Need opinions on a timeline usage and plot reveal

[LaughingStock]

I have an idea I'm working on, and suffice to say there's a couple of major plot reveals involving two characters (who are most often seen together/near each other, i'll refer to them as DUO from now on) play a pretty big part in the history of why these plot points exist.  However, in the "present" day story you would follow a different group of main characters, while DUO would be... let's say hidden in plain sight.

I want to have "flashback" type chapters where you're following DUO, learning small things about why the plot reveals happened but i'm running into a problem of how to WRITE and ORDER them.

For example:
Following present day characters, reveals would be A:B:C, each worse than the one before it.  But for DUO, the decisions made to create these plot reveals were C:B:A, as in Plot C was the first thing they decided to do, and then Plot B/Plot A came as a result of how to accomplish Plot C.

For my writing:  I'm thinking of simply writing DUO from the beginning of their involvement in the Plot C (although much of this would probably not go in the book except for glimpses), and then write much of their story between the creation of Plot A and the actual reveal (again probably not going to end in the book) that way I can have a realistic characterization that makes sense as to their involvement in the creation of the plots, yet also allow a realistic way for them to be hidden in present day.

For the book:  I don't know how to order these things... part me is thinking of sporadically including "flashback" sequences in reverse order of  DUO. 
So we'd start with flashback at the end of Plot A creation... then multiple chapters nearing reveal of Plot A... another flashback but nearer to the beginning of Plot A, hints maybe of Plot B... Plot A gets revealed in main story.  

Does this make any sense or am I making this too complicated?

[+ILuvHats]

Reverse chronological flashbacks would be difficult to pull off. Communicating that they are progressively getting further and further into the past wouldn't be a problem; the flashback chapters could be labeled with either the date or how long ago they occurred. The readers would catch on pretty quickly that they're diving deeper and deeper into the past. 

The problem arises writing the perspectives of DUO. If the flashbacks are comprised of their POVs, then you'll need to actively censor any of their thoughts about Plot B and C while you're building up to Plot A. And again with plot B. I'm sure you're aware this is very difficult since it tends to come off as artificial to the readers. Whether or not you can pull it off depends on your skill as a writer. If you think you can do it, go for it.

One alternative is to use flashback POVs of people who interact with DUO in varying fashions, but don't necessarily know all their plans. In this case, it would probably be a good idea to connect all the people who have flashback POVs in some way. Using random people may or may not work, but I'd favor a more interconnected web of POVs. I don't know anything about the plot (since you're being intentionally vague ), but here's a few ideas.

1. The flashback POVs are all a part of a series of interconnected investigations in DUO. Periodically, people find hints of them, and possibly inspired by past investigations, try to find out more. However, each time someone gets too close or discovers too much, they're eliminated.
2. If DUO is heading an organization, or hires/works with various people to accomplish their plans, the POVs could be accomplices who know about the plots to varying degrees.

Again, for all I know these ideas are completely incompatible with what you have planned. But maybe they'll inspire some other ideas? (shrug)

[LaughingStock]

I like the idea of using POVs of nearby characters in the flashbacks.  The investigation might 

I'd be more than willing to be more specific, and would even welcome feedback on what i've got so far if that interests you.  But as far as a public post goes i figured vague was better until i have something more concrete.

[+ILuvHats]

25 minutes ago, LaughingStock said:

I'd be more than willing to be more specific, and would even welcome feedback on what i've got so far if that interests you.  But as far as a public post goes i figured vague was better until i have something more concrete

Oh, for sure. It makes sense to hold back a bit if you’re not settled on one idea. If you ever want more specific feedback, feel free to PM me.