First Person, Present Tense, and No Backstory. Can it work?

[blgarver]

A concept popped into my head the other night about writing a story that was all action (not like car chases and gunfights, just stuff happening) and events with no backstory to muck up the flow.  I will know backstory about the characters and events, but I won't fill the story with it.

I want it to be very in the moment and immediate.  Initially I think it will have to be first person, and present tense to capture the immediacy that I'm trying to get across.

It's a scifi story about a small group of people that are imprisoned on a space ship and being put through these tests and procedures. 

It will seem like a run of the mill abduction story, which is why I will need the present tense and immediacy to hold the reader until the end, where you find out what's really happening.

This isn't going to be more than a novella, and will probably be shorter than that even. 

So, can this thing work?  Will it be a pain to read?  Are people too accustomed to backstory that this would be too jarring?  I'm not starting this thing til I finish my novel but it's been in my head for a few days and I need to at least chat about it, or it's gonna eat a hole in my brain.

Thanks for input!

BLG

[3by2]

i don't know about writing it, because i'm not an author, but as a reader i would say it wouldn't be a pain at all.  as long as there's good tension between characters and whatnot, i can easily be sucked into the situation at hand without needing to know the backstory on everyone.

[the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh]

So, can this thing work?  Will it be a pain to read?  Are people too accustomed to backstory that this would be too jarring?

There is no technical way of doing a story that cannot be made to work if you are good enough.

Look at the top selling SF/Fantasy novels on Amazon right now.  Stross' Halting State is up there in the top ten, and that's written in multiple second-person singulars, which are to my mind a lot weirder than anything that can be done with first.  Lots of people are buying that.

[blgarver]

Well, I don't know how good I am, but I am pretty fired up about his idea. 

Second person is wierd...I never liked reading stuff in second person.

[Suilan]

So, can this thing work?  Will it be a pain to read?  Are people too accustomed to backstory that this would be too jarring? 

I think it might be OK, even fun, but as a reader I would expect to learn some astonishing background fact about the main character in the end. Something from his past that catches up with the story, or something that explains why he (if that's how the story goes) is the only one to survive, or something that explains why they were all abducted . . . something about him caused that . . .

[blgarver]

I think it might be OK, even fun, but as a reader I would expect to learn some astonishing background fact about the main character in the end. Something from his past that catches up with the story, or something that explains why he (if that's how the story goes) is the only one to survive, or something that explains why they were all abducted . . . something about him caused that . . .

Well, obviously the reader will find out what is happening, and why, but not til the end.  And they haven't really been abducted...it will just seem that way until the climax.

[Gaereth]

In my humble opinion, what you have described is the essence of a first person story. You are immersed in what is happening and will only get glimpses of any back story via the thoughts of the person you are looking through the eyes of. If they know what is going on then they will be thinking it and it will come out in your story....if they don't then what comes out is them wondering, "What did I do to deserve this?".

A good first person story doesn't give you all the answers simply because the main character doesn't know either. You get to discover the story as the character does.

[OZ]

For a novelI think this style growsw a bit breathless after a while. For a novella or even shorter this works very well. This style of story is often used in short horror pieces. It allows a tremendous amount of tension to be built. It also allows the author to tell a story in the first person and still conceal things about the main character. (The narrator ends up being the killer, or the narrator is actually insane and hallucinating, etc.)

[blgarver]

Awesome, thanks for the input guys.  Now, as soon as I finish WIP, I will try my hand at this story.

[conte]

Try watching the movie "Memento" -- First Person (in a sense, one person's POV), and moving backwards in time.  The movie will show you how a gimmicky concept can work...   But if you aren't absolutely perfect, "gimmick" is all anyone will remember.

[twinswin123]

be careful. too much action without any prior knowledge can get very old , not old i guess but it gets too much for readers and they have to walk away from it.

[the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh]

be careful. too much action without any prior knowledge can get very old , not old i guess but it gets too much for readers and they have to walk away from it.

Only if you fail at making it intriguing.

[blgarver]

Try watching the movie "Memento" -- First Person (in a sense, one person's POV), and moving backwards in time.  The movie will show you how a gimmicky concept can work...   But if you aren't absolutely perfect, "gimmick" is all anyone will remember.

This is one of my all time favorites.  I was thinking more of a feel of Cloverfield or Blaire Witch, as far as the POV goes anyway.  Plus there won't be any motion sickness from short story.

And by "action" I don't mean explosions and gunfights and harrowing close calls...I just mean the stuff that's happening in the scene.  There actually will be no action movie elements in this story, at least as it exists in my head at this point.

I want to make it more suspensful and intriguing than intense and action packed.

[blgarver]

Okay, so I couldn't wait until the WIP was finished.  I had a lull in the big project the other day, and slapped some paragraphs down of this sci-fi concept...though it really might be more of a horror piece.

I call it "Assimilation".

Here are a few paragraphs if anyone is interested.

-------------

My skin crawls in every place their clammy hands clutch.

They have entered my cell again.  I can only see their silhouettes against the searing white spotlight someone shines through the door.  Their heads seem long, their arms seem stretched.  They move quickly despite their apparent limp. 
   
I don’t scream anymore.  I don’t even struggle.  I just grit my teeth as my legs and arms and ribs and chest turn to gooseflesh beneath their grip.  A pair of the figures yank me into sitting position.  My shoulders pop and my head lolls forward. 
   
They don’t speak.  There is no sound from them but that of their soft, clammy flesh as they move around my metal slab.  My scalp burns as a hand jerks my head back.  A pair of hands sprawl over my face, the fingers pull my eyelids open.  I grit my teeth and snarl against the discomfort, but I have no intention of fighting them.

---------

Thanks for all the input guys!

BLG

[novium]

There is no technical way of doing a story that cannot be made to work if you are good enough.

Look at the top selling SF/Fantasy novels on Amazon right now.  Stross' Halting State is up there in the top ten, and that's written in multiple second-person singulars, which are to my mind a lot weirder than anything that can be done with first.  Lots of people are buying that.

but are they finishing it, that is the question. I couldn't. I found it too distracting.