In a post on Writer Unboxed, Keith Cronin suggests writers explore and leverage the way people jump to first impressions when they meet someone for the first time. “I think it’s safe to say that many of us put a lot of weight on first impressions, and almost can’t help but come up with some very quick assessments of the people we encounter in real life,” Cronin says. When we don’t have all the information, our minds fill in the gap, sometimes accurately, sometimes not.
TV and film use this to their advantage, introducing characters they can assume their audiences will like or hate based on looks, clothing, or demeanor. This is usually necessary because they only have one or two hours to tell their story. Cronin thinks people do this in real life more than we care to admit, and suggests writers take advantage.
“Instead of giving us a ‘blank slate’ character that you slowly fill in for the reader– particularly an important character like your protagonist or antagonist – try giving us one that makes a powerful first impression,” he says. “Good or bad, it doesn’t matter. But give us something to react to, so that we are not just consuming information about the characters; we’re forming active opinions about them. Then you can start showing us how right or wrong we were.”
Cronin suggests showing enough of a character to give a reader a strong first impression, and then follow-up by depicting actions that confirm or challenge those assumptions.
