TipfulTuesday: The Hidden Promise In Our Stories

I confess. I am one of "those" shoppers who walk through a bookstore, glancing at covers and titles, seeking one to pick up and peruse.

The huge Barnes and Nobel in my mall put up a new display for "new releases". I glanced through the forty books beautifully shelved. Sadly only one cover caught my attention. I walked on to the next display.

My point today will not be that a great cover sells. Although it sure helps.

My point also is not the title, back cover, and/or the first page enhances sales...although they seem to.

The key to a fabulous book is this: If a reader is enticed to buy a book, then takes it home and snuggles up in their comfy living room chair, opens the cover and doesn't read the whole story in her normal time, she will set down the book with the fabulous cover, amazing title, enticing back cover, and intriguing first page and most likely not pick it up again.

One writing instructor (sorry can't remember which one of the many I've heard) said:

We the writers make a contract with the reader, 

promising a story that will follow a course so compelling

she has to turn every page until the last.

This year, let's focus on ... not so much fixing a sagging middle, although this too is important--

But a growing overarching story that, like blowing up a balloon, expands, becoming with each word. Becoming what? Why the next recommended book by very appreciative readers.

For this reason, I chose today's photo. Colorful, cheery, glass-blown balloons floating in a Venetian store.

Some pitfalls to watch for:

1. While your MC should have a problem that gives the story purpose, she must be likable. Think Cinderella. We love her and feel for her plight from the beginning. Had the stepmother been the MC we probably would have put the book down.

2. When adding backstory, be careful not to repeat. Even when sprinkling in this essential information, as we are taught to do, readers will remember what was said before.

3. Shake up the beats. Lordy, lordy, do people really cry so much? Smile so much? Laugh so much? Instead, use setting, sounds, nature, anything that "is" to shake up those beats. Expand this essential storytelling time to bring meaning to the scene. Help readers see.

Let's aim for stories that "Become" until the last page.

~Mary Vee
Photo by Mary Vee

Link to Mary's books: https://amzn.to/2Fq4Jbm

Christmas is Mary Vee's favorite holiday. She loves to travel to places like New York City and Paris. Mary has been a finalist in several writing contests and writes for her king.  

Visit Mary at her Website, Blog, and her ministry blog to families: God Loves Kids. Or chat on Facebook or Twitter

Make BELIEVE in Once Upon A Time (and your story!)

Who would ever believe that Rumplestiltskin's son and Snow White's daughter have an illegitimate child after Pinochio slacks on his duty to care for said daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming, and later on the daughter meets up with other well-known characters like Peter Pan, Jack and the Beanstalk's Giant, the Wicked Witch of the West, Little Red Riding Hood, Robin Hood..and even Elsa from Frozen--all just a car trip away from her loft apartment in Boston??

Eh?

You'd never believe it. And I'd never thought it could be done, until my kids and I started watching the hit T.V. series, Once Upon A Time.

Wowsers, the twists and turns of the series take a fan's breath away and spin them into new levels of believability in almost-ridiculously impossible situations.

Even tonight, during a commercial break an ad came up about the Paddington bear movie, and my twelve year old says, "Oh geez, another movie about talking animals. How un-real." UM...Child-o-Mine was on the edge of his seat waiting for the next twist in Once Upon A Time!!

It is when a writer (novelist and T.V. writer alike) takes their audience like a dog on a leash following every twist and turn without question and wanting more, that the writer has truly accomplished a very grand and successful feat: making the Impossible seem Possible...enough to MAKE the audience BELIEVE the fiction! YIKES!!

I'd like to humbly dissect how they do this. (And I am certain my terminology could be replaced by more sophisticated writerly language). I will also share a bit about how this has helped me in my current novel.

1. Characters worth investing in! The good guys are truly human--with hopes, dreams, motives, flaws, mistakes...you name it, they are someone you want to befriend at times, or slap upside the head at other times. If a character seems to step out of line of their true self, you know the motive behind it and it does not seem "unbelievable" because they have truly been shaped into a person you want to route for....
And the bad guys are truly broken--they aren't all evil...they are products of their environment, situations, or tragedies...and so they, believe it or not, usually become a character worth investing in, too. From ashes comes beauty, right? Well, the complexity of these characters gives you a sense of... believability and very possibly human in the most fairytale sense of the word.

"You have literally seen my heart. You know it's not untouched. You are not all evil and I am not all good. Things are not that simple."--Mary Margaret, Once Upon A Time

What I Have Learned In My WIP: It's not all black and white. Wouldn't it be easy to say that this character is all bad and this one is all good, and the tension is clear cut between them? But that's cookie cutter fairytale world. And let's just say, Once Upon A Time has given fairytale world as we knew it, a pretty two dimensional reputation. I now look at my characters from several facets, AND, I am more willing to take the risk of throwing a wrench in their paths to make them dig deeper in their arc...even if it seems like an impossible task.

2. Intricate Backstory: Once Upon A Time is really a weaving of Historical and Contemporary. The historical mainly unfolds why the characters are the way they are in present day...and how they are connected to the characters who we really would never believe would come together (see my first paragraph). Some authors utilize flashbacks in their stories to help firm up their character's present-day motives or unveil a secret that will affect the rest of the story...but even without actually flashing back in writing, I now realize how important it is to KNOW MY CHARACTER'S PAST! If the past is fuzzy, and their is no solid reason to explain why the character does what they do, why the character knows who they know, or why the character views the world in a certain way, then an author is asking an awful lot of their reader to take the author's word for it and just believe that's who they are.

From FanPop

"Once I saw the man behind the beast. Now there's only a beast."--Belle, Once Upon A Time



How I Have Applied This In My WIP: While I have taken the liberty to weave in some flashback scenes in my novel, I have also used dialogue between my present characters to reveal their past stories. And it is when I have worked out the kinks in their past stories that my eyes as an author have been peeled back to reveal clearer motives and twists in the actual story.
Plot twists become more complex and intriguing when the characters are acting out of deeply-rooted fibers of their being.
And if an author hasn't shown the first growth of that fiber in some way or another, then the twist won't be so much of a page-turner but a book-closer.

Just like this hit T.V. series, I hope to have a "hit" some day too...and I am willing to create those characters worth investing in by developing the backstory needed to give them a present story worth reading...what about you?

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Angie Dicken is a full-time mom and lives in the Midwest with her Texas Aggie sweetheart. An ACFW member since 2010, she has written five Historical Romance novels, has a Historical underway, and is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of The Steve Laube Agency. Angie also spends her time designing one-sheets, selling Jamberry Nail Wraps, and drinking good coffee with great friends. Check out her author page at www.facebook.com/dicken.angie and her personal blog at angiedicken.blogspot.com 

Exposition: What Is It? What To Do With It?

In the book Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell , he talks about exposition, otherwise known as The Information Dump!

Bell has three rules for handling exposition.

1. Act first, explain later. Get the character moving at the beginning of your story. A reader will follow a character without demanding to know more if they are engaged with the character and what the character is doing. You can divulge information bit by bit as you go along.


2. When you explain, do the iceberg. Don't tell everything you know right away. Give 10%, just enough to help the reader know what is going on and then save the 90% for later on in the story. Reveal the rest a little at a time.


3. Setting information inside confrontation. Sometimes the best way to reveal information is to set it in the midst of great conflict. A character's thoughts or even dialogue are great ways to toss information to the reader.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is full of excellent information, told in a way that I can understand and grasp. It is definitely one of my go-to books!

Bell's iceberg rule is a favorite of mine. Icebergs are deceptive and reveal little of the true nature of the beast. Catastrophe happens before you know it and you find yourself sinking fast.This could prove invaluable to our characters. We should keep much of the back story hidden, giving just enough to hint at something mysterious and quite possibly dangerous. I feel an evil laugh coming on.

Strangely enough, I find that I am like an iceberg at times. Just letting a little of the real me show, because I am afraid of what others might really think if they see what's below the surface. I wonder how many of us are like that. I wonder how many of our characters are like that.

Is that a good thing or a bad thing for us to only let the real us show? How about for our characters? What do you think?

p.s. I just realized I totally took off on a tangent with the Iceberg theory. We were talking about backstory, weren't we? ;)

****************************************************************************

This post is brought to you by

 Sherrinda Ketchersid

Sherrinda is a minister's wife and mother to three giant sons and one gorgeous daughter. A born and bred Texan, she writes historical romance filled with fun, faith, and forever love.

Tips to Treasure - Writing Tips with Beth Vogt

Beth K. Vogt believes God’s best is often behind the doors marked “Never.” 

After being a nonfiction writer and editor who said she'd never write fiction, Beth's second inspirational contemporary romance novel, Catch a Falling Star, released May 7, 2013 from Howard Books. I have my copy and am turning the last pages as we speak! It's fabulous!

She's the Skills Coach for My Book Therapy and has graciously accepted my invitation to teach us the art of backstory. Her tips will help you understand what to keep and what to put on the chopping block.

Beth went back to our last discussion on backstory, read your questions and tailored her post to meet our needs.

Backstory: I’d Like to Get to Know You—Now Back Off

“The most important things to remember about back story are that (a) everyone has a history and (b) most of it isn’t very interesting.”
—Stephen King (1947-), author

Today I’m breaking down how to handle backstory, a crucial skill for every writer to master.

You know, I’ve wanted to be a writer forever. I wrote my first novel when I was in middle school. Private school, actually. I blissfully plagiarized my favorite author at the time, Georgette Heyer, and wrote a Regency romance. I asked my English teacher, Mrs. Gossart, to read it. I used to babysit for her too – my English teacher, not Georgette Heyer.

Ahem. And that, dear readers, is a backstory “dump.” By the time you finished reading that last paragraph – if you didn’t end up skimming it – you probably thought, “Why is she telling us this?” and “Who cares?”

Everything I told you was true – and none of it belongs in this post.

As we develop our imaginary characters, we create their history, which includes things like their:

·      age

·      job

·       “Dark Moment” – what My Book Therapy (MBT)* explains as a specific painful event in their past that influences who they are today

·       “Lie” – a MBT term for the false idea a character has about himself because of their Dark Moment

As writers, we know everything there is to know about our characters. Problems occur when we also think our readers need to know everything about our characters – and to know it all within the first few pages of the story.

Best-selling author Susan May Warren, the founder of the MBT, encourages writers to think of backstory as “breadcrumbs … soft, tasty, small morsels to lure your reader into the story.” The key? Give readers just enough backstory to help them understand our characters’ motivations, actions and decisions in a particular scene.

As you write the rough draft of your novel, you’ll often dump in loads of backstory. Why? Because you’re still discovering and developing your characters. Backstory dumps are okay in rough drafts – even expected – so long as you haul them away when you rewrite.

How do you do that? Here are a few tips from award-winning author Rachel Hauck, who differentiates between backstory and character history:

1.     Layer in enough of the character’s emotions so that readers feel what’s happening in the scene.

2.     As you layer in information, have you taken the reader into a different story, time or place? That’s backstory. Cut it.

3.     Character history lets readers know the why and how of the character in that moment. Use one line to explain why your heroine is desperate to go on a date – one line … for now.

4.     Tease the reader by hinting at issues and problems. Don’t write the solution.

Writing a compelling novel is all about pulling your readers into a story – and then continuing to pull them through the story with each turn of the page. If your story slows down, step back and figure out if a huge load of backstory is blocking the forward motion of your characters – and your readers.

*My Book Therapy is the writing and coaching community founded by best-selling and award-winning author, Susan May Warren.

 Connect with Beth at bethvogt.com.

Thank you so much, Beth!

Alley Pals, it's your turn to let us know. 

Did this stir more questions? 

Did it answer a few you had from before? 

Have you learned additional tips to drizzle in backstory?

Is there another topic you are struggling with?

Backing Up Backstory

Someone may read the following texts between my crit partner, Ashley, and me and think we have some warped sense of gossip...

Maybe Grace's real mom went to them when she was pregnant, but they had high hopes for their son and pushed her away without telling him it was his baby?

Ohhh, or maybe the other way around-- maybe he knows but they don't and he's trying to keep them from finding out?

And it gets even worse a few days later....

I think this is sounding fabulous so far!!! I don't know if you need the miscarriage though... Maybe he just has a niece or nephew and when his brother does (committing a crime?) he doesn't want the shame/guilt/punishment to affect the kid?

 Ooh, maybe he felt it as a child...and he wants to break the cycle??

 

When you have a story brewing, I have learned as I delve into a new story recently, that sketching out the backstory of my characters has proven ESSENTIAL to getting my story off on the right foot. Sure, I may not want to dump all the back story in the first chapter...or the first five chapters...a sprinkling is more intriguing anyway...BUT, as the writer, having my backstory laid out as reference, is a tool of many uses...this much-proclaimed pantster admits!

How many times have you written or read (eek!) a story and suddenly the character is dealing with an emotion, a situation, a spiritual thread that flies in from out of nowhere and yanks you right out of the pov into  "Ah, the author needed some spice here"...or..."Perhaps the writer accidently edited the necessary backstory right out of the chapter before." 

As a writer, if we don't have the backstory hashed out from the beginning, then we might find ourselves hopping over tall obstacles of inconsistency or unbelievability.

Take your backstory tool out of the "low priority" drawer, and discover how useful it is as you begin your novel's journey:

1. A writer who has a solid backstory in mind writes three dimensional characters right off the bat.

If you have a sketch of the hopes, desires, disappointments, struggles, situations, that your character has encountered, then when you start her pov, she is "in" her own skin, with all her baggage prodding your fingers to type out her story and give her:

• emotional depth

• spiritual height (or lack thereof...room for growth)

• situational width (how does she react within her surroundings, with others). 

2. A writer not only brings to life a three dimensional character when they have the backstory laid out in their mind, but they write a character whose feelings and actions are validated because of their backstory.

If a writer has a good sense of where their character came from, then they are able to steer the character's emotions in a way that is backed up by their back story. If a character is defensive in a seemingly neutral situation, but has no backstory discovered to later validate that reaction, then it will strip away believability of the character, or cause the future reader to think they've missed something.

Every reaction and emotion needs a raison d'etre. There are two places we see it as writers/readers:

• In the active scene on page--in the moment.

• In the foundation laid through backstory (even if it's revealed later on. That emotion/reaction "backs up" the backstory once it's revealed. It gives the reader the "ah ha" feeling of...ooooh, that's why she was like that!)

 

3. This leads me to my last point: Well thought-out backstory gives your writing a power boost when you get to the black moment...or any powerful moment, really. 

You will have a better idea as to what will really devastate your character (muwahahaha). You will stay true to your overall theme throughout the writing process if you know your backstory and allow it to give you advantage in the "what happens next and why does it happen?" Your plot will begin to unfold in an intelligent way, as a series of intertwined events that lead up to the big one, with the backstory backing it all up.

Bottom line: Get that backstory firmed up before you decide to pour out your story. It will save you a ton of rewrites and give you the fuel you need to craft your story world. No matter if you are a pantster or plotter, when it comes to back story hash it out. Because that's where the first breath of life should stir from your characters....

It's where their first breath was stirred, after all!

How do you develop your character's backstory? Conversationally? Grids? Worksheets? 

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Angie Dicken first began writing fiction as a creative outlet during the monotonous days of diapers and temper tantrums. She is passionate to impress God's love on women regardless of their background or belief. This desire serves as a catalyst for Angie's fiction, which weaves salvation and grace themes across historical cultures and social boundaries. Angie is an ACFW member and is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of the Steve Laube Agency.

Writing Contest Contradictions - Prepare Yourself Ahead of Time

In lieu of the Genesis contest, I wanted to share a little on the kind of feedback you might get with your returned entries.

I'm currently a BIG advocate of contests so I strongly encourage you to enter them if you have the chance (can't you tell by the graphic to the right?). But I also encourage you to stay true to yourself and I want to let you know that there might be contradictions you will have to weed through.

Just want to say ahead of time, this is only based off my experience and feedback from others. You might not experience this from contests at all, and even if you do, this isn't about telling you to disregard feedback. It's about trying to help prepare yourself for varying feedback so you can use it to your advantage.

So...here are some contradictions you might come across.

Backstory

Let me give you an example. I got feedback from eight judges on the first chapter of a recent story I wrote. The comments about backstory were all helpful but half said, "I don't need to know this yet!" (I'm paraphrasing here) and the other half said something to the effect of "This is great! Give me more!" See? Subjective. So sometimes you've got to go with your gut, and if feedback is pretty equal, stick with what you feel is right.

Humor

My first attempt at romantic comedy was...well, fun. But let me tell you, it was judged, and out of four judges, not one thought the same parts were funny. Personally, I thought they were hilarious (okay, at least mildly amusing), but humor is still subjective. If more than one person likes it, it's probably pretty funny. If only one person doesn't like it, it doesn't mean it's not funny, just that maybe that particular judge had a different sense of humor.

Deep POV

Oh, I don't even know where to begin on this. I might get myself in trouble here, but even this topic can be a bit subjective. My advice? Study up on Deep POV, write it to the best of your ability, and try to get your reader in your character's head as much as possible. And as far as taking advice on Deep POV? If you trust that person, or they're a judge you know has particular experience with this, go for it!

Pacing and Hooks

Again, you're probably going to get varying feedback on this topic. Some judges will say, "Great opening! You kept me hooked" and other judges might say, "You didn't hook me right away, maybe start further into the story and keep up the pace!" Yes, your goal is to start the story in the right place. And going with the majority here might be a good idea. But if you're getting varying feedback, again, stick with what you feel is right.

Basically the point of this post is to let you know that not EVERY single thing a judge says is the right way to do it. Rule of thumb, if more than one judge agrees on something that needs improvement, you might want to consider reworking it. If it's half and half, that's more your call and what you feel is right. If only one judge comments on it...decide what you feel is best. Sometimes what they're telling you, you can readily agree with. It makes sense. And sometimes what they're telling you is just opinion and it doesn't mean what you're doing is wrong or needs to be changed immediately.

I know many of you out there have entered contests in the past. Have you encountered specific contradictions in feedback? And for those of you entering for the first time or who haven't entered before, what kind of feedback would you expect might be hard to deal with?

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Cindy is a Colorado native, living near the mountains with her husband and three beautiful daughters. She writes contemporary Christian romance, seeking to enrich lives with her stories of faith, love, and a touch of humor.

To learn more about Cindy, visit her at her personal blog, www.cindyrwilson.blogspot.com

Writing Through...

"When its easy, when it just comes to you, when you feel like you're one heck of a writer, that's when you're probably tired and it's time to call it a day." So says writer Joe Nesbo, in the August 2010 volume of The Writer

What about on those days when it isn't easy? The days where you are slogging through trying to reach your daily count? Those days when you don't particularly feel like a good writer, don't feel inspired or briliant?

Keep going for 20 minutes, then decide. Another piece of writerly advice that seems to fall true. Most often if you continue writing for more than twenty minutes you can get yourself unstuck.

Give yourself permission to be wrong. Go ahead, use that word choice you know is not quite right. Allow yourself to move on. Mark the area that's bothering you and go and deal with it later, when you're in a better frame of mind.

Write backstory. Many times if I am "stumped" I'll allow myself to write backstory. I really enjoy writing "backstory" and even though I don't use it all it always helps me. These are the stories I always have running in the back of my mind for each character and getting it in writing can be a lot of fun.

Change POV for a little while. I recently added a second POV to my novel. It just seemed natural at the time. I had a spell of boredom with my main character. I decided to write from the contagonist's viewpoint for one writing session and I was hooked. Its a lot of fun to journal from another POV even if you don't end up using that. (Pepper recommended writing a journal from the perspective of my villain and I think he's been a richer character ever since I took her advice).

Remember its supposed to be fun. Give yourself permission for it to be fun again, even if just for a day. Today is the day you will enjoy your writing, try something new, stop thinking about deadlines, quit worrying about the market and write what you want to write. Just for you and God.
What about you? What helps you get "unstuck"?

Julia enjoys writing women's fiction whenever she can find a chair free of smushed peanut butter sandwiches and lego blocks. She is a wife and homeschooling mama of two littles. She also enjoys reading and reviewing books for The Title Trakk, a Christian review site.

A High Speed Audience (Readers Want it Right Now!)

I like to think I still enjoy the little things in life, and the slower ways of going about doing things, but I know even I get caught in the high speed trap. The pull of instant gratification and the ability to get what we want faster than before.

We get the Internet quicker. You can go through a drive-thru to get that grande Chai tea latte instead of waiting inside. Pizza comes to your front door and if you want to read a book, get it on your Kindle so you can read that first sentence within ten minutes without even setting foot in a store (hey, you can even stay in your pajamas!).

I fall into these traps and as a reader and writer of romance, I know reading audiences do, too. Not everyone, mind you, but many of us want a book to pull us in right away and want that momentum to keep going.

Yes, we must write the story that's on our hearts but we can also be mindful of what readers are looking for.

Why do readers want to get drawn into a novel right away?

Limited Time

The reality is, everything is going faster these days, and most of us have more commitments. And that leaves us less time for the leisure of reading. Less time means we'd better use that time more wisely. Presenting readers with a book that snatches them up and keeps them there is going to make them feel like reading your story is more worthwhile.

A Break from Reality

Again, life gets crazy sometimes. What better to take a break from that than to escape from reality with a book? And if we're going to invest that time, it means that book better draw us in right away.

What will pull readers in and keep them turning page after page?

An Instant Hook

Catch readers from line one and make them stick. That first chapter is important - make sure you give it lots of attention.

Cut Out Backstory

One of the quickest ways to lose a reader is to drop in too much backstory or drop it in too early. Make sure it's gradual and make sure it's minimal - that every flashback or explanation has a point and keeps the reader's attention.

Plenty of Conflict

Not only do readers want tension at the beginning, they want it all the way through the book. So keep that conflict in there and make sure it's balanced throughout the book.

Shorter or Balanced Scenes

One thing to help keeps readers engaged is either writing shorter scenes or paying special attention to balancing scenes. That means not using an entire scene just for description or solely for dialogue. Balance the ups and downs and long and short sentences, etc. also so that the reader doesn't feel stuck with only one style of writing per scene or chapter.

Do you get caught in the high speed trap, and do you want books you read to draw you in immediately and hold you there? What tricks do you use in your writing to keep readers engaged?

Scoring a Well-Rounded Manuscript: Setting, Backstory, and Hooks

For the last few posts, we've been talking about elements that make up a well-rounded story (check out previous posts on voice, and characters and plot). In the game of bowling, the goal of each frame is to bowl a strike - and each pin knocked down contributes to that goal. The same concept applies to story writing. Hitting and knocking down each pin (or touching on each important element of a story) will get you that strike, aka your well-rounded story.

So today we're onto the next row of pins. Three aspects of a story that can really help round it out if done right.

Setting

There's no question, setting varies depending on story. Some include very little setting description and others say setting is another character. Either way, using setting appropriately can add to a story.

Tips on Setting

*Make talk about setting proportionate to what stories of that genre require or typically demonstrate
*Use it to appeal to a certain type of reader if it suits your genre. Therefore, allow your setting to enhance mood or tone
*Keep it real. If your setting is a real place, make sure your facts are correct, and whether the location is real or not, make the setting relatable to your reader (if they enjoy small town stories, write about a small town, or similarly with a big city)
*Use small details. Setting isn't relegated to town or country, but sometimes specific places like a home or location outdoors. Utilize items and objects around the characters (like furniture, nature, etc.) to give the reader a better sense of setting

Backstory

This one can be a challenge, and I think most of us have struggled with it at some point in our writing journey. However, most of us will agree that backstory in some form or another is necessary, therefore important to get right.

Tips on Backstory

*Rule of thumb, don't use backstory much or in large chunks within the first fifty pages (though I've noticed this also hinges on publisher and genre, particularly in category fiction)
*Sneaking in backstory here or there, like a line to entice readers, can get them to keep reading
--for example: Jerry settled his glasses on his nose, watching the girl dip her feet into the fountain when she thought no one was looking. A gesture of confidence, of childlike delight. So much like his daughter before the accident.
Jerry swallowed and flicked his glasses into position again. Not now. He didn't have time for reminiscing. He had a job to do.
*Adding short visits to the past, whether spurned by feelings or sights, etc. can be used to interest the reader and make them want to know more

Hooks

Hooks can be simple but an undeniable asset to a story if done right.

Tips on Hooks

*You can use these for more than just opening a novel. Use hooks to open/end a scene, or to end a chapter
*Make the goal of your hook to encourage the reader to flip pages
*Sometimes less is more. Inundating your reader with details and backstory isn't always the way to go. Sometimes giving them the bare minimum is just enough to entice a reader, to hook them into reading on, and to contribute to pacing (which we'll talk about in the next post)

What kind of tips or tricks do you use concerning these elements of a story? Do you think using setting, backstory, and hooks well can help round out a story?

1000 words of backstory... and counting!

Last weekend, while I was sitting in the hospital beside my sweet, sleeping baby, I wrote 1000 words of back-story.

And dad gum it, I'm PROUD OF IT!

Many of you rule followers out there are cringing, as well as all those who read Wendy Miller's WONDERFUL post last week on back-story.

1000 words? Back-story? Where is the ruler to slap my hand with!?!

But hang in there with me so I can explain (before my hand is black and blue...)

Backstory isn't bad. Every great novel MUST have it.

It's how we put it into our novel that is the key. You can't "not" tell your reader what happened in the past. It is important and integral to your current story. The past is what makes us who we are today, just as Wendy pointed out. If we ignore it, it makes our current character feel flat and undeveloped, and leaves our reader confused.

My Back-Story Story

So about a year ago, I started on a new book. I wrote about 8000 words, then life took over and I wasn't able to get back to it until now.

Please keep in mind... I am a MAJOR seat-of-the-pants writer, so what I had was only a germ of a story, and I really wasn't sure where I was taking it. But I'd gotten to the point where I knew a little bit of what about what was going on and needed to get the details down.

So, I wrote back-story. 1000 words of it (and counting.) I just sat down last Saturday and let my brain run rampant through the fields of time. I wrote in free form everything that had happened to my characters, jotted notes about the stuff I didn't know and still needed to decide, and detailed the events that lead them up to their current conflict.

It was the most freeing exercise EVER. I flicked off the little guy on my shoulder that screams at me, "BACK-STORY ALERT... horrible writing Krista, STOP IT!"

And you know what? I think my book will be better for it. I know where my characters have come from and what makes them tick. I still have a few questions, but now as I get ready to actually write again, I can write from a place of confidence.

I still am very much SOTP writer. Not sure what's going to happen in the next chapter yet. But I am now equipped with the backstory and have the ability to sprinkle it into my pages a little at a time, to hint to some of their motivations, and give the reader little tastes of what happened long ago and why my characters are a little bit loony.

Moral of the story: The only info dumps needed are ones that won't make it into manuscript!

Discussion: How do YOU develop your character's back-story? Because there are a TON of different methods... the key is to make sure you DO IT!

*GIVEAWAY*

We're at the end of the FIRST week of our 300 follower celebration!!! Today's give away is Laurie Alice Eakes "Lady in the Mist" (Thanks, Pepper, for helping me out with this one... you're a doll!)

Leave a comment to be eligible to win! This weeks winners will be announced on Saturday! 

CHEERS!

The Backstory Backslide

Newton’s Law of motion states, “An object that is in motion will not change its velocity unless an unbalanced force acts upon it.” Let’s not be that force. Let’s not cease the moving flow of our works.

Plot and characters must move forward for a reader’s eyes to do the same.

Some images come to mind when I think of what encountering too much backstory feels like for a reader:

Clogged drain
Dam in a river
Red light when you’re anxious to get somewhere
Kite stuck in a tree
Shot duck

A refresher: Backstory = everything that made your character who he or she is, the tragedies, the triumphs, the lost slipper to kissing the prince. It’s everything that got the MC to the first page of the novel.

The temptation every writer faces is to catch the reader up to speed. Out of kindness we want the reader to be in the know so we squirt an abundance of cheese spray at them. You know what that stuff tastes like—artificial and if we squirt too much we make it so our readers won’t be hungry for more. We Cheez-it.

What’s the fix? One of the best ways to keep fingers flipping pages is to avoid massive dumps of backstory. We need to become intentional about where we splice in the story before the story.

Every time we integrate a character’s history, the psychological or emotional explanation for why they act as they do, we slow the story pace. There’ll be moments to incorporate nuanced complexities of our characters and their motivations, but learning to accomplish this through dialogue, and other nifty tricks will help our novels breathe without the asthmatic frustration of backstory.

In her post about backstory yesterday, Jody Hedlund asked two excellent questions that serve as excellent checkpoints:

Does the information add to the plot?
Will it help move the story along somehow?

Getting in the habit of asking those two questions during the writing and editing process will help move the work along.

And you all know how much I like to move it, move it!

Do you like to move it? And what do you find tricky about backstory? (If you’ve discovered solutions, please share those as well.)

*photo from Flickr

Spine Tingling Backstory

Do you want to know how to write spine tingling backstory that will grab your readers and inform them at the same time? Well, I'm here to tell you that backstory rarely ever tingles the spine. Oh, it may send shivers of dread up the spines of your critique partners. It may send tingles of revulsion up the spines of your contest judges. But rarely does it cause shivers of delight.

Would that it could.

We want so much to dump that info. We want to tell our readers a little background so they can really understand our heroine. We "need" to spill the beans so our readers aren't confused, right?

WRONG!!!!!

Backstory is just an info dump. A smelly place where a bunch of telling happens. Readers don't want to be told. They want to experience. Dumping info on a reader jolts them out of the action and puts them in their pajamas to snooze away through the pages of your "telling".

So how do you let your readers in on information you think is pertinent? Here are a few ideas:

1. Scatter backstory a sentence at a time throughout your manuscript. I think Julie Lessman is brilliant at this. Consider the first sentence of her book, A Passion Most Pure.

"Sisters are overrated, she decided. Not all of them, of course, only the beautiful ones who never let you forget it."  

Brilliant! She hints at the sister rivalry and sets up conflict for a love triangle. This is by far the best way to add backstory.

2. You could add a prologue, setting the stage for your story. I've heard mixed reviews about prologues. It is an active way of giving your readers a background for your heroine, but some feel it is what it is...backstory.

3. There's always the "flashback", where a memory triggers a scene played out in the current POV's mind. I used this device in my first chapter, but goodness, it is way too long and needs to be redone. Everything in moderation, right?

4. Your heroine could have a memory of her past. This is different from the flashback in that it is not a scene. I think it is useful in getting your heroine's emotions to the forefront and making your readers "feel".

With all these devices, you want to use them sparingly. Too much is dumping. And your writing will stink with the stench of TMI (Too Much Information).

You want your readers to keep turning the page. Keep them guessing, and don't spill the beans to early. Feed them information on a "need to know" basis. It's better to have too little backstory than too much.

And that, my friends, is all I know regarding backstory. If anyone has any hints or has found a unique way of delving out the backstory, please share!

Sherrinda