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Q&A Providing context without getting lost in Description

I think one of the challenges I have faced the most often in writing books has been where to start. I tend to do a lot of flash forwards to jump into the action and follow it up with a chapter or t...

0 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by Rhettmartens‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T09:38:37Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/38339
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar Rhettmartens‭ · 2019-12-08T09:38:37Z (almost 5 years ago)
I think one of the challenges I have faced the most often in writing books has been where to start. I tend to do a lot of flash forwards to jump into the action and follow it up with a chapter or two of context, but I'm afraid this is a bit of a cop-out for not knowing how to manage description vs. action.

What are great ways to jump right into the action without losing the context of where the story is placed and who the characters are?

Also

Are flash forwards into an intense scene only to come back to the start acceptable, or do they weaken the prose?

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2018-08-15T15:37:26Z (over 6 years ago)
Original score: 2