(no subject)

[nonionay]

So my current writing dilemma, which perhaps you can help me with, regards timelines.

I have two pov characters, (Characters A and B) and one important event which affects both of them (Event 1)

Character A starts off the story, and about a month , and many chapters, passes with us following him. Then Event 1 happens, wreaks havoc upon him, and we keep following him for a while (at least three months, much of which he can spend in an uneventful place), until finally he meets Character B briefly, and he gets to have several uneventful years pass.

The point at which I would like to start Character B's story is shortly after Event 1. It's a perfect spot to start B's story, and I really don't want to change it. Ideally, I would like to alternate chapters between A and B. But can I get away with this, since B starts a month into the book? Normally, I wouldn't worry about jumping back in time to cover B, but talking about Event 1 before it happens to A sounds wierd, and would undoubtedly throw people off. (Event 1 is covered in the previous book, so readers might think, "er... why hasn't A noticed this thing yet?"

Should I screw linear continuity, and alternate pov chapters? Or should I dedicate a bunch of chapters to A, then to B, back and forth?
I could have the prologue feature B, to show that she exists, but I've already got a prologue I love (which features neither A nor B)

Ideas? Support? Beatings for being so damned vague?

Current Project - Raising Monsters (aka book 4)

Comments

[mimerki.livejournal.com]

If you are going to do alternating POV chapters (or some approximation thereof) after Event, why not do just one pre-Event chapter from B's POV? B can be... cussing out the baker for burning the bread or something, I dunno. Doing something pretty normal that lets the reader know B exists without leaving the reader wondering why we are spending so much time on a character who isn't doing anything.

After Event, you can do alternating chapters (or some A and then some B, or whatever).

[criada.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. I've already got a mundane scene for B, which ties in beautifully with the thing that kicks off her story the next day. It does everything I love in a beginning -- shows what's at stake, what the penalties are for failure, setting, character. It's all so perfect, except for the timing. But I'm sure I'll get over myself and come up with something.

[kehrli.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure yet, but I'll be able to drag specifics out of you eventually.

I might go to Costco for more muffins. Do you want to come? Where is the Marina? O_O

My CD player broke, but then I got lucky. (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=020&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&viewitem=&item=300071033884&rd=1&rd=1)