Introduction Through Time or Place
The fifth way of introduction is by situating the character in a time or place – in a setting.
The opening paragraph of Robert Stone’s “A Flag for Sunrise” demonstrates this method:
“Father Egan left off writing, rose from his chair and made his way—a little unsteadily—to the bottle of Flor de Cana which he had placed across the room from his desk. The study in which he worked was lit by a Coleman lamp; he had turned the mission generators off to save kerosene. The shutters were open to receive the sea breeze and the room was cool and pleasant. At Freddy’s Chicken Shack up the road a wedding party was in progress and the revelers were singing along with the radio form Puerto Alvarado, marking the reggae beat with their own steel drums and crockery.” (p. 3)
Notice that this introduction relies on the character’s circumstances rather than a description of him or direct access to his thoughts. There is no physical description of the Father – we only know that he has been drinking, he is alone and living in a Third World seaside mission far from his home country and cut off from any intellectual stimulation.
How do we know these things?
(1) We know he is an intellect living in a place with few intellectuals because he is a priest and is writing and it is in a Third World country.
(2) We know he is conscious of his drinking and that he is attempting self restraint otherwise the bottle would be on the table beside him since he forces himself to walk over to the wine.
(3) He is shrewd because he is only using a Coleman lamp.
Think of your character and identify three traits. Try writing an introduction using this setting method that reveals these three traits through showing writing and post it in the comment section below.
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Supported by his cane, Jacob bent down in the dry soil. He inspected the failing seedlings that jutted up from the ground. A hand tremor prevented him from carefully inspecting the stocks. He looked down the rows. They stretched feebly into the distance under the cloudless vernal sky. He was the only farmer left. Abandoned, dilapidated and wind-worn homesteads dotted the plane – their owners had given up long ago and moved on in search of better land. Still staring at the fledglings in the rows before him, he slowly stood and then violently flung his cane at a solitary crow that cackled at him from the nearby fence.
This is my attempt to show the characters as stubborn, anxious and frail.
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