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The Big Flashback can work, but it's a tired cliché. The general strategy is to open with Louise fighting for her life the grip of the Acturan Octopus Tyrant, then jump back in time to her childh...
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#3: Attribution notice added
by
System
·
2019-12-08T05:00:53Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/20809 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision
by
Duncan McKenzie
·
2019-12-08T05:00:53Z (almost 5 years ago)
The Big Flashback can work, but it's a tired cliché. The general strategy is to open with Louise fighting for her life the grip of the Acturan Octopus Tyrant, then jump back in time to her childhood in Idaho, and the strange sequence of events which will lead to her becoming Earth's one hope against the alien invaders. If I read something like this and, by the end of the book, the writer hasn't even touched on Louise and her death struggle with the octopus, I wouldn't bother with book 2. Writers often came that it's important for readers to know the backstory. Usually it isn't. We are all deluged by stories. We change channels to the middle of a cop drama and pick up the story in minutes. Unless you have a compelling artistic reason to do otherwise, start with the action and move forward in time.
#1: Imported from external source
by
System
·
2016-02-04T19:14:17Z (over 8 years ago)
Original score: 2