So I'm beginning to put topgether my ideas for a novel, scene carding, organizing, outlining etc. For the eight years that I've had the basic plot kicking around in my head, the beginning seems to have always centered around the death of the first character introduced, but this character is not the protagonist. I need the audience to like him well enough for the rest of the story to work, but he's not the antagonist either; though the circumstances of his death become an antagonist of sorts to my protagonist.

I just want to get your general thoughts on the use of a false protagonist. Does it work? Can you wait until the second o third chapter of a novel to introduce the true protagonist? Is this type of device annoying?

What think ye?

Paul,

Answer: Yes, it's annoying. Yes, it can work. Remembering: annoying isn't necessarily a vice, so long as it draws people into the story.

I'm guessing that if you write it so that it works, some people will stop reading after the character dies. However, I've seen it done successfully (in my opinion), though the only example that comes to mind right now is one I'd rather not mention. (Okay, it was Battlestar Galactica, the old TV series.)

My suggestion: Write it the way you've always envisioned it. Then be flexible about possibly changing it later on. If you aren't sure whether it works or not (after you've written it), try to come up with another way and write the beginning that way. Then see what works best to you, and/or get reader critiques.