Irreversible?

[LaRascasse]

Hi,

Before I start something, I need some opinion. This next concept that I am trying is untested and very experimental. In fact, it will be an achievement if I can actually pull it off. Just let me know what you think of it.

Have you seen the movie "Irreversible" by Gaspar Noe? It describes the events of a day in reverse chronological order. The consequences are shown first and then the action leading to them. It gives a radically different view of the entire story, when you see it backwards. I have a small 3 chapter story in mind which would be like that. Chapter 1 would be the actual ending. Chapter 2 consists of events leading upto it and Chapter 3 is the introduction/exposition.

The central idea is that, you first see what is going to happen and wonder how they came about. Chapter 3 shows the actions that set the ball rolling and then the reader gets the complete picture of how the shocking events came about.

Can this be an effective device or am I in way over my head? Please let me know.

 

[JRaven]

I think it might work if you help the reader out some.

For example:
At the end of Chapter 1, when everything happens, you might end with the question: Why did he decide to have sex with the older woman in the first place?
At the end of Chapter 2, when you reveal the decision making process, you ask: How did they even meet?
In Chapter 3, you reveal their relationship before the sex. Are they mom/son, teacher/student, whatever?

Mom/son might be a bit difficult. If you put Chapter 1 in the incest category, the reader will automatically assume they're either mom/son or aunt/nephew. Unless of course, you do something like put Ch1 in Mature, Ch2 in Romance, and Ch3 in Non-erotic. But, you'd probably get a lot of flak for that when some readers that don't like incest find out it is incest.

I haven't watched the movie, haven't seen or read anything like this. Sounds like an interesting read.

Jenny

 

[LaRascasse]

It's not an Incest story don't worry.

It's actually a very shocking thriller (with some sex here and there). Still largely in concept phase.

 

[Totzman]

The hardest thing about writing a story like this is that even though you're writing in reverse order, you still want to have a good climax at the end. If the ending is the beginning, you need to find a really powerful way to "begin" the story that brings a strong persepctive to the rest of the story that's already been read. Simple character development isn't enough. Otherwise, why bother reading to that point?

I haven't seen Irreversible but I have seen Memento which is in the same format. SPOILER ALERT: Memento ends with a twist in which it reveals the main character killed the wrong person at the beginning of the movie. So you would probbaly need a powerful surprise or climax to begin your plot to end your story.

 

[Carnevil9]

I agree with Totzman; this idea made me think about Memento. And yes, Memento had a great "climax" at the end of the movie, which was actually at the beginning of the "story," if you follow that.

I think you could pull off an effective Literotica story using the same technique, but it would require some very deft writing. Good luck!

 

[LaRascasse]

It's like this.....

I was writing a run of the mill short thriller, when I realized the beginning would be more shocking if it was revealed after the reader knew about the ending.

The beginning and end are more or less set. It's the middle that irks me. It has to stay connected to the ending and reveal some facts about the characters, yet not give away anything I am saving for chapter 3 (the beginning or end, whichever way you look at it).

Any hints on how my middle should go?

 

[Totzman]

Not knowing anything about your story, I haven't anything to tell you about how the middle should go.