Writing Workshop: A Hell of a First Impression: How to Introduce Your Characters to the Reader, with Dan Sheehan

A Hell of a First Impression: How to Introduce Your Characters to the Reader

In this workshop, we'll discuss some best practices for introducing and describing your fictional characters, as well as a few common pitfalls to keep in mind. We'll consider examples of particularly memorable character introductions from classic works of literature and examine how and why those intros work as well as they do. I'll then give you a trio of single-paragraph writing exercises which I’ve found particularly useful in stretching the character-creation muscles in my own writing. Finally, I’ll turn the floor over to all of you so that you can ask me any questions that have been on your mind regarding character introductions or characterization in general.

Dan Sheehan is a writer and editor from Dublin, Ireland. His debut novel, Restless Souls, was long-listed for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award, and named one of Entertainment Weekly’s 10 Great Debuts of 2018. He holds a BA from Trinity College Dublin and an MFA in Creative Writing from University College Dublin. His writing has appeared in The Irish Times, Oprah.com, GQ, and The Los Angeles Review of Books, among others. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Book Marks at Literary Hub, and lives in Jackson Hole with his wife, daughter, and dog.