Character story line:Journey or flashbacks

[T.W.]

When reading a series how do you prefer to learn about the main character?

Take a series like Harry Potter. It starts at his child hood and moves from there.

Then you have a series like Jack Reacher where you get flash backs.

I'm writing an action/thriller and have started from the beginning to show the journey of the character and what made him into the character I want him to be. I worry that readers may be less interested in the journey and more about the action.

[Jim]

The examples aren't comparable. The first is a coming of age story, the other is an action-thriller from an adult POV. Do you want to write a book of discovery & learning or of action? You can do a bit of both the way Herbert handled Paul in Dune. It's your choice.

[Feliks]

'Dune' is a good example. Otherwise the industry wisdom is always to 'hook' your readers early. And its a pretty strong argument. If you let the reader see that you are deliberately taking them on a detour, it can be very offputting. I once halted reading a very well-written spy novel for just this very reason, it was just too blatant.

[Danielle The Book Huntress , Literary Adrenaline Junkie]

I like a combination of devices. Dialogue, flashbacks, reveals. Nothing too predictable.

[Graeme]

I think flashbacks should be handled very carefully and sparingly. The risk with a flashback is that you break the narrative flow.

Mind you, I do find reading stories which jump around in time to be difficult to follow.

[Lee]

I tend to start the first chapter as a prologue, normally years in the past where an event that's key to the story, and characters, occurred.