Introducing Characters

When you read a novel, notice how the author introduces the characters. Does the main character appear “on the stage” in the opening scene? The first paragraph? The second page?

If we analyzed 100 famous novels from all ages, what would we find out about how characters are introduced? What about 100 best-selling current novels? (There's a research question for a research paper!)

As writers, we may want to strike out in a different direction, develop our own method of introducing characters, but best-sellers are at the top of the list for a reason.

People read them.

Reading Like a Writer

I just finished reading The Summons, a novel by John Grisham. He has zillions of books in print, most of them about the legal profession, since he used to be a lawyer. I'm sure that however much he was making practicing law, it is nothing compared to what he's making as a very successful writer. I chose this book because my sister is reading it and we thought that when we had both finished it, we might discuss it, like in a book club. Last week, I read his novel, The Associate, and I'm working my way through Ford County, a book of short stories also by Grisham.

Here's a six-minute video of Grisham talking about the creative process:




Normally, I might not choose this writer, but I'm trying to put it all together. The question is, What makes this writer so successful? How does he put his stories together? What drives the story? What can I, as a neophyte, learn from the expert?

Here's the scoop: I'd say that the novels are plot-driven. That means something happens, something outside of the characters' heads. Someone is after someone else or something. They want to get something and someone or something is in the way. This makes the conflict. The plot consists of conflict, resolution, another conflict, resolution, more conflict . . . and finally, the final resolution. In literary terms--the denouement, the untying of the mystery.

Hmm. I think it's harder than it sounds. First, you have to plot the plot. Now some writers say they have NO IDEA where the story is going to end up or where it's going after the first page. It has a life of its own, they say.

If your name is Margaret Atwood, Yann Martel, or John Grisham, this may be true. For most of us, though, we probably need to have something a little more solid than this.

I wouldn't say Grisham's characters are all that memorable in the sense that we love them and care deeply about them. His books are not really about the characters; his novels are about the plot.

So that's one kind of novel. What are you reading?

What are you reading like a writer?