: Re: Is it OK to introduce a character to leave it simmering to a later date? One of my secondary characters is going to play an important part, more important than at present, in the story. Is

@Welton431

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It can be done. If I were doing this, I'd use a character with some skill set that doesn't apply for most of the book; my break-in specialist, the dragon tamer, the assassin, a pilot, etc.

So it makes sense when they appear first, and second, and why they are gone and what they are doing when off screen. For example the pilot flies my characters to their destination, then shows up at the end piloting the helicopter that saves them.

It would help if it is possible for the other characters to mention this person a few times in the book, to remind readers of their presence in the world.

You say they will play an important part later:
Be wary, you don't want your plot to be apparently resolved by a deus ex machina bookended-in character, it should be resolved by the main character's ingenuity, courage, insight and sacrifice.

If your fun character is really the swashbuckling hero of the story, I would find that unsatisfying; a hero that appears in the first 50 pages, disappears, and shows up again in the last 50 pages for the final battles.

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