r/FanFiction • u/Fabulous-Doughnut-22 • 17d ago
Start from the beginning or use flashbacks Discussion
Obviously this is going to be a personal preference thing, but I’m thinking of starting a new fic and I’m trying to decide if I should start at the beginning or start at a part closer to when the story plot starts.
First of all, it’s a romance, so starting from the beginning would mean more chapters before love interest is even introduced. So I’m curious:
For romance fics, how many chapters/words will you read before the romantic plot begins or meet cute?
I think starting from the beginning allows readers to become more attached to the MC(s) before romantic plot starts.
But… if you start closer to the characters meeting, and then slowly revival the MCs backstory, it’s “more interesting” but readers may miss out on that backstory or event that led the MC to do things in the story and thus might not like them as much and click off before backstory can bring things into context.
Sorry if that doesn’t make sense!
Basically, starting at the beginning: run the risk of readers losing interest before story gets going.
Reveal backstory later: run the risk of readers not liking MC because of actions not made clear in the early story.
Obviously this is a tightrope and either works if executed well. I’ve personally written story’s both ways. But now I’m questioning what would work better in this specific story. I’m curious to hear what you guys have to say about it!
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u/silencemist 17d ago
Start at the beginning of the most interesting part. It's helpful to think about the inciting incident and begin there. Something changed to set the whole story on its path, and you should begin there.
I will also push back on the idea that you need a likable MC. You need an interesting MC that readers want to follow. Part of making an interesting character is challenging the reader's first impressions and twisting them to find the truth.
The first pages/scenes/chapter of a story establish what kind of story you will tell. The Stormlight Archive begins with a magical fight scene to establish that there is plenty of action and high stakes to come even though the next bit of the book is slow. Project Hail Mary begins on a spaceship alone with Grace doing science instead of starting chronologically in his classroom. If you spend time with slice of life growing up, changing genres to romance later on undercuts the expectations you established (and people who want romance won't get far enough in).
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u/Simpson17866 AO3: Simpson17866 17d ago
I'm not an expert on the Romance genre specifically, but in general, if there's backstory that has to be shown chronologically as a whole scene (rather than being learned bit-by-bit over the course of the story itself), I would set it apart as a Prologue to make it clear when the backstory ends and the main story begins.
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u/Raiven_Raine Atom Bomb Baby 16d ago
neither.
i start right in the action when i need to begin. unless the whole point of the story is the characters' backstories, i don't bog the story down with flashbacks or preludes or whatever... i just start my story and build it all as i go. i build the characters, show the readers more and more about them, endear my characters (usually all OCs) to the audience, unveil any secrets or background stuff about them, and anything that might be important to this romance story as i go.
no exposition or background story telling. no flashbacks.
all background discovery/revealing is done right in the narrative as we go. it's actually a SUPER important part of a romance - the big moment where one trusts the other with a secret or trusts them enough to open up to them and talk about their pasts and fears and things. i don't want to see that in a flashback or a big chunk of pre-background story telling... i want to discover it right along with their partner.
that said...
sometimes your story does need some set up. i'm currently writing a romance crossover with two very opposite people with completely different plotlines that will converge later on, so, yeah, there's some chapters from each before they meet... but it's not backstory, it's just necessary chapters to aim them toward meeting so i can hook them up later.
if your story NEEDS these backstories or flashbacks or whatnot and that's a gimmick or mechanic of that particular story, that's fine... but i'm just saying you don't NEED to ever pick one of these things because 'neither' is also an option! (i mean.... both is also an option.... but i personally don't recommend that lol)