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Psychology for writers: first impressions matter

I was thinking about plotting, and about telling a story chronologically or not.

It reminded me of first impressions and the primacy effect. Solomon Asch studied this in the 1940s I think. The primacy effect shows us that we appoint more weight to information that we learn first than to information we learn later.

He studied this by giving two groups of people a list of personality traits. For example, group one is introduced to a woman, “This is Anna. She is beautiful, funny, spiteful and mean.” Group two, however, hears this: “This is Anna. She is mean, spiteful, funny and beautiful.”

The second list is of course the reverse of the first list. You would think that both people form the same impression of Anna, because they are given the same adjectives. But no. Group one had a more positive impression of Anna and were more prepared to forgive her for her meanness and spitefulness than group two.

This is how you can use the primacy effect for your characters:

Introduce your main character by showing her doing something good first.

If you plan to redeem a villain in the end and make your readers feel positive towards him, show him having some small positive traits first, for example petting his kitten.

If you want your readers to go, “I knew this character was bad even though everyone trusted him, I just had this feeling he’s up to no good!”, show him doing something bad first, like kicking the kitten, and then some good acts. (”I never forgave him for kicking that helpless kitten!”)

Flashbacks, flash forwards and other ways to tell your story non-chronologically can influence the impression your readers have of your characters compared to a linear, chronological story.

I hope this was helpful. Don’t hesitate to ask me any questions, and happy writing!

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