: Re: What would a reader like to know about a character first? Two characters of opposite sex meet in a blank room (nothing remarkable about the setting) for the first time and the reader isn't

@Candy753

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Good answers already, but I think you are looking for something different.

You are looking for "The woman in the red dress".

You immediately had a picture from "The Matrix" in your head there, right?

Characters in your story should have one identifiable feature this can be a physical feature, or a behaviour, but it is something that we would notice on them and remember. This is unique for each character, and which one you pick says a lot about the character in question and their place in the story.

This is the first thing you should tell a reader, though from time to time you can make it the 2nd or 3rd thing for variety.

The identifiable feature is what other characters in the story use to talk about the character in question if they don't know or don't want to use his or her name. "The girl with the red hair" or "that bodybuilder guy" if it is about physical features, "the man in the old uniform", or "the woman in the red dress" if you use clothes. If can be "the arrogant dude" or "the shy girl" if you use body language or gait, etc.

This is a very realistic depiction of people as well, as we tend to use these things in real life. You can spot it when going out with a group of friends and talking about strangers you see or meet. Typically someone identifies a person by such a unique feature and everyone else immediately knows who they are talking about.

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