Hatrack River Writers Workshop: Out of order?

This is topic Out of order? in forum Open Discussions About Writing at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.

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Posted by enigmaticuser (Member # 9398) on :

Do you find it disrupting when a piece of a story comes out of order? Say a scene is introduced, but then flash's back to show the significance?

I'm considering a scene like that where I'm trying to convey the suddenness, the clipiness of one of the character's pov, but I'll then just be going back to "unclip" it to show how she got there.

Thoughts?

Posted by BenM (Member # 8329) on :

Anything's possible. Just don't lose the reader.

I read a book last year (Use of Weapons, Iain M Banks) in which alternate chapters were (progressively further) flashbacks, but where there were basically no cues in the prose to it happening. I didn't pick up this mechanic until well into the book, by which point it was very confusing and off-putting. I may have enjoyed the book much more had I picked up on this sooner.

Posted by elilyn (Member # 9426) on :

I'm so happy you posted this. I just had the same debate with myself last night. I ended up writing the scene the way I "felt" it should be written. Current time, flash back to the past week, then up to current time again. It just seemed right. I figured if it doesn't make sense that is what editing is for.

Robert Jordan has a scene like this in the first Wheel of Time book when Mat and Rand are on the road to Camelyn(sp?).

Posted by EVOC (Member # 9381) on :

I read a book called Haze by L.E. Modesitt, Jr. He did the first chapter was "real time" and the next was a flash back to a past assignment in his life. And he alternated them like that. Essentially he had two story lines the past and the present and they did intersect.

My only issue with it was there was no clues as to why this was being done, until the end. It bothered me because I felt like I should know why a little sooner.

It was a good book none-the-less. But definitely out of order.

In my own WIP I have struggled with this idea. As I have my MC getting a new partner at the beginning of the novel, but the reason is not much known. The MC doesn't want to share it. And of course, the reason plays a very important role. So, I am trying to make the "flashback" work.

But it can be done.

Posted by Natej11 (Member # 8547) on :

By some odd coincidence the book I'm trying to read right now did exactly that, and it's still driving me crazy.

So the author starts out a chapter with the aftermath of a battlefield. A few minor things happen, some dialogue, a bit of hinting about what happened in the battle. Then he does a FLASHBACK TO BEFORE THE BATTLE AND DESCRIBES THE WHOLE THING! I mean why even...what possible benefit...how in the...

It's not the only thing that's really irked me in this book. I've been trying to read it for over a week and forcing myself to do so since I have no other reading material and I bought the first 3 books of his series.

@Elilyn Robert Jordan uses this technique a lot. He'll start a chapter when the main action is to take place, give us just enough of the character PoV to know what's happening and to who, and then he'll flash back and describe all the events leading up to that point before continuing on with the chapter. He does it very well, and provides a good example of how it can be done effectively.

[This message has been edited by Natej11 (edited March 30, 2011).]

Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :

One of my favorite examples of a story told out of order isn't science fiction or fantasy. It's CHRONICLE OF A DEATH FORETOLD by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and it starts by telling you that everyone in the village knew that a certain man was going to be killed that day, and then the chapters jump all over time and place as he shows how they knew and why they didn't do anything to stop it from happening. The last chapter, if I remember correctly, showed the actual killing.

I'd recommend the book (it isn't very long), if you want to see one way that it can be done.

Posted by enigmaticuser (Member # 9398) on :

I guess, I'm not opposed to the flashback in theory. I have used it previously in varying degrees, but it was usually kind of like you had a story that without the flashback still worked with just a bit of mystery regarding character motive. In this case it's more of...integral.

I guess when I think about it, as seen from the character's perspective this is the way she sees it. The flashback is something she is in the present trying to come to grips with in how it now defines her present.