This post is about how writers should introduce their characters in the first few lines. It includes three tips to help you do it as well as you can.
Thin slicing
We all thin slice. No, I’m not referring to your culinary skills. In Malcolm Gladwell’s book Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, thin slicing is defined as our unconscious ability ‘to find patterns in situations and behaviour based on very narrow slices of experience’. This is what allows you to suss out people instinctively only seconds after meeting them.
The same holds true for your readers. Because they will be thin slicing the characters in your novel, how you introduce your characters in those first few lines is critical.
3 Ways To Introduce Your Characters In The First Few Lines