So, I’m watching Carmen on Ovation TV, and I love how in opera when a new character enters, he gets a whole song (or a verse, if he’s not that important) to introduce himself and illustrate his defining characteristic. Sometimes the other characters sing about him, too. Carmen enters and launches into her definitive aria about her philosophy of love. It’s sultry, seductive… and cynical as hell. Boom. We know what we need to know about Carmen. *
Can you imagine what would happen if we introduced book characters this way?
Harry Potter entered the great hall at Hogwarts. The sorting hat said, “It’s Harry Potter, who the Dark Lord tried to kill but he survived and has been in hiding and now here he is, Harry Potter. Yes, Harry Potter!” [They repeat things a lot in opera.]
Harry climbed into a table to orate, as they all gazed up at him in various attitudes of interest (or in Draco Malfoy’s case, villainous contempt). Harry was a tenor, so everyone knew he was a good guy. (Draco was a baritone; he was bad, but not as bad as the basso Voldemorte, who wouldn’t show up for another few acts.) “Yes! I’m Harry Potter. Let me tell you what’s happened to me so far, and how I feel about it….” [Proceeds to do so]
Of course, we authors DO want to help the reader get a handle on our characters just as quickly. We just have to do it a lot more subtly. Not that we need to know everything about them in the first page of their appearance. The only way you can get away with that kind of infodump is if you sing it.
My favorite example is the opening of Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott:
“Christmas won’t be Christmas without any presents,” grumbled Jo, lying on the rug.
“It’s so dreadful to be poor!” sighed Meg, looking down at her old dress.
“I don’t think it’s fair for some girls to have plenty of pretty things, and other girls nothing at all,” added little Amy, with an injured sniff.
“We’ve got Father and mother and each other,” said Beth contentedly from her corner.
I love the simplicity of this opening. It’s got a rhythm to it, and it defines each of these girls in one sentence, without going: “…said Jo, the grumpy one; …Meg, the vain one, …Amy, the snobby one; …Beth, the sweet one.
And look at what Jo says. Yes, it’s focused on presents, but her concern isn’t that she won’t have nice things. It’s that Christmas won’t be Christmas. That is, her idea of Christmas will not be there. And so much of Jo’s story is her clinging to what her IDEA of something in the face of a different reality.
Go look at a book that has a character that really stands out for you. Even if the first thing they say or do isn’t exactly iconic, how you first see the character will tell you a lot about them.
I’d love to see examples in the comments!
Happy writing!
Rosemary
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* I could have introduced myself with a song, but it would lose something translated into text. Because that’s the other things about opera. It loses a lot in transcription. I love how the subtitles on opera broadcasts go like this:
Carmen: *sings for five minutes*
Subtitle: Love sucks.
But yeah, I’m aware my first post on genreality probably says a lot about me. Maybe more than I intend!
