So I've been working on one fantasy project for a while now. Its set around a revolution and the story I most want to tell is the idea that a revolution doesn't necessarily solve all your problems - so its set in the aftermath of that conflict with people picking up the mangled pieces and trying to build the utopia they had always dreamed of while still dealing with the trauma of what they had to do to get to this point. There's atrocities and betrayals and giant trees that eat people and all sorts of stuff going on. But my challenge at the moment is whether to start the actual narrative before the revolution itself, show everyone the state of the empire, show the struggles of revolution and then in the latter half (probably the second or third book knowing the length I tend to write towards) deal with the 'life goes on in the aftermath' or whether to start the narrative in the aftermath and use people talking/flashing back to the pre-times.
So I guess my question is, when I've got a fairly clear idea of several decades of world history, populated by (currently thin, but developable) characters - how do you choose which bits to actually put in to the book explicitly and which bits to either leave out or refer to? I guess my worry is that if I start post-revolution, I'll have to do a lot of explaining what just happened which might get dull, rather than just straight up show people the revolution and get to the aftermath, afterwards. Plus I've just got a feeling that a revolution is always going to be a fairly gripping centrepiece to a story...
I've considered doing the past/future chapters thing, or Robin Hobb's 'flavour text' inserts at the start of each chapter or just mixing it up or all sorts... I know there's a good story in here with this revolution and what these characters are achieving and sacrificing to get there, but picking where and how to structure the book as opposed to the history is proving a challenge.
Any suggestions for resources on how to deal with these kinds of structure questions? Or should I just focus on writing something and leave some of this until future revisions?
Many thanks in advance
So I guess my question is, when I've got a fairly clear idea of several decades of world history, populated by (currently thin, but developable) characters - how do you choose which bits to actually put in to the book explicitly and which bits to either leave out or refer to? I guess my worry is that if I start post-revolution, I'll have to do a lot of explaining what just happened which might get dull, rather than just straight up show people the revolution and get to the aftermath, afterwards. Plus I've just got a feeling that a revolution is always going to be a fairly gripping centrepiece to a story...
I've considered doing the past/future chapters thing, or Robin Hobb's 'flavour text' inserts at the start of each chapter or just mixing it up or all sorts... I know there's a good story in here with this revolution and what these characters are achieving and sacrificing to get there, but picking where and how to structure the book as opposed to the history is proving a challenge.
Any suggestions for resources on how to deal with these kinds of structure questions? Or should I just focus on writing something and leave some of this until future revisions?
Many thanks in advance
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