28 Comments

We could make this a "thing." Maybe we already have. Maybe it already is. :)

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😉

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I like it; there’s still tension because, though you know the chronological outcome, you don’t know the historical one? May have to give it a whirl!

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I love it!! Very approachable. Grin. A good read. Thanks so much.

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Thanks very much, Beth

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I like this variation especially. It draws an immediate question mark and piques the reader's curiosity about what began the chain of events. Fun! I tend to write mostly linear stories, but I'll have to try this one out.

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Oct 9, 2023·edited Oct 9, 2023Author

Thanks, Jacquie. It was much easier than I thought it would be. It seemed to flow. You are right about raising questions. I think this approach is a good way of keeping the reader dangling

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Oct 8, 2023Liked by Terry Freedman

Good fun, as usual! This one works particularly well. Excellent stuff.

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Thanks Bryan.

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Oct 8, 2023Liked by Terry Freedman

This totally works! Great job, Terry.

I actually quite enjoy books where within chapters you start after an event and then whatever happened is slowly brought about through recall. G RRRRRR Martin did this quite a lot with his A Song of Ice and Fire. It always worked well as a means to get you straight into a chapter.

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Thanks Nathan. I don't know that book. It sounds very interesting

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Oct 9, 2023Liked by Terry Freedman

It's his entire Game of Thrones series. Did you ever watch the tv show? (Amazing up until the point where they caught up with the books and then the scriptwriters had to cope on their own... Which, well, the last season was shite).

Anyway, it's a minor thing in the grand scope of the epic fantasy series, but I did really enjoy G RR (I'll use the correct number of Rs this time 😄) Martin's use chapter structure. He also only ever writes from one character PoV at a time per chapter, which, along with first person, is my favourite style. I much prefer that to omniscient.

Anyway, I've taken us somewhat off track 😄

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Thanks Nathan. I never watched it. I was wondering about Grrrrrr 😃

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Oct 9, 2023Liked by Terry Freedman

Hehehe. Many fans are likely angry at his lack of finishing the books, and so may well refer to him as grrrrrr 😆

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😂

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That works very well. One of my recent stories starts with a sort of aftermath scene. I like the effect. Well done Terry.

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Thanks, Jim. Which story is that? Link please!

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It was my story "Death Art" which opens in a mental institution, years after the events revealed in the story. It's a dark story, not for everyone. Thanks for asking ,Terry. Here is the link. https://open.substack.com/pub/jimcummings5251/p/death-art?r=1wg1lx&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

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Thanks Jim. I thought I'd commented, but it appears not. I think I linked to it in a Start the Week

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Yes you did. Thank you for that.

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Well done!

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Thanks Donna

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Gosh, this is such an interesting variation - although it feels very, very different to be reading it the 'wrong' way round, it works really well indeed! It feels like you're relating to a friend what had happened to you - and thinking about it, I will often tell a story in that direction rather than from the start, verbally to a friend, at least.

I love how these Experiments in style make me think, Terry - bravo (again!). 😊

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Thanks Rebecca. Yes, in my mind I was imagining relating it to a friend 😁

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I had the same thought! “This is how I would tell it to a friend,” but only if I saw them directly after. If I was telling it long after the fact, I might go more linear. Interesting to think about how immediacy plays a factor in how we choose to recount stories.

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Thanks Renee. I hadn't thought of that actually but you're right. Isn't that interesting. I might play with the timescale of retelling. Hmmm

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Oct 8, 2023Liked by Terry Freedman

This version works perfectly, doesn't it? Seems exactly right. I may experiment with one of my old stories, just to see what happens. Thanks Terry

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Thanks Sharron. Yes, please do, and share the result!

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