Creative Writing Lesson #1: Character Beginnings
Are you working on your first novel? This is for you.
Dear Reader,
How are you?
You might have noticed a change to today’s post - I’m using capital letters! That’s because this is the first in a series of monthly creative writing lessons for Paid subscribers, separate to my weekly ramblings about living as a writer and grappling with creativity. Also, I want to entice you into subscribing to these monthly lessons (plus workshop discounts and a live online Write-with-me session), so this first one will be free for a time period.
This lesson comes from an Online Fiction Week I co-ran for Arvon last year. So, let’s get to it.
Character Beginnings: Making a first impression
I love to ask myself questions when I’m writing and thinking through characters - it helps me work through a problem and find out where there might be gaps in my character building. So, when trying to introduce your character for the first time, keep in mind the following question:
What is the most important thing my reader needs to know about my protagonist at this moment in time?
This question doesn’t mean that you need to reveal every single thing that happens to your characters in the first paragraph of your writing, but you should be thinking about what could reveal something significant about your protagonist?
Is it their language? The way they interact with other people? The way they think about themselves? Or is it the way they’re telling the story as the narrator?
A big part of this work comes once you’ve written something - and that often sits within the editing process. For me at least, I might look back on what I’ve written, on a character I’ve created, and be able to see more clearly only after working on them for some time. I start then to narrow down the most important things about them that I want the reader to know, in order to better understand the character they’re going to be engaging with as they get further into the story.
Make a note
Write down a few sentences in answer to the question above.
Is a picture of the character already forming in your mind? Does it reflect who you know they become later in the book?
Give this exercise a try and if you’re feeling brave, you can share it with me privately below:
Reading Recommendations
Son of Sin by Omar Sakr and Yellowface by R.F. Kuang. Fantastic openers that are incredibly different, but both delicately reveal multitudes about their protagonists.