I am struggling to figure out how, or more accurately, when to open my story in timeline terms within the tale. The genre is fantasy but this seemed like more of a writing, structural sort of issue...anyway.
The MC (as of yet unnamed) is a captain within the human military, and as the plot progresses and a large percentage of his nation suddenly find their decisions swayed by an unknown presence, he gets roped into a sort of ambassadorial role as he takes the few he can gather and goes to plead the other species for help. Very basic overview there of the plot beggining.
I want to be able to establish a good picture of the human society within the story, the MC's role and relationships and touch on the rest of the world as well (so it doesn't look like I'm plucking new ideas from thin air every time he meets a new race) before the mysterious and horrifying incident occurs that spurs the actual plot forward.
At the same time though, I don't want the reader to feel like the introduction is dragging on and on before the plot gets rolling, and this is making me wonder when roughly, I should begin. Originally I thought perhaps he could be returning from a routine mission or something similar, which would help set up his military background and show some of his connections with the other human characters-but if I do that he would have to journey back to the capital and there would likely be a lot of waiting before the actual event takes place.
I want there to be some sort of military parade in progress, perhaps accompanying a diplomatic meeting of some kind, so that there is maximum impact when about 80% of the human forces turn on their brethren in broad daylight. If I begin where I first thought however, the journey, organisation and set-up of all this would probably bore the reader senseless before they even got to see the plot begin to unfold.
So back to the actual question at hand-where timeline wise is it good to begin a story like this? In the middle of the event, after it and re-tell it in flashbacks, just before? Or is there a particular way I could approach the upcoming incident that would keep the readers guessing what would happen there?
The MC (as of yet unnamed) is a captain within the human military, and as the plot progresses and a large percentage of his nation suddenly find their decisions swayed by an unknown presence, he gets roped into a sort of ambassadorial role as he takes the few he can gather and goes to plead the other species for help. Very basic overview there of the plot beggining.
I want to be able to establish a good picture of the human society within the story, the MC's role and relationships and touch on the rest of the world as well (so it doesn't look like I'm plucking new ideas from thin air every time he meets a new race) before the mysterious and horrifying incident occurs that spurs the actual plot forward.
At the same time though, I don't want the reader to feel like the introduction is dragging on and on before the plot gets rolling, and this is making me wonder when roughly, I should begin. Originally I thought perhaps he could be returning from a routine mission or something similar, which would help set up his military background and show some of his connections with the other human characters-but if I do that he would have to journey back to the capital and there would likely be a lot of waiting before the actual event takes place.
I want there to be some sort of military parade in progress, perhaps accompanying a diplomatic meeting of some kind, so that there is maximum impact when about 80% of the human forces turn on their brethren in broad daylight. If I begin where I first thought however, the journey, organisation and set-up of all this would probably bore the reader senseless before they even got to see the plot begin to unfold.
So back to the actual question at hand-where timeline wise is it good to begin a story like this? In the middle of the event, after it and re-tell it in flashbacks, just before? Or is there a particular way I could approach the upcoming incident that would keep the readers guessing what would happen there?
