When I started my latest draft of my novel, I decided to try some flashbacks and flashforwads to get the main cast in front of my readers and all the elements of my story out in front of my readers within the first fifty pages.

It re-energized me initially, but now I wonder if I’m robbing certain scenes of their dramatic power by doing so. After all, if the reader knows Zach is alive to be talking to the police, for example, they know he survived being held hostage by another suspect two days earlier, right?

Can knowing someone survives rob all the dramatic tension out of a scene? Or can a scene that you know the hero survives still keep you on the edge of your seat, if it’s well-told?

These are the things that keep me wondering about the best narrative approach. But at least I don’t need any Accutane to think it through!