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Do you prefer to see a book start out with the protaganist's POV? Or is it okay to introduce the protaganist through a secondary characters POV?
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In general, {this is my opinion, and may run contrary to conventional wisdom} I prefer to start in the protagonist's POV. BUT I dpn't mind a beginning that concentrates on setting, or establishing a scene, or focusses on atmosphere however when we start to meet characters I prefer the first person I meet to be the protagonist.
That is a generalisation, of course, and I'll confess that some of my favourite stories have broken this rule.
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Generally, it's better to start with the main character's POV, which may or may not be the protagonist. The main character and the protagonist are not always the same character. The main character is the character through whose eyes we see the story. The protagonist is the character whose goal or decisions move the story forward. The protagonist is usually the "hero" of the story. Look at To Kill a Mockingbird. Scout is the main character of the novel; we see the story through her eyes. But Atticus is the protagonist; he's the character who moves the story forward. (The antogonist is Ewell; he stands in the way of Atticus' goal.) To Kill a Mockingbird would have been a different story had we seen the story through Atticus' eyes. Point is: Your protagonist or hero doesn't have to be the person through who's eyes you see the story. Think about how your story would be different if told from the POV of each of your principal characters.
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I'm willing to see the story start in another pov. The villain's. Some ancestor in a scene or chapter/prologue where the inciting incident happens years before the MC appears in chapter two or chapter the first.
Jusr MAKE IT INTERESTING and not be an info dump. I HATE!!!! info dumps.
Heavens! I'll even go so far as to read through a narrative history like in DOWNBELOW STATION or Vinge's FIRE IN THE HEAVENS. But it better be written to be interesting and not info dump.
I find I like when the story starts off with a riff on something like snow in Minneapolis (SNOWBLIND/Tracy) or how a gun is more reliable than a woman (CHAIN OF COMMAND/Weinburger) or how life can unravel slowly or all at once (JUST ONE LOOK/Cobin).
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I've liked quite a few things that started off with a chapter or scene not with the main character. But, I've seen lots of stories with characters and scenes like that, that wound up not explained or barely explained as the story got going.
I remember reading the beginning of the Harry Potter book (the only one I've read), and thinking the story should have started in the second chapter. I don't know what's in the other books, but in my read of Book One (admittedly quick), I couldn't really see much of a link.
In general, I'd prefer to start with the main character involved in some way.
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