The Character Intro Formula
Six elements embedded in all the best character intros.
Hello from the Adirondacks!
The Character Intro Formula: 6 Must-Have Elements
An Example
Resources & Fact Check🕵️♀️
1. Hello from the Adirondacks!
Greetings from 3,681 feet above sea level! That may not seem too high up for many of you, but as someone who grew up with high tide flooding the streets, Lyssa feels like she’s on a different planet. Fortunately for all of you, we recorded today’s episode on this planet. As promised, we’re exploring the craft of character introductions.
When we first meet a character on the page, what makes them compelling? What makes them memorable? What do your readers need to know? Hint: It’s not physically descriptors.
This week, we set forth six elements we posit are included in all the best character intros. As usual, we’re diving in below, though we encourage you to listen to this week’s episode for a more in-depth look. Let’s go!
2. The Character Intro Formula: 6 Must-Have Elements
In Lyssa’s forthcoming, not-yet-announced, oft-hinted at next novel, she has rewritten the love interest’s on page intro no less than fifty times. Why is it so hard?! The problem is: Lyssa wants him to be interesting—but not obviously so. Gorgeous—but the more she describes what he looks like, the more her eyes glaze over while rereading. Voicey—but what should the MC be noticing in her voicey way, and why?
To answer this question, we dove deep into character intros. Our search spanned genres and age groups, from side characters to main ones. A pattern emerged in all the best ones. More specifically, we identified six elements the most effective character intros included. Let’s review them, then learn with in an example.
Great character intros…
Anchor your reader in the POV emotional experience. When introducing a character, we don’t just see them; we see them through someone’s charged perception.
Hint at the friction/dynamic to come. From that very first intro, the reader sees how the new character compares/contrasts with the main character. Think of this like the trailer for the rest of their relationship: we taste the chemistry and want more of it.
Locate the character in the world. Great intros tell us where the new character stands relative to the rest of this system/world, right up front. Do they hold power? Do they want/need something crucial? Without positioning the character, the reader is left feeling a little lost.
Generate a question. We don’t meet characters who are perfectly healthy and satisfied; we meet characters who have stories we want to hear. Maybe they have hidden baggage that makes us wonder, what happened to you? Or dreams/desires/collision courses that make us wonder, how is that going to play out? The possibilities are endless.
Behavior details > physical descriptions. The best character intros focus more on what the character is DOING, not what they look like. This was a shocker for us, y’all. But even our most beautiful characters in our favorite stories are described by action more than physical traits.
Include minimal exposition. Tell the reader what they absolutely must know, then let them fill in the rest. An effective character intro can be done in a sentence or two and still be memorable. Less is actually more!
In this episode, we put these 6 elements to the test using half a dozen character intros from beloved works of fiction. But in case you like to see it, rather than here it, let’s do an example here, too.
3. A (Quick) Example
Since last week’s craft corner put Veronica Roth’s Divergent fresh in our minds, let’s take a look at how a side character, Trys’s mother, is introduced. Note that each of these brief descriptions is interspersed with dialogue/internal thoughts we cut. This was common in our research; character introductions are often woven into the story.
I sit on the stool and my mother stands behind me with the scissors, trimming… When she finishes, she pulls my hair away from my face and twists it into a knot. I note how calm she looks and how focused she is. She is well-practiced in the art of losing herself. I can’t say the same of myself.
“There,” she says when she pins the knot in place. Her eyes catch mine in the mirror. It is too late to look away, but instead of scolding me, she smiles at our reflection. I frown a little. Why doesn’t she reprimand me for staring at myself?
She kisses my cheek and slides the panel over the mirror. I think my mother could be beautiful, in a different world. Her body is thin beneath the gray robe. She has high cheekbones and long eyelashes, and when she lets her hair down at night, it hangs in waves over her shoulders. But she must hide that beauty in Abnegation.
Now let’s test each of the 6 elements.
Anchors reader in the POV emotional experience? Yes. We are certainly seeing Trys’s mom through her lens. She notices the differences between them. The way her mother is poised and Trys, by comparison, isn’t. We can feel the maternal love, too, in the small smile, the cheek kiss, and the act of doing her daughter’s hair.
Hints at the friction/dynamic to come? Yes. By focusing on the ways Trys feels different from her mother—the way her mother seems 100% humble and committed to Abnegation, the selfless faction, while Trys is struggling with whether she can do the same—hints at the friction of the coming chapters, when Trys chooses a different faction. Interestingly, it also hints at a dynamic that plays into the trilogy at large, as the similarities/differences between Trys and her mother are important for plot reasons, too.
Locates the character in the world? Yes. In a handful of words, we now know Trys’s mother is a member of the Abnegation faction, and seemingly in good standing. We know she’s Trys’s mother and therefore holds power/sway over her. We know there’s love between them. All of this is important in laying the groundwork of who Trys’s mother is.
Generates a question? Yes. Trys flat-out asks, why doesn’t she reprimand me for staring at myself? We know something’s different about her mother, whether that’s situational, given that it’s an important day for Trys, or something else. Also, her mother’s beauty scratches at the question, why did she give up everything for a life where she wears gray and never looks at herself in the mirror?
Behavior details > physical descriptions? Yes. Though there are physical descriptors (thin body, high cheekbones, long lashes, wavy hair), there’s more about what she’s doing. She’s brushing Trys’s hair calmly. She’s focusing. She’s lost in the task. She’s admiring her daughter in the mirror. She’s kissing her cheek. She’s refraining from reprimanding. She’s hiding the mirror again. We learn so much more about what she’s like in these actions.
Includes minimal exposition? Yes. Even though I don’t know her hair color, or height, or skin color, or skin tone, I know she’s a beautiful woman clad in a gray robe…and much more than that. My mind, as the reader, fills in the details. I see a graceful woman, quiet and loving, devoted to a humble life but also devoted to her daughter, even when those two might not align, like with the reflection. I also see Ashley Judd, but I digress!
Make sense? Hungry for more examples? There are plenty in this episode, so have a listen!
4. Resources & fact check🕵️♀️
You can find us at…
Or you can pick up our books! We always appreciate that :)
If you preorder All We Hunger For, which releases in June, and email us proof of purchase (TurningToStory[at]gmail[dot]com), we’ll email you Anna’s master spreadsheet. That means you’ll see the exact outline: each plot, chapter, character arc, romantic arc, villain arc, everything. (It’s full of spoilers, so save it until after you read the books).
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These are great, and love the Divergent example!