This would allow the reader to see the causes of her well-being when she was rescued first, and perhaps make the effects of the abuse she endured more understandable – and require fewer explanations in the descriptions of how she appeared and behaved after she was discovered.
Or I may structure the plot beginning with her discovery. This would mean to describe her childhood, I would have to have flashbacks, which would need to be very clear, otherwise flashing back and forward in time could be confusing for the reader. But, if done successfully, could make the narrative more intriguing, as the time changes throughout the story.
My final idea for plot structure is to begin with Genie as an adult in current day, in a care home, flash back to her discovery as a child, and end back at the beginning with her as an adult.
To make the narrative richer, I plan to explore other characters as well as Genie, such as her parents, brother, grandmother, and social workers and authority figures. The story may be more informative by considering alternate perspectives to Genie’s, particularly as her perspective would be quite biased and limit the reader’s understanding of the events taking place in her life.
In Zadie Smith’s ‘The Orchid Thief’ she uses second person throughout, appearing to establish a connection between the writer and reader throughout her reflections on live events she experienced. In one instance, in referring to a photo, she mentions to the reader: ‘maybe you wonder about the black man in the pink hat. I wonder about him too’. Second person is a technique I hadn’t considered using, and might allow my readers to connect more to Genie’s story rather than just using third person.
