Write Help…When Introducing Characters

Something I recently learned was that introducing characters can be intimidating, especially for writers that are just starting out.

It can be hard to decide when is the proper moment to bring a new person into your tale, I’ve noticed a lot of new writers tend to rush it. They introduce everyone at once, sometimes even at the very start. 

The problem with this is it doesn’t give us time to step into the world of the novel. Instead it reads like a bad textbook or worst a bad list. It can end up being an immediate turn off for a reader.

The core of the issue is often that a writer will get so excited about the climax of the tale they will rush everything else, but the first pages of the novel are what tell a reader if they are going to continue reading or not. If they are not drawn into the story in the beginning then they will not care what happens in the middle of the story because they will have already moved on.

In the excitement of starting something new, we all can try to rush things because we want to get to the finished product. But when we do this we miss out on learning about our style, our own creativity and the project we are doing. 

The same can be applied when writing a novel if we rush things we will miss out on the important descriptive details, world-building and character building. If we rush things we can end up losing sight of why we started writing in the first place.

Has this ever happened to you?

If so maybe you need to step back from your project and ask yourself question:

Why do you write (or create)?

If it’s for fame and fortune such things often come to those who have put forth effort and time.

& if it’s for creating something that you wish for others to enjoy, then get to know your craft. When writing, spend time really getting to know the setting your story is in. Then imagine your characters in the normal day-to-day lives, think about what their habits are and their hopes & dreams.

In the end I think we all want to write (or create) something that we wish was already out there for ourselves…something we’ve yearned for.

If this is true of you, isn’t it worth the time to truly get to know your craft well?