: Re: Is it strange if a novel starts the first chapter without one of main characters? I'm writing a novel with the following structure (I'm not very sure what's the technical term): Chapter One

@Dunderdale623

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Introducing the protagonist later in the book is generally done when there's a large cast involved. In a situation like this, who the reader should consider the "main" character is less important.

While there are no rules about any of this, it's generally a good idea for the reader to be able to identify with the protagonist in some way. And making the opening pages easy to relate to is important. I'd be more concerned with juggling the multiple viewpoints than bringing in the main character late. Are you setting this up in third person with follow-along points of view, or multiple first-person viewpoints? The latter is trickier to pull off well, but possible with very distinctive narrator styles.

In a situation where the main character won't be identified up-front, you could have the first chapter be more obviously a scene-setting prologue to the action of the book. Alternately, maybe you can plant the seeds of the protagonist in the early pages, perhaps by mentioning the character. Since the first chapter POV character is in love with your protagonist, that shouldn't be hard.

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