: Re: How to trick the reader into thinking they're following a redshirt instead of the protagonist? I'm currently planning a "magical girl" story, and I thought of an interesting way to start it,

@Karen856

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Make the character part of the setting.

There are various methods for making a person in a story appear to be the main character (or at least a prominent one). For example:

Giving her a name (obviously even background characters can have names, but if the narrator refers to her by name, she's more likely to be a big character).
Listening to her thoughts.
Giving background information in the narration (her profession, how close to home she is, how her heavy dinner is sitting in her stomach right about now).
The narrator having a familiarity with the character.
Showing complex emotions (fear is okay here but I mean giving her a complex inner life).
Describing her in detail.

You want to do the opposite. Don't give her a name, just call her "the woman" or something similar. Describe her minimally, just enough for the reader to picture the scene. Stay out of her head. Don't give any background or additional information about her that isn't present in the scene.

You want the narrator's gaze on her. Show her, follow her, record her actions. You can do this by using the point of view of the monster, as other answers here suggest, but that isn't necessary and may not be what you want (it lifts the monster to the place of a main character, though it can work if done infrequently).

The point of view here can be from the narrator (in a movie it would be the camera). An observer who moves around the scene like no human can.

Allow the narrator to describe the woman as if coming across her for the first time (because that's what the reader needs to think). Don't show the narrator having any familiarity with who this character is.

All these things will make the woman part of the setting. Your reader won't think she is going to stick around after this chapter (either because she dies or because she gets away).

At the end of the opener, or at the start of the following chapter, you can reveal who the woman is and tell the reader more about her.

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