the writer's room discussion

Hey guys, I’m having trouble introducing characters in my novel. I’ve gotten the first chapter done, which is just a glimpse into what to come, and now I want to introduce the main character and some of the friends as kids. I would give you the first chapter for reference but it most likely wouldn’t help. How do you introduce the characters?

For me i always try to start with an action or them in their natural space where they either spend a lot of time doing the said thing or something like that. either somewhere they feel comfortable or if its a more action/dark type story like fantasy or action or something just somewhere that their used to and can showcase how they normally are before the inciting incident.
sorry lol i hope that makes sense if not lmk and ill try to rephrase or smth i love talking with other writers it helps sm !!

Some things that have helped me are:

-Don't overwhelm your readers by introducing too many characters too fast. A couple is fine, but it's especially good to ease readers in for your first chapter. If you want to hint to the fact that there are more characters, though, you can have characters mention them in passing without them appearing.

-The first scene of a character should usually show them in a normal state. This way, the reader's first impression of a character gives them a good idea of what the character will be like moving forward. This isn't necessarily something you have to do, but I think it makes distinguishing characters a lot easier.

-Characters don't really need to be formally introduced until they actually have something to do. Just running through an ensemble list won't be interesting for your readers. I also think it generally works better to introduce characters individually rather than as a group to prevent them from blending together in the reader's mind.

-For the main character, action is really important for characterization. What are they doing at the start of the story? What does that say about their character? What is their internal monologue like? Emphasizing these factors at the beginning will really make your MC's personality shine.

I hope these tips are helpful! They worked really well for me when I was writing my first novel.

Crisis averted! Thanks both of you for the tips!

I try to do dialogue with the character, or describe them doing an action in new scenes to make the reader be able to understand how the character works.