Where to start

You are the alpha and omega of your story. You can write story structures that would make other writers founder.

Can you be interesting? Will your first chapter raise questions that make the reader want to read further? Those are the only considerations that truly matter. Try it and see if it works.

Just don't call it a prolog. That label carries too much awkward freight for many readers.

awaitingthemuse said:

All this talk of prologues has got me thinking about the start of my story. The first chapter takes place around a character receiving a phone call from a person in her past. In chapter two the story jumps back in time 27 years. Is this a real no no?

Willing to learn, so all comments welcome.
atm

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As a reader, I prefer my stories without frames, especially those which defuse the narrative tension.

If you can pull it off, go for it. That's all it is about. Make it work and make sure it works.

It's generally not a good idea to do a flashback so early in the story. A lot of writers fall back on flashbacks because it's easy way to dump a lot of backstory on the reader rather than developing in the story. Not to mention the fact that it's not even enough time for the reader to get involved in the story before they're being through out of the flow by a flashback.

It may be worth thinking about how the same information can be incorporated into the forward movement of the story instead of using a flashback. This may also allow you to take advantage of suspense by posing information about the backstory that will keep the reading turning the pages to find out more.

awaitingthemuse said:

All this talk of prologues has got me thinking about the start of my story. The first chapter takes place around a character receiving a phone call from a person in her past. In chapter two the story jumps back in time 27 years. Is this a real no no?

Willing to learn, so all comments welcome.
atm

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It strikes me that a lot of people around here are quite conservative when it comes to the advice they give out. I see a lot of 'Oh, don't use a prologue, what if people don't read it?' and 'editors don't like that, you'd better not' or 'you'll find it tough to get published if you do this'. With all the good advice everyone is getting here, I imagine that a blizzard of perfectly formatted, perfectly put together, utterly conventional, frightened little books are going to be falling onto editors desks - books where the authors would never dare use a dream sequence, a flashback, or a prologue, in case - God forbid - it broke a rule and frightened a reader away. Well, you know what? Screw that. You can follow every rule and regulation in every How To book, and listen to every single nugget of well-meaning advice you get, and never even recieve a personalised rejection letter.

You can't make anyone buy your book. What you can do is to write something you're proud of, without reference to anyone else's opinion on how flashbacks just don't do it for them or how they reckon it's best to jump right into the action. Then at least you will not have wasted a year or more of your life pandering to what other people think is 'right' instead of lighting your own world on fire with something that you love.

If you're lucky enough to find a publisher you'll edit and compromise until marketability comes out of your ears. But that is quite enough in my opinion. When it comes to the writing itself, you need to do what makes you feel good and what you believe in and not give a flying arse about what other people (be they agents, editors, or that crazy woman down the road who talks to her cats) think. Take risks, do crazy stuff, write in a way you've never seen anyone write before. You may fall on your face, but damn you'll have fun doing it. Learn and respect the rules, yes, but don't be afraid to throw the rulebook away if you think you have to. That's right - I said break rules! It's good for your soul. If you really think jumping back twenty-seven years in Chapter Two is the right move, go for it.

(Adjusts flak jacket defiantly and waits for the bullets to start flying)

I think it depends on how much story you need around that phone call. If you can make it one paragraph, then just place it at the start of chapter one. Make it sure that it occurs in the here and now, and that the 'flashback' timeframe is clear early on in the main section. Remember, try to do it more by show, not tell. In a novel, you're allowed to tell a little. Try to make it subtle, but obvious.

Zolah said:

Then at least you will not have wasted a year or more of your life pandering to what other people think is 'right' instead of lighting your own world on fire with something that you love.

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There speaks a true writer. But it depends on how much you want to be published. At the basis of every novel acceptance is a story, and the story has to be readable, and it has to be enjoyed by the readers.

You're absolutely right, Zolah, in that there is no formula for novel writing. There are certain accepted standards, but the huge variety of books out there show that you can write about almost anything, and in almost any style.

But yeah, I'd hate to spend a year or six months or however long producing something I didn't believe in. But the problem here is that it's so early in the story, and as we all know, if you can get someone to read what you've written, many opinions are formed in the first page or two. If there's something that looks 'clunky', they might not bother reading on.

Perhaps another solution is to write what you want to, but when you submit it off, 'sanitize' it a little, make it a little more acceptable. Then, when you get your contract and your huge advance, show them the real beginning in your first edit and see what they say.

See, Zolah? That didn't hurt at all, did it?

RobCurtis said:

There speaks a true writer. But it depends on how much you want to be published. At the basis of every novel acceptance is a story, and the story has to be readable, and it has to be enjoyed by the readers.

You're absolutely right, Zolah, in that there is no formula for novel writing. There are certain accepted standards, but the huge variety of books out there show that you can write about almost anything, and in almost any style.

But yeah, I'd hate to spend a year or six months or however long producing something I didn't believe in. But the problem here is that it's so early in the story, and as we all know, if you can get someone to read what you've written, many opinions are formed in the first page or two. If there's something that looks 'clunky', they might not bother reading on.

Perhaps another solution is to write what you want to, but when you submit it off, 'sanitize' it a little, make it a little more acceptable. Then, when you get your contract and your huge advance, show them the real beginning in your first edit and see what they say.

See, Zolah? That didn't hurt at all, did it?

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No, it was quite painless, actually. But the point I was trying to make was that it is quite possible to write a brilliant story without listening to anyone else's opinion. In fact, you're more likely to create something amazing by just ploughing ahead and doing what you love, than you are by refusing to try anything different just in case it isn't 'right'. It's frighteningly easy to suck all the joy and fun out of writing, and then no matter how 'correct' your work is, you've already killed off the only thing that made it worthwhile.

No one beta read my stuff. I didn't have a writer's group, or access to this website, or anyone I trusted to give me comments. I had me and I had my story. I wrote that story, and then I went out and found a publisher (the largest independant publisher of children's and young adult fiction in the UK, no less) and an agent all by myself. God it was hard - but it was also fun! I wouldn't swap that process for anything. And my story has a prologue and an epilogue and breaks about half the rules that people talk about around here as if they were set in stone. It all worked because I believed in it and I loved it - and if I can do it, ANYONE CAN. So the Rule Police can just take that and suck on it.

No bullets from me, Zolah. I agree totally. And I absolutely would NOT sanitize my work prior to sending it out. That said, I also agree with what Linda said, that putting a flashback into your story that early might not be a great idea. Maybe you can get it to work but I suspect you can make it work better if you piece out the info in the flashback over more time, thereby creating more suspense.

Beth

Zolah, I agree. I tried to make a previous novel fit into a certain groove, following rules, and then it got rejected anyway. With my current novel, Rain, I am following my own guide, my own style, while utilizing all the knowledge I'm gaining about how to make a novel compelling. The key is how good it is, no matter what syle you follow. I have read a successful novel, "An Evening of long Goodbyes," which uses a lot of passive rather than active prose, but when you get to the climax of the novel, and the ideas behind it, it becomes very active and compelling. But it is so well written, it's like a classic. In terms of flashbacks, they make me pause and consider whether or not I want to continue reading the novel. It really has to be a gripping novel before I will read the flashbacks.

Well, that's quite a pleasant surprise...

I would say, that in the putting together of the story, you have to decide if your flashbacks are cohesive and in that backstory you are still moving your plot forward.

I had a few flashback scenes necessary to the forward flow of the story, but found that they weren't cohesive, so did some big re-writes to those (many drafts ago).

I guess the best advice I can think of is, get it all out there. YOu can always add more information between first chapter and flashback, combine them into one chapter, find that you have put the information out there in other chapters of the draft and no longer need a flashback that big, or need it at all. Just keep writing, and when you are finished getting it all down, you can tweak it, rearrange it, rewrite some of it, add some things to it, see what works and what doesn't, get opinions or readers you trust to tell you if it works for them, etc. Just write it the way you envision it now and as you go through the process see if the vision changes, if it does, change the work, if it doesn't then you did it right the first time.

All jmo...of course.