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Appearance of MC

I am writing a fantasy where the MC does not appear until the second chapter. The secondary character carries the first chapter because the MC is still a child and has no knowledge of the situation she is in. In the second chapter she is older and has a clearer understanding.
Problem is that I am afraid readers will think this other character is the main character.
How can I keep this from happening?
 

skip.knox

toujours gai, archie
Moderator
I don't think this is anything to worry about. First you have actually to write both chapters, and several after that. Then get crit partners to read it. Then, if you get readers complaining, you'll know you have something to address.

It takes a while to figure out who are the main characters in War and Peace, just to grab a novel at random. Lots of fantasy novels have a prologue, which defers the introduction of the MC. Come to think of it, my own has someone else in the first chapter. He even dies at the end of it. MC comes in partway through Chapter Two.
 
I've read books where the character first introduced was not the MC. Sure, I first thought the character was the MC, but it became obvious soon enough that such was not the case, and I rolled with it. I don't think you need to worry about it.

Heck, the False Protagonist literary technique is employed by some writers to jar the reader on purpose. That might not be exactly what you're thinking, but it's along the same lines.
 

Thoras

Minstrel
Just as the previous replies I would like to say the same, it is not a big deal at all. The book I'm currently reading didn't have a prologue, but the first character introduced still wasn't a MC and was only there for the first chapter. I'm not sure though how this differs much from having a prologue as he was only there for one chapter. However, as long as you don't introduce your MC in like the 25th chapter, I'd say its no big deal - just make your first chapter good enough for the readers to want to read the next one! (y)
 

CupofJoe

Myth Weaver
I don't have a problem with it either. What I don't like is when the MC is deliberately hidden by using phrases like the hooded figure, a shadow in the darkness [you can supply others]. Only to have them identified a bit later. It work well on screen or in a GN [a gloved hand comes in and steals the diamond... whodunit?] but in a book it just annoys me.
 

goldhawk

Troubadour
The first chapter of the Lord of the Rings is about Bilbo, not Frodo, and it seems to have achieve some degree of success. ;) Of course, Tolkien got rid of Bilbo at the end of chapter one, which eliminated any confusion. Readers expect subplots in a novel, so have a short one at the beginning should not be difficult for readers to accept.
 
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