/lit/ - Literature

I have a conundrum. Let's say you have a main character who's been sick and in pain for most of his life, it's a major character trait that they have. You've already planned out their back story and have fleshed out all of the tragic scenes, drama and whatnot right? You write the prologue that introduces the foundation for all of that.

Now, as I was editing and rewriting my first chapter. I came across the fact that I had wrote a good chunk of the damn thing of him screaming his fucking throat out about the fact that all of his suffering and pain had ended so abruptly (because I'm pretty sure that I would do the same damn thing) So that's a major character trait (that I've busted my ass off to come up with) temporarily thrown out the window. Then he finds out that he changed. (its kind of a magical realism/horror thing that I have going on). So, near the end of the chapter, when he tries to go outside to feel the morning sun - it doesn't happen. Instead, he's burnt by the sunlight and suddenly, all that pain comes back and he's mad about it.

Looked good in my eyes. Perfect in fact. That was until I thought "What would be the audience's view on this be." And then I realized it would be two things. My audience being alienated (over an extremely fast resolution towards something that normally takes entire arcs of story progression to solve) and them having dissonance about a character trait that's a major part of the main character (that was focused on in the prologue and made a serious issue for the MC) suddenly being thrown away for the majority of the FIRST chapter AND THEN having it instantly return - IN THE FIRST CHAPTER all the while. All in all... it's pure raw shit in terms of narrative. Question is. How do I nip it in the bud?