Introducing a new character in the middle of the book

Charlie Horse · Aug 1, 2008

By all reckoning, I'm about halfway through my first draft and just this morning I created an opening for a new and possibly significant character. Would this be too confusing to the reader? I suppose if this character insists on being part of my story I could always go back and find a place to introduce him in an earlier chapter, but I was wondering if there were any rules, taboos, or no no's associated with doing this.

Thanks

~grace~ · Aug 1, 2008

there aren't any rules. do it.

(this seems to be my answer to every question. but it's true! really!)

write and see how significant he turns out. I think it should be fine.

Mr Flibble · Aug 1, 2008

hmm lets see
In LOTR when does Theoden come in? Half way through the second book. Even Gollum scarcley makes his entrance before ( though he is foreshadowed)

It can be done. As always -- it's alllll in the execution

~grace~ · Aug 1, 2008

hahaha I was going to cite Gollum but then couldn't remember when he actually showed up. Yay!

TheIT · Aug 1, 2008

I'd rather see a character show up when it's natural for him/her/it to show up in the story than see the story get twisted in order to have everyone on stage in the first scene.

Another thing to consider is that the reader needs to get used to the cast of characters. If too many characters come onstage at the same time, it gets confusing.

blacbird · Aug 1, 2008

TheIT said:
I'd rather see a character show up when it's natural for him/her/it to show up in the story than see the story get twisted in order to have everyone on stage in the first scene.

I'd carry this thought one step further: Cramming all the major characters into the first few pages of a book is often one of the worst things you can do. It is quintessential info-dump.

caw

Charlie Horse · Aug 1, 2008

Well, that's a relief. I've actually got characters popping up at various times throughout the book, (I can't seem to control them). But since I'm getting pretty deep into the story I kind of freaked when another decided he wanted to join the party.

~grace~ · Aug 1, 2008

one of my first writerly friends and I actually had a name for the "random character that shows up for no reason." I feel like they're an important part of the process.

Ageless Stranger · Aug 1, 2008

I gave one guy a scene in the last third of the book but I never understood why. When I started writing the sequel, suddenly he was important as hell! I went back and beefed up his scene. Now he's one my main characters or at the least, a very important minor one.

dwellerofthedeep · Aug 1, 2008

Ageless Stranger: I like this idea a lot, myself. The idea is to make things seem more organic.

I like introducing characters in the middle, but I tend to do loads of characters anyway.

Matera the Mad · Aug 1, 2008

There
are
no
rules

tehuti88 · Aug 2, 2008

I do this all the time. I wouldn't object.

BUT, there are always people who will dislike it, like with anything.

I'm sure I'm guilty of it somewhere, but I'd try not to, for example, introduce one of the MAJOR characters over halfway through a book. In fact, I did this in an old novel of mine, and although I don't believe I can introduce the characters any sooner into the story, I'm definitely going to have to rework it so their appearance doesn't scream "deus ex machina" or something like that. *mulls*

Looking at the replies, I'm glad to see I'm not alone in thinking it's okay! I thought for sure I'd be in the minority.

Yes, I'd rather a character show up late in the game than have everybody pop up in the beginning; that would be boring and confusing.

roncouch · Aug 2, 2008

I've done it (insert important players mid-point or later) and if it makes sense to you, and you like the story, go for it. Chances are, if your work is criticized, it will be for something else.

amber_grosjean · Aug 2, 2008

I agree with everyone here. As long as the character is introduced in a different manner so you're not boring the reader and when the character is needed to push the story along then it doesn't matter if its the first page or even the last page, or any one of the pages in between. No matter how important the character is, premature introduction can ruin the story. At least I think so.

Amber

scribbler1382 · Aug 2, 2008

Matera the Mad said:
There
are
no
rules

Too true.

There are three rules for writing the novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.
~ W. Somerset Maugham

Oddsocks · Aug 2, 2008

I see no reason why this would, in itself, be a problem.

In fact, I think it has the potential to be a great idea - changing the dynamics part way through opens up loads of possibilities for new developments in character relations, changes in conflicts, etc.

johnzakour · Aug 3, 2008

I would be so totally confused by this I would stop reading immediately. ;-)

No of course not. Introducing characters midway (or even later) is done all the time. Books would be way boring if we met all the important characters in the first few chapters. Books are like life you never know when you might meet somebody interesting.

Telstar · Aug 3, 2008

Like most people said there is no Rule.

I introduced an important character at about 1/3 of the book, but he was present in the prologue, which was a sort of foreshadowing. The readers where expecting to see him sooner or later and they knew he was important.

kuwisdelu · Aug 3, 2008

You've got lots of good answers here.

I'll just share a short personal experience. This is from a short story, not a novel, so the "halfway in" is much different.

Anyway, I introduced a very minor character halfway through a short story. He doesn't even say anything when he's introduced--he just sits there. At the end he shows up again and has one or two lines of dialogue. He really plays no role whatsoever other than to exist.

When my class critiqued the story, everyone noticed him and his apparent lack of role. Everyone noticed he didn't really serve any apparent purpose. Yet everyone agreed he somehow felt "absolutely essential," and couldn't imagine the story being the same without him. I still don't really know what purpose he serves. But he's there. And he does a good job of it, apparently.

MelancholyMan · Aug 3, 2008

As a rule of thumb I have exactly as many characters as I need and introduce them exactly when they come into the story.

-MM

Danalynn · Aug 3, 2008

I do it all the time.

:Sun:

In my first novel, the whole first half of the story has all of three or four characters -- with a couple of extras that have tiny parts in the beginning, but show up again near the end of the book. It isn't until well after the halfway mark that all of the rest of the characters are introduced.

ideagirl · Aug 4, 2008

Charlie Horse said:
By all reckoning, I'm about halfway through my first draft and just this morning I created an opening for a new and possibly significant character. Would this be too confusing to the reader? I suppose if this character insists on being part of my story I could always go back and find a place to introduce him in an earlier chapter, but I was wondering if there were any rules, taboos, or no no's associated with doing this.

Thanks

Not a problem. I did that in my current ms, and it works quite well. Some stories require this--the character is in X situation, and that's part of his/her problem, and after various tribulations he/she meets someone, and this meeting itself changes things. Thus, the character he/she meets can't come in until then, and that may well be halfway through the book.

~grace~ · Aug 4, 2008

MelancholyMan said:
As a rule of thumb I have exactly as many characters as I need and introduce them exactly when they come into the story.

-MM

WOW ME TOO!! crazy. it's like we're writing the same book or something.

KTC · Aug 4, 2008

I introduced the idea of a character about 3/4 of the way through my book. The character's name appeared on a piece of paper. The main character went to this character's house at the end of the book and that was the first time the character was introduced. I think it worked.

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