Braided Backstory

I’ve gotten some requests from beta readers to dive deeper into the history of the macguffin that drives the main story. Of course, I have much of the backstory already in my head, which is nice, but in the body of the book I will need to grapple with the fact that so much of it happens before the main character is born.

Pondering clean ways to bring in the material, I’ve settled on breaking my single third-person limited POV to accommodate the new skein as flashback scenes, also in third-person limited.

That subplot, the macguffin’s origin story, touches on some very real, fascinating history. Braiding its backstory into the main story will, if I am successful, add another propulsive engine to the book.

There are risks, of course. Starting another story in the middle of one already getting underway can judder the reader’s attention, thus potentially _slowing_ the pace of the read. They will need to accept a new POV, and a vastly different setting. I’ll need to launch that quickly and effectively or I’m just adding potholes. Planning will be key!