Hero comes into the story....

Okay, I've read and read and read books where the hero is introduced in the first chapter. My WIP isn't like that and I've tried to come up with so many different ways to make that happen, but nothing is coming out right.

Since my current WIP is told from my heroine's (MC) POV, mostly, I felt I need to continue on with her story, how she's receiving the news of her dead best friend, her actions, instead of cutting from her POV to the hero's POV. Therefore, my hero won't actually be introduced until chapter two.

Is that a very good idea? You're going to want to feel sorry for both and hero and heroine, but for right now where I am in the story, the hero doesn't need to be heard about. Yes, given it was his wife who was found dead, but is there a way I can introduce his character? Maybe the night he finds his wife, or it's during his POV and someone is talking to him about it?

My first introduction of the hero is better because it's a dramatic dialogue set between he and the MC. And that works. But I tell you about him through the heroine's POV, and he doesn't actually get his POV until chapter two.

Blah, I've confused myself. I guess all in a nut shell, is it wise to introduce the hero (second main character) in chapter two? Later in the story where there's a right time??

Thanks, Kali! And welcome to the boards! I will take your advice into consideration. I just can't imagine the perfect scene to introduce the hero after I've already introduce the heroine. Never fits right until later in the story when they first meet. Like I said, you read about him through the heroine's POV but we don't actually get to talk with him, see inside his head, until in chapter two.

What you said helps.

Yeah, it definitely has sucked me in. I can't possibily think of any sane way to add my hero in after I've introduced the MC. It doesn't work. It sounds silly.

And I like those random thoughts! And yes, the heroine's best friend is also the hero's wife.

But....that's not how I want the story to go. I wrote a prologue....YES!...a prologue! Where the wife is being murdered, and she tries to save herself by finding a phone and calling the first person she can think of in a time like that. Not her husband, but her best friend (MC) who she hadn't spoken to for years. That is how the heroine finds out her best friend didn't kill herself that she was murdered. MC leaves a voicemail because she wasn't sure what to believe when she received that out of the blue phone call which leads her leaving her name, and number for the best friend to call her back.

Then, after that scene...I wasn't sure which way to go. Since the story is mainly through the heroine's POV should I just keep going with her story, and the way she is receiving the news of her friend's death? How the police called her because of the message she left? Or should I cut to a small scene introducing the hero right after the phone call has been left?????

Agggghhhhh! Writing can be so hair-pulling frustrating! I think I've come up with something...then maybe I haven't. Writing is kind of like food.....if you're a chef....you gotta keep playing with it, adding in different textures and spices, before it comes out the way you want it. I gotta keep playing with this. . . .

I wrote a little piece last night introducing the hero, and I have to say it's between working, and throwing out. Hero discovers his dead wife...but it's the aftermath of what he finds and he got himself seriously drunk where he's dangerous, and the men in blue won't stop asking him questions. Something like that........but also since it's in his POV, the other characters want to talk more. I can't allow that. . . so, I'll work on it more in the revision room.

I'm not introducing the hero until later in the story. I tried to write that snippet scene and it turned out good, but I lost the feeling for it. It doesn't fit where I put it. And that's okay because now I am moving forward.

Thanks mirrorkisses for the advice. It's a good thought. Again, I am jumping through fire hoops on this whole scene. I want the readers to know that my hero is not a friendly guy in the beginning, he's hard, cold and tasteless but at the same time you are yearning to know more about him, and you feel so sorry that he lost his best friend, his wife since childhood. But we don't get to see his soft side until later in the story. I want to build enough tension between my hero and heroine that when its time for them to get together it's breath-taking and unexpected.

I like the idea of a hard man turning soft. Now, I just got to get it down on paper.