Yeah, yeah, we all know how the song goes… “Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start…”
Except for when it’s not.
See, I came to a realization today. I like stories that don’t start at the beginning.
So many authors write linearly. And there’s nothing wrong with that, that’s how we live life. Things go from one thing to the next in a sequential, logical order. But it’s not the only way to tell a story… nor, in certain cases, I think, is it the best way to tell a story.
One of my favorite authors plays with this sort of thing /all/ the time. He starts in the middle, has the hero explain the beginning in some manner, and then moves on to the ending. Or he’ll go from the beginning to the ending and then flesh in the middle. Or he’ll play with two parallel storylines, essentially the beginning and the ending, and tie them together with the middle.
Another of my favorite authors tends to leave you guessing as to exactly what the beginning, middle and ending is. Many of his books interweave, but it’s hard to pinpoint which one is the true ‘first’ book – there’s a chronological order, but storywise there’s certainly argument for reading them ‘out of order.’ And another recent book of his starts in the middle, and the ending consists of figuring out what the beginning was, in essence.
Writing things ‘out of order’ in such a manner can be a tricky thing to pull off – I know, I’ve tried. And still try, I think it’s my favorite writing trick to work with. It can be confusing for readers if not executed properly, but when it is done well, it’s such a rewarding technique.
Now the question. Why? If time is a linear thing, going from one thing to the next, why is it that so many great stories, going as far back as the Greek epics, are /not/ written sequentially?
I think the answer lies in the fact that though it marches on in one direction, the interaction between the past, present, and future are not as straightforward as we might like to believe. It is easy to see how the past affects the present and future. Our choices we’ve made inevitably leads to the consequences we deal with later on. But so too can the future affect the past – what we learn in the future can easily change our perception of events that occurred in our past. Though it moves in only one direction, the relationship between past, present and future is anything but limited. And I think that perhaps writing ‘out of order’ is sometimes the best way to tell a story – to show exactly how the past and the future come together and affect the present.
Stories that don’t quite end at the ‘ending’ also leave the reader with something to think about – it’s a story that sticks with you. Seeing how events weave together to form the pattern of the story sometimes means coming at the middle from both sides – or saving the beginning until after you’ve seen the ending. Story isn’t limited by the onward march of time – sometimes what may best help to reveal what you want a story to show is to start somewhere other than the beginning.
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