkles on their forehead?
if they have a companion, how comfortable are they with the companion? are they watching eachother at all times? how close do they stand to eachother?
what’s their laugh sound like? I’m not asking about chimes of bells or whatever cliche nonsense. Is it a short, mocking “hah”, a suppressed snort, a loud, genuine sound ringing through the space? Do they just smile and blow air from their nose really hard?
Penny liked beginnings. The start of a song, the introduction of a show, the first taste of a dessert. The beginning was when something new started, and new things were always welcome in her life.
Her favorite type of beginning was the one that came when you talked to someone. The first word uttered between her and a stranger could be one that changed her life. That was exciting. Every face made by someone, every sentence that fell from their lips, they told stories. That's what Penny thought. And that was exactly the problem.
Penny thought of people like stories, so she collected them as such. She talked to them as much as she could and learned as much about them as possible. But as soon as they got boring, ran out of things to tell, thoughts to give, Penny threw them away.
And for that, Penny, the avid socializer, the charismatic girl, was despised by everyone.
I have a bunch of side character and some of them show up in the first few chapters of the story, while the rest of them is introduced (still in the beginning of the story) few chapters after them. Their name will be revealed when the first group is introduced but do you think I should describe them with detailed there or should I describe them when the rest of characters are with them? Just describing a few characters on the spot would be clearer but all of them would make more sense, I think.
Describe the characters when they enter the narrative. You never want to overload the reader with a bunch of information (info dumping) but it also helps readers to actually understand and connect with these details and characters if they can be woven into the narrative rather than just a paragraph of descriptors. You also don't need to fully describe any character right off the bat, in fact it’s usually better if you don't and you just let details about them emerge as the story moves on in the same way you tend to learn about a new friend. There are immediate things you might notice like physical appearance, maybe things about how they speak, how they carry themselves, hints about they personality from what they say etc. So when these side characters are introduced the narrator might make some comments about them but fairly briefly and the reader will learn more about them throughout the scene. The issue with describing a character that isn't in the scene is that it kind of comes out of nowhere. Like where is this person? Why do we care about them? How does the narrator know about this? Even if you’re using a third person omniscient narrator it would still feel out of place since this narrator is the lens through which readers see the story and picturing this non-present person is confusing. This character could be introduced in the scene through the other characters talking about them.
