Hey! :-)

Ok so i've written this story and if i was to put it into a time line i would go like this:

Intro hero --------> Normal setting, real life drama 'ish' intro hero's friends -----> Catastrophe----->Fantasy setting, hero's friends become main ----------> Adventure

Alright so this is how it goes down, the story starts with the main character which has the quirks that make him the main character. He is introduced and the scene is set and when the action ensues and the inevitable conflict happens the driving force of the story is handed to the other characters that were introduced earlier.

These characters then become the main and have the adventure that the storyline lays out for them, and the previous main character becomes merely a name/cause.

now my question is... is doing this going to destroy the flow of the story completely? I ask this because it isn't merely the characters changing but it is at this point where you take the characters from the real life drama setting and place them into a fantasy setting and slowly morph them into characters that belong in a fantasy story.

The characters that take the fore front int he second setting are suitably introduced whilst the first setting is taking place, and so the reader knows who they are when they take over the focus of the narrative.

So the question I put to you, is this going to mess with the flow oft he story in a bad way, or could it be done with enough force that the momentum of the story carries it through? What are your thoughts?

Thanks for your time

Absolutely not. There are many examples of successful writers doing this. Stephen Donaldson, Terry Brooks, even J K Rowling.

The way these writers have done it is to have a major floor (generally) or something 'bad' in the lives of the main character....Donaldson's main character is a leper...

This way they provide a link between the two worlds.

You have to build strong characters that flow through to the second part - and it's very important that the first part is exciting and interesting otherwise you lose the reader before they get to the 'real' story....

To be or not to be....that is totally illogical captain.....Spock.

http://personalopinionator.blogspot.com

Hmm, depends on the execution methinks.
If you render this main character completely obsolete at an early stage I wouldn't expect readers to run with it that well. As long as he has a definite purpose that comes into play later on I wouldn't have any problem with it, but introducing a hero in any great detail, only to have him abruptly swept to the side is just an unnecessary mindfuck in my opinion.