# How to introduce a love interest without it seeming perfunctory?



## ironpony (Dec 10, 2018)

For my screenplay, it's a crime thriller where the main character's love interest was going to be introduced about halfway through when she has a role to play in the plot.  But I was told by a couple of people that they felt that she is introduced too late, cause she is the main character's wife, who just kind of comes out of nowhere, since we were not privy to her for the first half.

So I thought I would introduce her in just one scene in the first act, just so the reader has a better prior set up for her.  However, I feel that if I introduce before she is important to the plot, there is a chance the introduction comes off a perfunctory, or just something routine that needs to be established and then done with.

I was just wondering if anyone had any writing tips on how to do introduce a love interest in a good way, since her and the main character already know each other.

I was thinking of movies that have done this before and here is a scene from a movie that does it, in a scene without dialogue even:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KneRHEv5Zy4

I thought I would do something similar but would a modern audience expect dialogue in such a scene nowadays, or perhaps no dialogue better than they whole "Honey I'm home, how was work" sort of thing?

What do you think?


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## ironpony (Dec 10, 2018)

Sorry I thought I posted this in one of the other threads.  I didn't mean to post it in the research thread, sorry about that.


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## Ralph Rotten (Dec 10, 2018)

There is nothing wrong with introducing her halfway thru.  In fact, you could take the first half of the book to lightly foreshadow her so that the effect of their first meeting is altered. He could be expecting a mean-old battleaxe, or a serpent of a woman, but he meets her and...BAM!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qKOv3VBJcc


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## Ralph Rotten (Dec 10, 2018)

Read the lyrics!


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## ironpony (Dec 11, 2018)

Okay thanks, I read the lyrics, but what does that have to do with it?


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## Guard Dog (Dec 11, 2018)

:roll:


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## ironpony (Dec 12, 2018)

Am I missing something?


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## SueC (Dec 14, 2018)

Ironpony, I think you might try seeing the wife differently than as you have described. Sometimes in my writing, I recognize the need for an additional person in the mix. You know, someone to up the conflict, walk through a room, distract, that sort of thing. I would suggest putting more definition on the relationship, so readers are not too stunned when she suddenly becomes part of the action.

I had a story where two women were responsible for a murder. Prior to that murder, the fiance (who was a minor player) of one of the women had protested her going to the other woman's home, where the murder occurred. I had given the two a small history, but it also gave me the opportunity to more clearly develop my main character's personality and strength. The setting was in the 1930's, where woman were more subjective to their husband's wishes, and in this scenario, he has insisted she stay away. But her character demanded she go, to protect her friend. Even though I never went very far after that in developing the couple's story (they did marry, but that was an assumption, rather than a part of the story), I think his presence had an impact on her, and like I said, her rebellion showed my readers a lot more about her than I could have described otherwise.

In the event that your MC seems too one-dimensional, you might try him showing a different side when he is in the role of husband. Just a thought.

In view of this, I would suggest giving a little more heft to the marriage relationship. You'll be surprised at how this opens the door to show more qualities about your MC than you can imagine.

Just my two cents!


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## Arachne (Dec 14, 2018)

You don't necessarily need to introduce her in a scene where they are together in person, you could just refer to her a couple of times earlier in the story. He might pick up some milk for her and bump into another character at the shop, or she might call him at an awkward moment, nearly getting him caught, for example. That should be enough so it's not weird when she's introduced properly later. 

Otherwise, you could just celebrate the shock by making it a little twist, I've seen this done to great effect before, when the MC turns out to be living a different home-life than expected.

Arachne


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## ironpony (Dec 15, 2018)

Okay thanks, but if I am too develop her further as a character and develop their relationship more, wouldn't I therefore need more scenes of them together to do that?


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## Arachne (Dec 15, 2018)

No, I don't think so. Her character and their relationship could be developed very quickly once you've introduced her if that's how you want to do it. I really don't see that it matters that it doesn't happen until halfway through the story, personally. If you're worried though, go back and add her in. 

However, try not to worry too much about what other people say, remember it's your story and you can't please everyone. If you keep changing it because of the opinions of different people, you'll never get it finished. 

Arachne


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## SueC (Dec 15, 2018)

Probably.


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## Ralph Rotten (Dec 15, 2018)

ironpony said:


> Okay thanks, but if I am too develop her further as a character and develop their relationship more, wouldn't I therefore need more scenes of them together to do that?




More interactions is almost always better, but really you can develop her anywhere.
Like I said (and Spider said too) you can start developing her before the audience even meets her just by throwing out tidbits or reactions about her. How people react to her name or references to her can paint her before we even meet her. I'm a fan of foreshadowing a character as being one way, then when you meet them they initially seem different...but after a while you begin to see the things people were saying are true beneath the veneer.  This is a good technique to develop someone who may not show a lot of outward indicators (a good poker face.)


You can also illustrate a character thru the eyes of another.
How one known-quantity views a new character can paint an image of the person. For instance, if a real dirtbag says another character is a pervert...then they must really be bad.


But all of that advice is moot...I just remembered that you are writing a script, not a novel.


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## Megan Pearson (Jan 2, 2019)

Ralph Rotten said:


> But all of that advice is moot...I just remembered that you are writing a script, not a novel.



Ralph Rotten's right. Scripts, as I understand them, have less wriggle room. Whatever you introduce has to be resolved by the denouement. 

I wonder, without providing some foreshadowing at the beginning (such as an unhappy marriage, wandering eyes in the MC, unresolved heartache--whatever), and then if this new romantic interest appears halfway through and becomes important to resolving the story, won't her appearing seem a bit...convenient?


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## ironpony (Jan 2, 2019)

Megan Pearson said:


> Ralph Rotten's right. Scripts, as I understand them, have less wriggle room. Whatever you introduce has to be resolved by the denouement.
> 
> I wonder, without providing some foreshadowing at the beginning (such as an unhappy marriage, wandering eyes in the MC, unresolved heartache--whatever), and then if this new romantic interest appears halfway through and becomes important to resolving the story, won't her appearing seem a bit...convenient?



I don't know if it would seem convenient because her appearing halfway through causes obstacles for the main character in the plot at first, rather than making things convenient for him.  But maybe it would... I could introduce her in the first act at some point then, either way.


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## Jack of all trades (Jan 3, 2019)

Megan Pearson said:


> Ralph Rotten's right. Scripts, as I understand them, have less wriggle room. Whatever you introduce has to be resolved by the denouement.
> 
> I wonder, without providing some foreshadowing at the beginning (such as an unhappy marriage, wandering eyes in the MC, unresolved heartache--whatever), and then if this new romantic interest appears halfway through and becomes important to resolving the story, won't her appearing seem a bit...convenient?



It depends on if this is part of something larger, or if it's a stand alone thing.

For example, season 1 of Sea Patrol had an ongoing story involving Bright Island, as well as various relationships ebbing and flowing.


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## ironpony (Jan 3, 2019)

Well I was planning on it being a stand along script.  I had ideas for sequels if possible but I wanted to make the first one stand alone in case there are no sequels later.


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## Megan Pearson (Jan 3, 2019)

ironpony said:


> I don't know if it would seem convenient because her appearing halfway through causes obstacles for the main character in the plot at first, rather than making things convenient for him. But maybe it would... I could introduce her in the first act at some point then, either way.



I wasn't thinking she herself had to be introduced, _per se_, but that some internal motivation divulged early on within the MC might make the transtion more believable for the reader/viewer when she does enter the story.


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## ironpony (Mar 25, 2019)

Oh okay.  Well here are three movie scene examples, of how a love interest is introduced, but I'm not sure how brief I should keep the scene.  The first introduction is more on the long side, but the last one is very brief in comparison:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KFviLmxVTM&t=290s

The first scene introduces her in a way that has nothing to do with the plot, talking about her job and all.  The second scene introduces elements of the plot along with the love interest introduction, and the third scene is just a brief intro of the love interest, and the relationship, and nothing more.


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## ellisael (Apr 10, 2019)

This is such an interesting question to me as an improviser and writer. In improv, when we feel like a story is not going any place meaningful or fun (sometimes these are seen as same), we introduce another character to the already existing pair of improvisers. This is usually done to add depth to the scene. The way I have translated this to writing a new character is by writing this person's (love interest in your case) life in parallel and find a seemingly realistic and probable occasion or point of meeting. Additionally, I also ensure that the cause and effect which has led to this person's entry is explained as flashbacks or small conversational notes etc. This seems to work as long as the new character has depth and reason to be there and stays true to her/his characteristics. Hope this helps!


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