Point recently made to me is that if you start with something that actually happens partway through to the story, when you begin the presentation of the inciting incident you need to make it very clear you're backtracking. Easily done, if you put yourself in the reader's place and don't assume they have the same big picture you have in your own head. I very much like this approach to hooking the reader, though.
Great overview, Catherine. This is something I think about quite a lot.
Regarding dream sequences, they almost always feel like cheap parlor trick, whether at the start or halfway through. Series and films especially overindulge in this device, so much so that it's predisposed me to rejecting dream sequences even when they might have an active role to play.
Point recently made to me is that if you start with something that actually happens partway through to the story, when you begin the presentation of the inciting incident you need to make it very clear you're backtracking. Easily done, if you put yourself in the reader's place and don't assume they have the same big picture you have in your own head. I very much like this approach to hooking the reader, though.
Great overview, Catherine. This is something I think about quite a lot.
Regarding dream sequences, they almost always feel like cheap parlor trick, whether at the start or halfway through. Series and films especially overindulge in this device, so much so that it's predisposed me to rejecting dream sequences even when they might have an active role to play.