Jul 05 2011
How to Introduce Major Characters
1. If at all possible, give the new character something interesting to do that ties into a plot element that has been major. For example, maybe the new character has some obvious connection to a major goal or obstacle for the main character. For example, maybe a wizard or superhero can only graduate from her academy if she passes telepathy, but there’s only one telepathic teacher’s assistant and he has a reputation for singing about himself in the third person while scrawling lewd graffiti in the cafeteria. (Sigh, telepaths). The more you connect the new characters to things we already care about, the easier it will be for us to care about them.
2. Please use only interesting visuals that help develop the character. Red flag: The story spends more time on the colors of the character’s eyes, hair, skin and sometimes clothes than on visual details that would help develop interesting and/or important information about the character and/or his role in the plot.
- UNACCEPTABLE: “Damon the necromancer was wearing black robes that clashed with his smoky blue eyes.”
- BETTER: “Good God, Damon, is that rabbit’s blood on you? You’re soaked in it!” Damon sipped his coffee. “It was him or me, ma’am.”
