SWRT 226 | Introducing Characters

October 21, 2021

person typing on MacBook Pro on brown wooden table during daytime photo

This week on the Story Works Round Table, Alida and Robert talk about introducing characters to your readers on the page. After you’ve invested in your characters’ development, make sure you don’t skimp on the process of making introductions. There is a craft to making a solid first impression on your reader. One that doesn’t overwhelm with a dump of traits but spirals the details of a person, physical and intangible, in a meaningful way into the character’s first scene.

Want more ways to explore story craft? Join Alida’s writing workshops. Making Your Readers Fear & Fear For Your Characters is Oct. 24th. Sign up at www.storyworksfiction.com and check out upcoming live courses and self-directed workshops, too.

VIDEO

AUDIO

SHOW NOTES

What we talked about:

What can be the issue with introducing characters? (0:53)

The process of spiraling in your character. (1:45)

How is this different from real life? (3:40)

Don’t forget about your narrator. (5:45)

Use your narrative to weave in the important details. (7:10)

How should you relate this narrative break? (14:10)

The example of Aragorn being introduced. (19:45)

Use your POV and your reveals wisely. (22:35)

You are crafting your reader’s experiences. (25:50)

LINKS

Get Alida’s Writing Tips here.

Have thoughts, questions, other examples? Join the conversation at the Story Works Writers Facebook group.

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About Your Hosts

Alida Winternheimer is an award-winning author with an MFA in writing from Hamline University. She pursues her fervor for all things story as a writing coach, developmental editor, and teacher. Three times nominated for the Pushcart Prize, she is also a notable in Best American Essays and winner of the Page Turner Award. Author of The Story Works Guide to Writing Fiction Series, Alida lives and writes in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She camps, bikes, and kayaks in her free time. Unless it’s winter, in which case she drinks chai by the fire. You can find more at www.alidawinternheimer.com.

Kathryn Arnold writes fantasy and anything else that sparks her creativity from her home in Kingston, Washington. She currently earns her living as an insurance underwriting assistant, where she also creates marketing and web copy. When not writing, she plays (and teaches) piano and keyboard in a band (or two), and is working on starting a ministry team with her husband. You can find Kathryn at www.skyfirewords.com.

Robert Scanlon was born in Australia, but whisked off to England when only a baby. After many years complaining about the weather, he did the sensible thing and moved back to Australia. Despite a career in the music industry, followed by decades teaching public speaking, Robert is an introvert who adores reading. Robert grew up on a diet of sci-fi masters, eventually discovering he had read the library’s entire science fiction section. Now he has to write his own. Robert is the author of Constellation, book one of the Blood Empire space opera series. Find out more at www.RobertScanlon.com