Close Encounters of the Initial Kind – Tips for When Characters Meet
By John J Kelley | July 23, 2021 |
Here is the thing you need to understand about this post – It is not a recipe for perfecting the meet-cute scene of a new romantic comedy, at least not exactly. Simply ask Google to find dozens of suggestions for tackling that particular knot, which makes for a good writing exercise even if not your usual cup of tea. But, no, today my inspiration derives from something much simpler – an admiration I have long held for writers of stage, screen and print, across a wide range of genres, who manage to craft indelible moments when characters engage each other for the first time. Such interactions, handled deftly, add intrigue, tension and occasionally, as with the aforementioned rom-com hook, even humor to a tale. They also offer opportunities to develop character and to underscore core themes of your story.
Wow! That is some heavy lifting for what typically starts out as a checklist item while laying out a plot – Protagonist meets new boss, future father-in-law, child’s teacher, man who later tries to kill her, etc. But if such encounters are necessary on the page, shouldn’t we make the most of them to advance the story in ways beyond the perfunctory? Why, of course we should! But how exactly? What techniques can we employ to craft first encounter scenes that stick the landing, so to speak, drawing the reader into the tale on a deeper level. I may not have all the answers, for this is a skill I have yet to master. But I do have some thoughts, and a few tips to get the wheels turning. So let’s dive right in.
Keep in Mind Character Needs
In crafting the first encounter, it may help to start by asking yourself a few questions, such as these:
- What do your characters want from the interaction?
- What do they fear? What do they desire?
- How do the characters present themselves? And what motivates them to do so?
- Is one character more self-assured or aggressive? Is so, why?
- How does the situation (or how can the situation) reflect a larger conflict within the story?
Remember, each new encounter is an opportunity to explore character, both for you as the writer and ultimately for your audience. Perhaps a young man raised in the shadow of a domineering father fears meeting a new boss, and his every mannerism subconsciously reflects a lifetime of festering self-doubt. Or maybe, desperate to break free and quickly recognizing a kinder, if not kindred, soul, he summons a surprising confidence from within. Maybe an older woman’s desire for friendship after the loss of her longtime companion drives her to pursue a relationship with a new couple in her apartment building, leading her to ignore clues that their motives may be less than noble.
You know your characters and their motivations, backwards and forwards. Employ that knowledge to add nuance to their encounters with others, allowing the readers to gain insight, becoming more invested in their ultimate outcome.
The Seeds of Relationship
While even chance encounters with minor characters can provide opportunities to layer or reinforce a character’s nature, the initial moments of more complex relationships are even more ripe for exploration. This is where the “meet-cute” exercise comes into play. I may never write a romantic comedy, yet I can appreciate the skill involved. Every rom-com hinges on the moment early on when the love interests first meet. What elevates successful ones, actor chemistry aside, is when the witty interplay reveals personality traits that will drive the action – and the emotional arc – for the remainder of the journey.
In When Harry Met Sally, protagonist Sally Albright’s nearly OCD approach to life encounters, clashes with, and ultimately complements Harry Burn’s more pessimistic take, with both maturing to the point they can appreciate the love that has grown between them and commit to the relationship. In their initial meeting, Sally arrives for their 18-hour road trek from Chicago to New York City, maps and schedule in hand, only to find Harry deep in embrace with his latest girlfriend, content to linger and disrupt her carefully constructed plans. Cuteness ensues as she nudges him to pay heed to her schedule. The scene works because the personalities and stakes are seeded with an economy of words, setting the stage for a delightful exploration of how people worlds apart in philosophy and outlook can still bond, building a durable foundation for a lasting love.
Of course, relationships do not always lead to sunshine and puppies, as the woman mentioned above who lost her longtime companion only to fall prey to sadistic newcomers in her building will attest, once she discovers the brutal truth. Imagine the slow-burning tension that can be seeded in a scene of her initial chance encounter with the young couple at the mail room, when her bleeding desire for connection runs headfirst into their need to exploit weaknesses they encounter.
The lesson here is to scrutinize the initial encounters of key relationships in your story, considering how they might reveal more about your characters, and what glimpses they might provide on the relationship to come.
Underscoring Story Themes
Writer Nora Ephron and Director Rob Reiner knew they had something to say about relationships between men and women when they set out to create When Harry Met Sally. And like all good storytellers they knew the best way to craft a universal story was to focus on a specific relationship between two unique, fully fleshed out individuals. They looked inside their respective relationships and explored their own friendship, drawing on both to create the true-to-life protagonists of their highly regarded production.
I imagine having such a clear vision provided great assistance to Ephron as she crafted the script. She knew the characters, the notes to hit, and how to put them together. And the first encounter of the protagonists, so key that it literally became the title, was a perfect opening sequence for the on-screen music that followed it.
And so what is the lesson for us and our works in progress? For me, it is the importance of knowing your story, deeply and completely. I recall a critique on a work in progress, when a writer pointed out that the introduction of two characters to my protagonist in the opening chapter was clumsy, not in keeping with the overall tone or with the characters as observed later in the tale. She was absolutely right. The initial encounter had been written early in the process, when the tale and its themes had not fully gelled. Fortunately, the edits came easily because by then my understanding of both my characters and the story as a whole had matured.
Know thyself, know thy story, and above all know thy characters. For when you do, the encounters among them will flow more naturally, including the first encounter that sets the stage for all that follows.
Those are my observations, and ideas that have worked for me. How do you approach crafting initial meeting scenes of characters in your writings? Do you find yourself returning to those scenes for rewrites after gaining a better insight into your tale? Do you have other suggestions for approaching the initial encounters between characters? If so, please share. I look forward to hearing from you.
John J Kelley crafts tales of individuals at a crossroads, exploring themes of growth, reconciliation and community. His debut novel, The Fallen Snow, about a young soldier’s homecoming at the close of WWI, received a Publishers Weekly starred review and earned an Honorable Mention nod at the 2012 Foreword Reviews Book-of-the-Year Awards.
Born and raised in the Florida panhandle, John graduated from Virginia Tech and for a time served as a military officer. Today he lives with his partner in Washington, DC.
Hi, John. Thanks for this insightful post. Your suggestion to return to the opening scene when the characters meet after you have developed the characters and the story more fully resonated with me. My current work-in-progress features a romance involving the protagonist and the early feedback I received from other writers was that the introductory scene lacked a clear spark between the two characters. In fact, two writers in my critique group suggested I watch rom-coms to see how the script writers handled such interactions. A crucial area to focus on, as you said, is the needs of a character. Ask yourself, what is it that motivates the characters? How can a writer most effectively craft a scene wherein the character can address or fulfill that need in a potential romantic interest? These scenes must be handled with the utmost care. It’s worth spending a lot of time on these “introductions,” as the success of a novel may depend on how well these scenes are written. Thanks again, John, and best wishes to you for a great summer.
Thank you!
It’s funny because when I first thought about the post, I wasn’t really considering rom-coms, hence my caveat. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that those initial meet-cutes do capture the essential elements of any initial encounter in a story. And I do think constructing one makes for a good exercise, regardless of the genre one normally writes.
They have a tendency to slide into common tropes, somewhat on purpose – audiences expect them. But the very best ones manage to bring something fresh to the page. Of course a movie script can sometimes be salvaged by talented actors with great chemistry, whereas our writings have to stand on their own.
You have a great summer too. Have fun and stay safe too.
Thank you. Much to think about.
I’m glad you found my musings useful ;). Have some coffee first, if you haven’t already. I’ve got my tea now. Write on!
Much to think about, thanks.
I think one of the essences of this may be the two characters’ natures and goals. Of course that’s true for any interaction, but here it may be the key to keeping in mind that the scene’s a *transition*, between what these people have been and how their lives are about to be changed. Putting those center stage makes everything clear.
Yes! It is a transition. Their world is about to change from this encounter. That change may form the crux of the entire story. But even small encounters can have significance in a character’s development.
Thank you for pointing that out.
Great post and I really appreciated the fact that you advised letting characters show their motivations through actions, rather than pausing a moment to give backstory and motivation. One of the best lessons I learned about introducing characters came from watching the movie “The Terminator.” I was in NY working with a young film producer on a script and he had me watch the movie, primarily for that opening scene. He said it was one of the best introductions of a character he’d ever seen in terms of building viewer interest. He was right. I kept asking what? Who is this guy? What the hell? Stephen just laughed and told me to keep watching.
That example isn’t quite the first-meet scenario you shared here, but it’s a great example of how we can write about characters without having to give all those answers up front in terms of back story and motivation. Let the reader find out.
The late Patricia Anthony, who was a friend of mine, did that wonderfully in her first sci-fi novel, Cold Allies, about extraterrestrials during the third world war. The reader meets her protagonist in the White House, as president, and doesn’t find out until the end of the opening scene that he is not an earthling.
Great examples! There is something to be recommended about not revealing character motivations upfront. It’s often better, I think, when a scene is written with underlying motivations in mind, but ones the reader will only understand later.
I recall being delighted in a writer’s workshop when one of the readers was insistent she would read my work when finished – which she later did ;) – since “my protagonist was harboring a secret.” I hadn’t really thought about it in those terms, focused more on his rattled state. But she was correct that the end result of his trauma was that he was holding back.
I do like the idea of having name for the opposite of a meet-cute. Maybe a meet-mean ;).
Lastly, Cold Allies sounds fascinating. I’m intrigued by the premise just from your description. Your friend Patricia was quite talented. I just looked up her published works. All of them have a unique perspective, sounding like Black Mirror material.
Loved this post. I have meets both cute and portentous in all of my recent WIP’s, all of which are still WIP-ing in different ways. They are terrifically fun to write though I have not until today considered the techniques that make meets so nice to meet.
What I’m taking away—and what I now see is the basis for a successful hello—is how effective it is when two characters clash but nevertheless connect. You have me wondering too whether a similar dynamic might be present when two enemies first encounter each other. We should ask David Corbett about that.
Anyway, delightful and well-written post. Thanks!
Thanks, Benjamin!
As I mentioned to Patricia. I like the idea of classifying “meet-means” as a thing. Since drafting this post I’ve been thinking of more of them in popular culture, some dosed with a bit of humor and, some, well, not.
Hi John, your post made me immediately question where I have a stranger meeting a stranger in my WIP. And the answer: when my MC meets the police detective who will be in charge of the search for her kidnapped daughter. It’s a complicated scene. She’s a basket-case, even being in a police station is new to her. He stands for everything she cares not to have in her life, yet at the same time she must look to him as superman, the person who can put her life back together, find her child. I also have a flirtation going on between my MC and a doctor she works with. This provides a totally different look at my MC, who is married–and especially after the kidnapping takes place. LIFE IS COMPLICATED and so are our relationships with others. Hope you are doing well, Beth
Hi Beth!
Life is complicated. Just your description of your MC’s reaction to the police station and the detective sounds so true to life. I can only imagine how the scene itself must read. You have a knack for getting into the head of your characters, which is so important.
One thing I worried about with this post is that my own writing instinct is that there are no “recipes” or formulas for crafting scenes. And yet I do find it important to have considerations when I approach certain situations. It helps get me in the right mindset, even as I rely on instinct to feel my way through how the interactions play out on the page.
Hope you are doing well also. We are having a nice summer, complicated as everything seems to be these days. And yet still nice.
Take care and wishing you well as your WIP comes together.
Thanks for inviting writers to do something that will enhance the reading experience for those who pay attention: using authorial omniscience to make characters more nuanced. What I think of as a necessary tension between plot and character is at the heart of this challenge: can the writer create complexity and surprise in characters without damaging or retarding plot movement? The challenge becomes more, well, challenging when the writer employs multiple points of view. I see how true this is in terms of two novels I’ve been working on side by side. Both stories are third-person narratives, but one is told from the close-third POV of a single character. Contributing to interest in the other story (I hope) are the shifts among multiple POV characters. It’s harder to manage, but fun to do.
I have a natural tendency toward close-third POV, which triggers a funny memory from when I first got serious about my writing. I recall spending an afternoon trying to nail down exactly what my POV was. I kept thinking, “It’s not really first person but in my head it is.” I was delighted to finally have a name to place upon it, for some reason … like it was proof I wasn’t an imposter.
I am impressed at your ability to work on both at the same time. I would find that difficult for two novels, though can manage when it comes to short stories. Another writer friend of mine once changed her entire novel from close-third to first person (or maybe it was the other way around), simply to experiment with which would be most engaging for an audience. Still impresses me to this day that she took on the task.
Good luck with both of your stories. I’m confident you are up for the challenge, as she was.
Take care, Barry.
I sincerely appreciate your meet & greet insights – mostly the questions you ask about characters’ circumstances and motivations (recognized or not by them). Thank you for the insight. I write short and this applies to short also.
Thanks, Michael! My apologies for the delayed response. I am just now finishing up an extremely busy (and exhausting) weekend of painting and house chores.
I’m glad you found the questions useful, at least as a starting point. I like your caveat that a character may not recognize his or her motivations … as with life, I think that is often the case.
I agree, too, that nailing the initial exchanges between characters would be just as important, if not more so, in shorter fiction. I love short stories, btw, and try my hand at writing them on occasion. It is satisfying working to capture so much in a tighter format.
Best wishes for success on your current and future writing endeavors. Cheers!