Alright, you two - I have a question.
I need some input about the story I'm working on.
I'm not quite sure how to explain it, because I don't want to give the whole story away, but I'll do my best. Here goes:
Which is more emotionally powerful/interesting:
1. Knowing what happened to a main character and seeing how much they've sacrificed, OR
2. Slowly figuring out what happened to the main character and then realizing how much they've sacrificed?
I'll try to explain it like this:
I'm thinking I should write the second book of Violet's Monster FIRST, partially because I have a tiny suspicion that the drama would be heightened and that it would be much more emotionally involving. BUT I don't know if it actually WILL be if the reader doesn't know any of the backstory at the beginning...what I'm thinking is, they'll be reading the 2nd story FIRST and then WHAM, they realize just how much this one character has given up/has to keep secret, instead of knowing what all happened before (if they had read the 1st story first) and just being sad with the character...
Thoughts?!
I don't know the exact situation in your story, so this might not be relevant. But in Sense and Sensibility my heart died for Eleanor as unintentionally made insensitive comments and she had to deal with her sister's own heartache without mentioning her own. My respect for her sacrifice was heightened, I think, because I knew about it as she endured the suffering quietly. But I suppose it depends on the secret. If it works better for you to write the second one first, you could still do that, and then figure out in what order the story should be told.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Gina. That's what I'm worried about. I feel like if you know the truth from the start, your heart aches along with one of the MCs, but if you figure it out as you go along, the emotional-ness (or most of it) is lost...ahhhhh!
ReplyDeleteI'm turning in circles on this one. I might just write this and see how it goes (give it to a test subject or two), and then go back to the beginning...or the end. Who knows. This story keeps evolving, which is really anxiety-inducing since I keep adding more "WHY?!?!?!" to the list. :P
"You two" made me lol.
ReplyDeleteBut I'm thinking...option 2. I've always had a thing for the dark hero that almost seems like a villain until you know what made them tick.
There's nothing I hate worse than a lengthy introduction that takes away all the mystery. "Hi I'm X and here's my trauma! Isn't that SAD???? Now you can spend the rest of the story feeling sorry for me!" The Jonah Hex movie went that route and I was silently screaming at the tv.
@ Abbie: Thanks! ...You basically described my favorite, favorite, FAVORITE character in Harry Potter. Hmmmm...:) That gives me something to think about as well...
ReplyDeleteThat lack of mystery is why I disliked the Sherlock Holmes movie (Jude Law/Robert Downey Jr.) - they did a lot of things SO WELL but they told you who the villain was AT THE BEGINNING and then they were like, "oooooooo, it's so mysterious...KIDDING, IT'S SCIENCE!!!". Not impressed.
I may have to talk to you both at some point and just explain the story so you know what the situation is. Maybe I need to figure out what it is first. XD
hmm...Snape is a good point. Elinor's secret is part of the story unfolding, not just exposition at the beginning. Snape's story is slowly revealed but I didn't enjoy Rowling's full reveal at the end of the series...felt like it happened too fast and lost some emotional resonance for me...hmm...
ReplyDeletePart of this, Gina, is that I am HORRIBLE at talking. And on this blog, I write like I talk so this probably isn't the best explanation you'd get from me about the story.
ReplyDeleteI thought that it was better to tell the whole first part of the story as the first book - but it wouldn't cooperate and I had to start over so many times that I was getting burned out, so I thought "What if I told the 2nd part of the story first?" but then you have to use the over-used flashback and...so now you know how up in the air everything is! Maybe we should spend some time talking about our individual stories...I always find it helpful to my creative process to bounce ideas off of others (and I'm happy to be the person listening as well - I love listening to others' stories!)...
I think what happened with Rowling's last book (not my favorite) was this: She had a good thing going and the snowball started rolling down the hill. At the last book, she was probably so strapped for time writing it and the publishing house wanted it so fast that they didn't have time to properly edit. I also think that's the problem with Stephanie Meyers' Twilight books - they had no idea it would get so big and when it did, they wanted those books pumped out. Not enough time spent on the editing room floor.
So. I have some thinking to do. I may or may not use the writing I'm doing now - it might pop in and out of later evolutions, or I might use it as the first or second one, or...who knows. Maybe the last one. *shrugs* Maybe I love these characters too much.