Introducing your protagonist can be a daunting task. As someone who prides themselves on developing great characters, I am someone who struggles with making sure the introduction of my protagonist is the best it can be. Of course, with each book I write I feel that my introductions have only gotten better due to practice.

But even if you're writing your first ever fanfiction, don't let the lack of experience stop you from writing something really awesome. Yes, your skill will get better the more you write, but your first book can be something incredible. And part of an incredible story, is a character audience members connect to.

You can present your protagonist in any way you like. However, while there isn't exactly a wrong way, there is a cringey way. And this chapter is all about avoiding the BIG NO-NO's in character introductions.

✖ SHOW AND TELL.

Whatever you do, do not TELL the audience who your protagonist is. It's important to SHOW them through action. Show vs. Tell is an imperative writing technique that every writer should practice. I promise, it'll only make you a better writer — on Wattpad and off.

↳ NO-NO: My name is Kelly Smith and I just moved to Santa Monica, California. I have long, blonde hair and snapping green eyes that shines bright in the sun. I'm 17 years old with pale skin that I like to tan. I'm skinny and can wear anything, but I feel ugly, especially when I look at the scars on my arm from where I've cut myself. Also, I love Blink-182. They're my favorite band and have helped me get over my dad's death.

I hear my mom shout my name from downstairs. I start my new school in 40 minutes but my neighbor who is suddenly my best friend, is driving me. Her name is Michelle and also has blonde hair like me. She's so stunning with blue eyes and a great fashion sense.

Do you see the issue with this? It tells the audience who the protagonist is, as oppose to SHOWING the readers. Showing vs. telling is a writing skill that should be mastered. It takes practice of course, but learning the art of show not tell will automatically set you apart from amateur writers. But how do you SHOW and not tell? One of the main ways to practice this technique, is to show through action and through dialogue.

↳ FIXED INTRO: My eyes squinted open as a stream of glistening Santa Monica sunlight weaved its way through the blinds of my bedroom. I made a mental note to find my blackout curtains stuffed somewhere in the many moving boxes scattered throughout the house.

Swinging my legs out of bed, my knobby knees hit the bed post and I winced from the sharp pain. Assessing the shooting sting on my leg, deciding that it will probably bruise, my focus trailed to a shiny object sticking out from beneath my bed.

I grabbed the plastic package and smiled instantly, my body filling up with sweet warmness. The first edition Cheshire Cat album was the last great find from a local thrift shop in my hometown. The debut record became my favorite piece to my impressive collection of Blink 182 merchandise.

"Kelly Jean Smith?" My mom's voice was tender and sing-song as the sound of knocking reverberated through my ears.

The bedroom door slowly opened and my mom peaked her head through the opening, a positive smile etched across her face.

"Good morning mom," I groggily spoke. "What's that?"

I head nodded for the light blue fabric in her hand. Mom held up a cute, chiffon blouse. Despite the long sleeves the adorned the piece of clothing, the material seemed thin enough to withstand the hot California sun.

"Just so you don't have to use a warm hoodie," mom simply explained. Her brilliant green eyes, a trait I too inherited, glanced quickly at my exposed arms. Though she tried to hide the horror on her face, I knew mom had flashbacks of discovering my little one-inch secrets etched onto my light skin.

"Thanks mom. I appreciate it," I sighed, wanting to change the subject.

"Of course," she replied, setting the blouse on my bed. "Get ready and come down for breakfast. Michelle says she'll drive you to school at 8:15."

So the fixed intro is a lot longer than the original NO-NO, but that's what happens when you show not tell. When you show the readers what is happening, rather than blatantly point things out to them, your prose becomes significantly more detailed, thus becoming a little longer.

With the fixed character introduction, the readers are able to learn about the protagonist through action and hints within the composition. We learn that Kelly just moved to Santa Monica from the mention of moving boxes. We even learn that she loves Blink-182 by the anecdote of finding the debut, non-mainstream album at a thrift store. There's also references to Kelly's relationship with her mother, just by her act of bringing a cute top to cover up the scars.

Of course, I don't suggest info-dumping in the first chapter, as a nicely paced story is usually ideal. However, if you feel the need to mention big pieces of character facts within the first chapter, then ALWAYS show not tell. If you need to tell the readers your character is this, this, and that, then be sure it's imperative to plot and development.

↳ EX: In one of my fanfictions, I tell the readers that the protagonist has golden-beige skin and dyed hair to emphasize the notion that she sticks out like a sore thumb due to the fact that she lives in a predominately Caucasian town.

✖ THOUGHT PROCESS.

Another great way to help introduce your protagonist to readers, is through thought. This works incredibly well if you're writing in first person and readers can see the character's inner most workings. What they think; how they feel; how they process through situations can be an ideal strategy to show how awesome your main character is.

Again, it's important to pimp out your character. Show the audience that your character is dope as fuck and readers should want to follow their journey. Even with this plan, there are ways to fuck it up and instead of crafting something compelling, you end up with a cringey piece of prose.

↳ NO-NO: In English class, we had assigned partners for our semester project on The Scarlet Letter. I really hoped that I'd be paired with my friend Ashley because we're both honor students.

"Becky Miller, you'll be paid up with Harry Styles," said Mr. Smith and I became annoyed. What the hell? Harry doesn't even talk. He's so weird. I looked at him and when Harry looked at me back, his green eyes bore into mine.

I felt my breath stop. He's kind of cute even though he's weird.

So while there isn't anything too crazy bad about the above example, there is a lot of moments that make me cringe — mainly for the character's thought process. I talked about this in the previous chapter where amateur writers haven't grasped the idea of thinking things through in storytelling. Where they write one thing about their main character, but contradict them with their actions. And no, I'm not talking about character growth where their actions reflect an internal journey based on atmospheric conflict.

What I mean, is when an author talks about how the protagonist believes that they are an unconfident plain nobody who is not worthy of love. Yet prances through their high school hallways in an outfit that takes a shit ton of confidence to walk in and suddenly has 2 boys falling in love with her when the personality portrayed is equivalent to a bag of dicks.

Kind of like Bella Swan in Twilight. Don't get me wrong, its a great franchise that I really like, but I was always stunned that Bella had the power to make both Edward and Jacob fall in love with her, when her personality reminds me of a potted plant. This also happens in cliche-type of fanfictions. If your protagonist is unconfident, that's perfectly okay. But their personality outside of uncomfortable situations should still be dope.

↳ EX: In one of my favorite fanfictions "Luna" written by mikecalumcalromance, the protagonist is described as an awkward teenager. But what makes her really cool and also makes her crush take an interest in her, is her thought process and dialogue. The way she says things is damn hilarious, learning her inner most thoughts makes me love her as a character and makes me (as a reader) understand why a popular boy would actually fall in love with her... she's fucking amazeballs, that's why.

↳ EX: In my fanfiction "Slapshot," the main protagonist has a lack of confidence when she switches schools, especially because the students on the new campus are far different from the vibe at her old school. However, despite having the confidence range of a toaster, I made sure to give Karris a hella dope personality that makes people want to get to know her. With her best friend, at home with family, and even with some new friends, she finds comfort in them, thus her confidence growing and her personality shining through. So when you read about her crush falling in love with her, it's not at all a crazy idea because while beauty is only skin deep, Karris' quirky disposition and hilarious dialogue makes her someone worth falling for.

↳ FIXED: AP English instantly became one of my easier courses my Senior year. Not that the work load wasn't challenging enough, but for someone who gets horny over analyzation of classic Literature, this end-of-day class taught by a cheerful Mrs. Ramirez was something I looked forward to everyday. Until this particular moment however, when term projects were assigned.

"Miss Patel? Miss Patel, did you hear me?"

Passing out while still wide awake went against every biological theory I've learned thus far, so when I finally jolted out of my vegetative state, drool slowly dribbling out, I had completely forgotten why I spazzed in the first place.

"I'm sorry," I apologized, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. "I could've sworn you assigned the colossal sized project to be done with Harry."

"You're not dreaming Miss Patel," she confirmed. "You and Mr. Styles will be partners."

"Seriously?" I gazed at Mrs. Rameriz with pleading eyes. "I don't even know how Harry got into this class? Was it his accent that made him sound smarter? What do you want in exchange for another partner? 50 pieces of Tandoori chicken? What about Garlic naan? You like that stuff, I saw you buy some in the freezer section of Trader Joe's last weekend."

"Miss Patel, I will not tolerate you insulting another student on his or her intelligent quality," Mrs. Ramirez reprimanded with a shake of her head. "The partner list has been set in stone. This is 50% of your grade, so I suggest getting started as soon as possible."

I slumped in my seat, swearing Hindi profanities under my breath. I averted my attention to the curly-headed dumbfuck across the classroom and couldn't believe that I had to be paired up with the brooding, enigmatic dude everyone wanted to dry hump. What I cared about, was my grade and an acceptance letter to Yale University. Harry fucking Styles had better do his share of the project with great intelligence, or I'll put Indian spices in his morning tea — the white boy and his butthole won't be able to handle it.

The important point to take away from this chapter, is to re-instill the importance of a dope character, and reiterating the notion of a well-developed character intro. You need to pimp out your protagonist and present them to the audience to the best of your ability. SHOW your readers why this person is well-rounded; why they are the perfect candidate to root for. Good luck!