Is it me, or has "Harry Potter" logic infected most forms of popular writing?
Everything seems to depend on flashbacks of flashbacks of flashbacks. Taking a semi-respectable piece of popular writing, how interesting would this character's story be if it were told in chronological order?
I'm not talking about In Medias Res. When writers do that, they start the story about a third of the way through it chronologically to catch the reader's attention, then explain the beginning, and resume. That is just jumpstarting things.
What I'm complaining about is an endless sinking into the swamp of unrevealed, cobbled together, fanfictiony backstory.
The "Harry Potter" style of writing has old friends of your father's second cousin appearing out of the woodwork every time the story requires it.
Every second household item has a tragic role in a dramatically revealed piece of backstory about the protagonist's mother's dorm-mate's descent into darkness, or whatever, and how his mother's dorm mate orchestrated the whole whatever so that she could have revenge for having her cute pumps ruined, or something.
Prequels within prequels within fanfiction.
There's something deeply feminine about this helpless reliance on circumstance and history and predetermined events. Why don't popular (pulp) characters make things happen anymore? There's a slide into reactivity and lore, and it turns out that the janitor was a veteran in the war against the guy, and has been helping the protagonist secretly all along... No.
No, no, nope. I'd like to burn these cliches to the ground. I need to write a piece of popular fiction for economic reasons, but if I'm going to sell out, I also want to burn these cliches to the fucking ground while I'm at it.
What do you think, Veeky Forums? How would you do it?