I think Worm is better starting at 3.1 and doing 1-2 as flashbacks.
I read the preview for Pact, and felt like it was promising one thing, then switched in the last few paragraphs to something completely different. Similarly, I was skeptical of Worm until the encounter with Lung (I don’t know if I would have made it that far without Eliezer’s recommendation, but I am very glad I did).
The information in both intros is valuable, and it sets up the theme—bullies suck, “gaaah why wont this family leave me alone?”—but they invest the reader in one storyline, then completely pull the rug out from under them. Howard Taylor would call this ‘breaking promises to the reader’.
(Which suggests the question: how should a writer initiate a story without too much in medias rais[sic] such that the reader knows what they’re getting into before the protagonist, but we don’t lose valuable information/etc?)
I think Worm is better starting at 3.1 and doing 1-2 as flashbacks.
It is a rule of thumb in writing that many novels (especially those written by relatively inexperienced writers) will feel tighter and better-paced if one lops off the first two or three chapters. I find it interesting that it also applies to Worm.
I got pissed off reading A Game of Thrones because the opening led me to expect an adventure story and I ended up with several hundred pages of politics.
I liked the other books much more because I successfully recalibrated my expectations.
I think Worm is better starting at 3.1 and doing 1-2 as flashbacks.
I read the preview for Pact, and felt like it was promising one thing, then switched in the last few paragraphs to something completely different. Similarly, I was skeptical of Worm until the encounter with Lung (I don’t know if I would have made it that far without Eliezer’s recommendation, but I am very glad I did).
The information in both intros is valuable, and it sets up the theme—bullies suck, “gaaah why wont this
familyleave me alone?”—but they invest the reader in one storyline, then completely pull the rug out from under them. Howard Taylor would call this ‘breaking promises to the reader’.(Which suggests the question: how should a writer initiate a story without too much in medias rais[sic] such that the reader knows what they’re getting into before the protagonist, but we don’t lose valuable information/etc?)
It is a rule of thumb in writing that many novels (especially those written by relatively inexperienced writers) will feel tighter and better-paced if one lops off the first two or three chapters. I find it interesting that it also applies to Worm.
The opening chapter of a Song of Ice and Fire gives a nice big unforgettable hint that this isn’t simply medieval politics in an odd setting.
I got pissed off reading A Game of Thrones because the opening led me to expect an adventure story and I ended up with several hundred pages of politics.
I liked the other books much more because I successfully recalibrated my expectations.