: Re: Is it strange if a novel starts the first chapter without one of main characters? I'm writing a novel with the following structure (I'm not very sure what's the technical term): Chapter One
Nope, works fine. Starting from the POV of a minor character to establish the setting is no problem at all; in fact, that can be an interesting prologue, particularly if you're dealing with a mystery. It's sort of a sideways entrance into the story.
As an example, Susan Elia MacNeal has done this with all the books in her Maggie Hope mysteries. Mr. Churchill's Secretary and Princess Elizabeth's Spy both open with secondary or cameo characters and a murder. Book three, His Majesty's Hope, opens with cameo characters having a conversation.
In all three novels, the protagonist Maggie doesn't appear in the prologue — none of the main characters do. None of the books read strangely to me for it.
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