Day 275 of the 365 Days of Blogging

The author, Dane F. Baylis

RULES ARE ONLY VALID IF THEY DON'T GET IN THE DAMNED WAY

THIS IS GOING TO BE CONTRARIAN SO, ALL YOU MFA'S IN CREATIVE WRITING, SAVE YOURSELF THE AGONY, GO TO ANOTHER PAGE. NOW!

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I have said it all along here. Avoid the urge to bury your reader in backstory. Please take note, I didn't say, "NO BACKSTORY EVER! " I said, "DON'T OVERDO IT!" Judicious tid-bits of history and foreshadowing sprinkled along the path of your tale can add layers and nuance to the tension and conflict. It is often in the history of the character that we find the basis for the disturbance in a story. Even as soon as the first page.

 

What came before connects the character to the conflict, but it shouldn't be used to set up the story. The greater and more immediate the tension the character is dealing with, the higher the empathy and bonding you have with your readers. This can buy a lot of time before you need to fill in any background detail. Even then, sparse is best.

 

When you have developed the emotional and sympathetic connection with your character, the action can really begin to cook. This should be accomplished with just enough detail to tell us how the character got into the opening situation and why it matters so much. This is where we begin to care and want to see the character succeed - or in the case of the antagonist, fail.

 

Most new writers make the mistake of just pouring on the historical details like hot fudge on a sundae. This can leave our readers wondering why our heroine's birth weight and shoe size have anything to do with her surviving her psychotic husband's attempt to murder her for her inheritance? Detail should be set out as morsels, tempting the reader on, not as an exercise in binge gluttony. Guaranteed, the more detail you put out on the table, the more satiated and less interested the audience is for the rest of the feast.

 

When you feel that a little backstory would be helpful, try to get it in as a natural part of the conversation or action. Don't just pull a, "I have to tell you this so you can understand that." Work it in to the plot in a way that doesn't stop the flow. Let it happen as part of the characters' interaction with each other, or as a brief, but connected observation on the part of a single character. You might even try to accentuate a moment with a non-verbal reaction, such as a shudder or brief moment of elation or joy.

 

Your characters may have come to you whole cloth for a particular story, but your readers are going to expect a level of implied background before the story begins. Give them enough to get their minds moving and then leave it alone. Have faith that, if you have done your job as a writer, your readers will fill in the blanks quite easily.

 

Another helpful hint from your Uncle Dane.

 

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 Meanwhile...live, love, write.

 

 

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Tomorrow,

 

Dane F. Baylis

Author.