So, this story is about a teenager girl learning to fight. Like, reborn. Tradegy at home causes her to run away. And she finds herself on harsh times. Eventually being taken in by an organization that is sort of evil! lol But they teach her how to fight. Like the ultimate climax of the story is sort of her accepting her strength because even though she had it for a bit by this time. Embracing that she is truly a soldier and part of this evil organization.(Yes, another theme, she knows it is evil but can't help but embrace it since it saved her.) And I am torn on what is the best starting point. Like, my first thought is the first day at the organization and to maybe explain what got her that a little later as she is bounding with people. But is that too confusing? But is starting before then, with her hard times or the event that caused her hard times. The family dymanic at home. Is that too earlier? Is it gonna make reaching the drama of the organization take too long? Or would that be better pacing. If she is reborn? Show who she was in more depth? Or if the story is about her becoming a warrior, then start the day she begins becoming a warrior? Any thoughts?
You don’t want to tell her whole life story. It’s not a biography. So starting at her point of working willingly with the ‘evil’ organisation would work. I don’t think jumping back and forth in time to explain her current situation would be confusing, as long as you plan well so that the flashback parts correspond to present day parts in order to explain them. It sounds like an interesting idea. On a stylistic note, the word ‘evil’, if it were actually used, would jar for me. ‘Evil’ has connotations of spiritual corruption, and if used to describe an organisation carrying out illegal or immoral acts could sound immature. So personally I would avoid that term, unless of course the group is actually channeling evil spirits or some other kind of dark magic to meet its goals. In that case, ‘evil’ would of course be entirely appropriate.
As Mashers said, it's not her life story, it's about her time with this syndicate, so maybe start with her being recruited, you can always touch on why she was a runaway as she is brought into it, given the nature of the group I imagine someone is going to learn from her why she joined.
For the record. I meant evil in the sense of immoral. I am just used evil for the sake of simplicity.
I would start a bit before she ends up in the organization to give it a little setup. Show us what she thinks about it compared to her current situation (good thing? bad thing?). If part of the climax/apotheosis is her accepting her affiliation in an "evil" or organization (the ends justifying the means) you will need to show both arguments and how she arrived at that conclusion for any of it to be meaningful. So if we don't see her before all this jumps off you might have to lean on backstory more than you'd like.
That is a good argument! Though not sure I see it as the ends justify means. Since it is more like she feels indebted... oh wait no nevermind. Being stupid. Feeling indebted to someone helping her(the end) by returning the favor(means) as a way of escaping her previous situation. See, I always type unfiltered. You even get my sudden feeling changes in real time. Or close as possible to it.
I would start the day she runs away, but it really is down to writer's preference. As long as what's happened before is told, and told organically through dialogue and scattered throughout the narration, any point would be fine.
Yes, I agree with the above comments. It really is up to you. Ultimately, what you have to ask yourself is, what are the most important parts of the story? What leads most to the point I want to make? Then decide if including her backstory helps support those ideas and plot points. And if it does, include it in the beginning of the story as an additional plot point. If it doesn't seem imperative enough, then I like the flashback idea. Like others said, if you don't want it to be a biography of her life, or if you'd rather not include all the details, then jumping back in time to a point in the story that ties in to the present part of the story from which you jumped back (if that makes sense) is a good strategy. Sometimes it adds a little mysticism to the story and the character too, if you want to give it a more thriller aspect. As for where to start, again I encourage to you to think about what the most important part of her backstory is that relates to the story. It sounds like running away from home might be too far back, but maybe in the middle of her street life, just before she gets saved is a good place to start. That way, you can show what she is living through and why it's important to her that the organization saved her. Or, if there are a lot of important plot points for her while she is training, or when she becomes a member of the organization, then maybe starting in the middle there is best, and then referencing back to her past when it's related. This would be a lot harder but might create a more interesting story. Personally, I prefer the former option because it builds a stronger relationship between her and the organization at the outset, which seems to be important to the story. I hope I've made sense, lol. My brain couldn't put together all the thoughts it had cohesively.
