Balance high-stakes drama with emotional depth to keep readers invested
How do you decide on the perfect action to open your scene?
How do you balance the right amount of information not to bore or confuse your readers, while simultaneously raising intrigue that makes them want to read on?
When it comes down to it, there are only three integral components necessary to create a can’t stop reading novel.
That’s… characters, action, and setting.
Character
Stories are about people. No people, no emotional story.
We read because we care about our hero, and we want to experience adventures through their eyes so we can live in another time or place for a little while.
Action
Static characters are boring characters.
When the curtains open on your imaginary stage, your character should be in motion and hard at work, preferably exhibiting himself in a characteristic moment.
The moment should highlight your character’s key action for the plot and reveal an important aspect of their personality.
Setting
Well – crafted settings not only ground your characters and the actions, but they also shape the plot in meaningful ways.
So, it’s vital to ground the opening of your story in the definitive setting for several reasons:
- It provides readers with basic information. Instead of them having to imagine your character roaming about a dark room.
- Nothing frustrates readers more than an author who leaves vital information blank, then rips the rug from under their feet by describing the setting much later, different from what your reader had imagined.
You must tread carefully with today’s readers and not treat them as an idiot, or a fool. Let them leave some aspects of your novel to their imagination.
- Setting establishes the story’s tone and is as crucial as the characters.
Make sure you include these key points in your story
- Your character’s name.
- Your Characters Age.
- What does this person look like?
- Who is this person?
- What makes them tick?
- What effects them on an emotional level?
- What does this person do?
- What are their flaws?
- Where does this scene take place?
- What year/season/day is it?
- Who does this character interact with? If other characters are present in the scene, give readers a little help by naming them. “He” or “She doesn’t give readers much to work with the first time they are introduced to this character.
- What is the character accomplishing in this scene? The character’s goal in any scene is the single most important bit of information to share with your readers. The goal drives your scene. This gives birth to the concrete questions you want readers to be asking.
- Why should readers care? Whether it’s driven by curiosity, emotional connection, or sympathy, you must give them a personal reason to become invested. Make them care about discovering the answers to the other questions your story will raise.
The first part of your story needs strong character development, as readers must understand and sympathize with your characters before the major plot revelations at the quarter, halfway, and three-quarter marks.
Your character’s true feelings, and yours, will seep into the narrative. If you dislike a character, readers will sense it. They’ll pick up on subtle cues in your word choice, especially when writing villains, even from within the character’s own point of view. And the moment they detect judgment instead of authenticity, the illusion of story truth breaks.
In many respects, authors are actors
When we write in a character’s POV, we become that character. We must see and experience things through their eyes. If we cannot love our character, we cannot understand them and, as a result, end up not respecting or admiring them, and the reader won’t either.
Figure out why your character does what he does
If you’re reluctant to accept your character’s reasons or admit you understand them, then you don’t know them well enough to author their story.
Your character is colorful with all their emotions; don’t make the hero black and white, and certainly not the villain.
Your hero and the villain are the same. They are both after the same thing. However, each of them stepped in a different direction. So, don’t judge their behavior.
Example:
Story Premise:
A renowned art historian (protagonist) and a wealthy black-market dealer (antagonist) are both searching for a long-lost painting rumored to contain clues to a hidden treasure.
Protagonist’s Goal:
Dr. Elena Torres, the art historian, wants to find the painting to preserve its historical value and donate it to a museum. She believes the painting’s true worth lies in its cultural legacy and the story it tells about a forgotten artist.
Antagonist’s Goal:
Vincent Greer, the black-market dealer, wants the painting because he believes it hides a map to buried treasure. He plans to sell it to the highest bidder—or keep the treasure for himself.
Why This Works:
Both characters are after the same object (the painting), but their motives create natural conflict:
- Elena wants to protect and honor history.
- Vincent wants to exploit it for profit.
This clash of values drives the tension and forces the protagonist to fight not only for the artifact but also for what it represents.
Which characters need to be introduced?
Introduce all the following players within the first act:
- Protagonist. The early introduction of the main character signals to the reader that this is the person whose story they’re going to be reading. This is the character to whom they need to attach their loyalty.
- Antagonist. Most of the time, you’ll introduce the antagonist early on as well, both to get the conflict rolling and to foreshadow the threat to whatever is about to happen. If you’re unable to introduce the antagonist early on, you must at least offer hints about his presence.
- Love interest. If your story is a romance, even if it’s only a subplot, you’re probably going to want to bring your protagonist’s love interest on stage during this section. You don’t have to make it clear right away that these two of going to end up together but at least drop hints early in the introduction.
- Sidekick. Minor characters come and go in your story. Some of them will play a more important role than others. But those who will be at your protagonist’s side for most of the story deserve a short intro before the first plot point.
- Mentor. A mentor in a novel serves as a guiding figure who helps the protagonist grow, learn, or face their challenges. Often wiser or more experienced, the mentor provides knowledge, tools, or emotional support that the protagonist needs to succeed. Their role isn’t just to give answers, they challenge the main character, pushing them toward self-discovery, and often believe in them before the protagonist believes in themselves. Whether they stay for the entire journey or exit early (sometimes through death or departure), their influence shapes the hero’s transformation and fuels their arc.
Your introduction should begin with the opening chapter
Introduce your characters gradually, across multiple scenes, depending on the story’s complexity and character count.
Writing your novel this way not only prevents character overload, it allows you to let each character reveal their personality when you bring them on stage.
Give your reader time to visualize each character, and attach a real name to that character, and your reader is much more likely to remember who’s who.
If you must introduce more than a few characters at once, make sure they’re all definitive so they don’t blend.
If you’re short on space, accomplish this through distinctive dialogue or by referencing interesting physical characteristics, particularly those relevant to the story and which you can reference later to remind readers who’s who.
The more characters you have, the more likely readers might forget who’s who and get confused.
The more characters you have, the less likely you’ll be able to fully develop them all.
Review your cast of characters and evaluate the purpose of each person in your story. How many of these characters play a part in the climactic scenes, and help drive your story forward?
And, conversely, how many are going to end up as loose ends you need to tie off?
Are there any characters that you can combine? Could the wise uncle and the cop next door be the same person?
The more streamlined your cast, the tighter and more powerful your story will be.
Avoid using similar-sounding names that begin with the same letter for your characters. This can be confusing to your reader.
Happy Writing