Thread:Mauller/@comment-24664052-20150810071237/@comment-24664052-20150811060257

Anyways, here is my problem:

Have you read my fanfic series Ivan Grozny?

I’m having a dilemma about my latest fan fic: whether to prolong the exposition to introduce more characters that may play a part (but for now they can't during Ivan's childhood) or to go on with the next stage (I don’t have the guts to say what will happen in the next stage because of spoilers, but the story’s title gives you a clue).



If I go with the exposition:

 ·          1. Introduction to more characters, who in later parts will play their own part during Ivan’s reign, but for time being in Ivan’s childhood, they will be shown.

 ·          2. Further writing “adorable” stories about Childhood Friend Romance, that also foreshadows Ivan’s future self.

I have one qualm I have about going with the exposition:

 ·          1. I may drag the fic’s progress, considering how long it took me to write the next chapter. Because of that, I have an unsettling feeling that I may bore the readers.

But here are the reasons I think why I feel going with the exposition might be a good idea:

 ·          1. The readers may get to know more about the characters, even if their role will only be fulfilled in the future.

 ·          2. The readers also get to know and understand why Katya loves Ivan till the end.

 ·          3. The reasons can be shown to give answers to why all the problems will happen later on (though I’m hesitating on this one; since I want to show the world Ivan knew from Ivan and Katya’s point of view)



If I cut short the exposition and go on to the next stage:

 ·          1. The pace of the story will pick up.

 ·          2. The readers will only know the world from what Ivan and Katya had seen and thought of.

I have a qualm with the second choice:

 ·          1. I think the readers may get confused about characters coming out of nowhere (not having been shown on the exposition) and playing their roles. Without being shown their reasons why they would do their respective roles, it may make the readers think the story is coming up with random events.

<p class="MsoNormal">But here is a reason I think why I feel going on to the next stage might be a good idea:

<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0level1lfo4"> ·          1. The readers will also feel the shock Ivan and Katya feel about how the world they came to know changed in front of them, having known the world according to Katya and Ivan’s view.

<p class="MsoNormal">