Interesting conundrum I have in one story. The MC's boyfriend is dead when the story starts. It is something she is coping with over the course of the story. I want the reader to 'feel' the connection she had with him, and for the reader to feel for the MC and her relationship with the deceased boyfriend in a way that the reader might feel for a couple whose romance develops over the course of a novel.
Because the boyfriend is dead at the start of the work, he never appears except perhaps in a snippet of dream. I do not like flashbacks, and I'm loathe to use them to dramatize some scene from the past to build a connection between the boyfriend and the reader so they will empathize more strongly with the MC's loss. But I do want the reader to feel strongly about the relationship.
Thoughts on how to approach this?
Because the boyfriend is dead at the start of the work, he never appears except perhaps in a snippet of dream. I do not like flashbacks, and I'm loathe to use them to dramatize some scene from the past to build a connection between the boyfriend and the reader so they will empathize more strongly with the MC's loss. But I do want the reader to feel strongly about the relationship.
Thoughts on how to approach this?