Post History

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/37358
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

## **Don't toss out any literary device you have.**

Yes, this can work, and work well. In TV it's called the "How we got here" trope. Some examples are The Emperor's New Groove, Fight Club, Inception, and Matrix Reloaded. I believe one of the Terminator movies did this as well. Memento is a famous example of learning an entire story backwards.

One advantage of this trope in _literature_ is that (in books) it has not been sorely overdone.

The answer to whether this is a good idea for you in your current project will depend on (1) the genre you are writing in, (2) the event, (3) your execution, and (4) probably other factors.

Depending on the execution, the layout of the chapters be almost any which way you prefer. I've heard of a book that directs readers to go to chapter thirteen after reading chapter one. Then to chapter six, then four, then fifteen.

It can also work to leave the important scene in the middle--and that order of events would be more typical.

Writing out of order, and then re-ordering later, can also work.

The answer is yes, but you don't need to be wedded to the idea.

Original score: 1