If you're going to make a reader feel something in fiction, doesn't that require manipulation? The reader has signed up for it.
Yes, exactly. As long as it doesn't feel like dishonesty in writing, manipulation is what it all comes down to. When you read fiction, you're willingly going down the rabbit hole.If you're going to make a reader feel something in fiction, doesn't that require manipulation? The reader has signed up for it.
The concern on character connection is valid. As such, I thought keeping the flash forward intro very short, like 2 or 3 pages, might help.So if you do use a flash forward, or make the bulk of the story a flash back (depends how you look at it) you're in for a tougher battle as the first scene needs to be engaging enough for them to keep reading but then you have to do it again when the flash forward ends and you start explaining how it all really started. That's my opinion anyway. Good luck, happy writing!
The concern on character connection is valid. As such, I thought keeping the flash forward intro very short, like 2 or 3 pages, might help.
I do think you can get readers to care quickly, if the scene and character are interesting. Maybe not for twenty pages, but for a lead-in of a few pages then into the story proper.
That's kind of what I'm going for too. Place a question in the reader's mind as soon as they switch to the first chapter in the story proper about how the MC got to that point in the flash forward. Then, their expectation is flipped at the story's conclusion for a twist ending.The advantage of the flash forward is that the reader, now having certain expectations, is better able to interpret the larger narrative coming together. The smaller narrative becomes a lens by which to watch the development of something greater. I'm hoping that it makes the novel feel more grounded.
I don't really use the Showcase because I have a bunch of writer friends who trade work (several Scribes too) and a live crit group that meets monthly.That's what I did and I think its brevity really helps. I can't say that I definitely won't change it but for now, it stays. If you've written it, why not post it in showcase?
I don't really use the Showcase because I have a bunch of writer friends who trade work (several Scribes too) and a live crit group that meets monthly.
I find the in-depth reviews, and give-and-take with people who've learned my vision and style goals more helpful.
Plus, if the forward doesn't work, I cut it, beginning instead with chapter one, as normal. It would be wasting two to three pages...big deal, I've cut over a hundred pages before.
Yes, that's a great example of the effect I'm going for in this story. It's not the same, of course, but that feeling Fallen's twist ending imparted to the viewer is what I'm hoping to invoke in the reader...an "aha! moment" ending which makes sense, is unavoidable, yet unexpected.The best use of this technique I can think of off-hand is from the Denzel Washington movie, Fallen. The first and last scene are identical, its just that the meaning has changed as a result of the events of the story. Fiendishly clever, hooky, and expertly pulled off (In my opinion, of course). It won't work for every story, though, as it is so closely tied to the content. In any case, it's a really cool movie, well worth seeing.