When I sat down to start writing my first novel, I was going to follow the standard practice of dividing the action into chapters. It would be simple enough to write the action for each day as a chapter and, I'm sure, most readers would be able to follow along without any confusion. This idea stuck in my mind until I got near the end of the first chapter and added a dream sequence. While I wrote clear cut transitions from the actions occurring in the present day to the past and back again, I began to worry that some readers might still lose track of the timeline. To help readers more easily recognize the transitions, I changed the format from numbered to dated chapters.
     I've read a lot of advice concerning the use of flashbacks and dream sequences. The general consensus seems to be to eliminate their usage. The people giving such advice say that if the information within the flashback is important to the story line, it should appear in an introductory chapter or can be introduced through conversations among the characters. I decided to use dream sequences in my first novel for two reasons. First, placing all of the information at the beginning of the book takes away from the principle of getting right to the main action of the story. If someone buys a detective novel, they don't want to sit through the detective's boyhood history before getting to the crime scene. The second reason is the element of surprise. The reader gets introduced to an emotional reaction in the present, sit there wondering why the person would react in such a way, and then are given the explanation, hopefully something completely unexpected.
     I'll continue using the dated chapter format in future novels in the series. There probably won't be as many flashbacks or dream sequences, although there will be a few here and there. While Detective Jake: The Search for Truth is a detective novel and follows the crime solving process, it also serves as an introduction to the main characters present throughout the series. As with any other series of novels, each book can be read independently of the others and everything should make sense. However, as with other series, I think the Detective Jake series will be more enjoyable if read in order.