Dribbling Backstory

Backstory trips up new authors and still troubles seasoned ones.

Question: What is backstory?

Answer: Anything that has happened to your characters before the first page of the book.

Question: What makes it hard?

Answer: Deciding what a reader must know to understand what he’s reading and what can be left to the imagination to build tension and hold interest.

Here’s 3 truths.

1.     Backstory dumps near the beginning kills novels.

2.     Stories must be understood to be interesting.

3.     So, the author must tell as little as possible and wait as long as possibe.

Here’s a couple of guidelines given by multi-published, multi-awarded authors. They help me.

In a fiction mentoring clinic, DiAnn Mills taught us to strive for no backstory in the first fifty pages.

At Blue Ridge Christian Writer’s Conference, Angela Hunt told us to wait until about the 75-80% finished spot in your book to give lots of backstory. By then, the reader is invested in the character and wants to know what happened to him/her in the past.

 

Here’s some examples. Think about which you like the best and why.

Appearing on page 12 of Texas Blue by Jodi Thomas

     Since the War Between the States, bandits from across the border had been raiding cattle off ranches in Texas. At least a hundred fifty thousand head had vanished, not counting the hundreds stolen by small-time outlaws hiding out in canyons within the state.

      By this time, the reader is well acquainted with the protagonist and his goal, motivation, and conflict.

Appearing on page 4 of Life on Hold by Beverly Stowe McClure

     My father, with Uncle Gary’s help, had built it for Rachel and me when we were younger. In addition to being firefighters, the Gibson brothers owned a construction business.

     McClure gives this piece of insight into the treehouse which figures greatly into the story, but then she goes right back into the action.

Appearing on page 4 of Second Chance by Galand Nuchols

     Leroy looked toward the wizened garden he and his mother had tried to save. Buckets of water had been carried to peas, corn, and tomatoes.

     We get this tiny bit of backstory giving a view of the setting before Nuchols goes back to action.

On page 1 of Victoria and the Ghost by Janet K. Brown

     The expression of pain on Dad’s face was familiar since the divorce.

On the same page several paragraphs down.

     Dad gave Mom’s fancy French Provincial to the Salvation Army.

On page 13 of Scorned Justice by Margaret Daley

     He had come back to his hometown of San Antonio to fill a ranger’s position in Company D because his father’s health had taken a turn for the worse six months ago Then, he’d had a heart attack, and his dad had required a lot more care than Brody checking with him every day could give him. When his dad was released from the hospital, he came to live with Brody.

     This was a full paragraph after the reader has been introduced to the heroine and then the hero with dialogue and action included.

Another solution to the problem is shown by including a prologue as in Shadow in the Past by Melanie Roberson-King.

     Nine-year-old Sarah Shand struggled to keep up with her grandmother on their way to the stone circle. (This prologue continues on for 2 ½ pages.)

     Then in chapter 2, page 8, the first touch of backstory comes with this.

     Blair had been Sarah’s first serious boyfriend. They started dating the year she turned sixteen. She was certain he would ask her to marry him when they finished school and had even picked out her wedding gown and planned her big day.

     Then, the author goes back to dialogue.

Compare the above examples that were published with this example that needs work before it can be published.

This is the beginning of a novel I wrote before editing.

     Hannah Hastings was in a mess. If only James had stayed home with his family, but he hadn’t. He had deserted them to write his book, to make his mark. Then, a drunk driver cut his life short, and left Hannah with three kids to raise, no job, and little money.

     Notice this action all happened before the story began. It’s all backstory. How would you solve this?

 
Which example do you like the best and why.

I found these links helpful.

 http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/how-to-weave-backstory-seamlessly-into-your-novel

http://storysensei.blogspot.com/2005/08/how-to-write-backstory-without-putting.html

http://www.foremostpress.com/authors/articles/prologue.html

My best solution is dribbling only a few words at a time through the novel. What’s you best idea?

New releases from 4RV Publishing

by Vivian Zabel  

 

     The three newest titles from 4RV Publishing are I Like Pink by Vivian Zabel and illustrated by Ginger Nielson, Worst Case of Pasketti-itis by Kristine Asselin and illustrated by Luisa Gioffre-Suzuki, and A Wandering Warrior by Harry Gilleland and a few illustrations by Aidana WillowRaven. All three can be found on the 4RV Bookstore, as well as the major online stores and through brick 'n mortar stores.

    

  I Like Pink came into being when Vivian Zabel's great-granddaughter declared, "I like pink: dark pink, light pink, and almost-white pink." The first published picture book by Vivian was released the last of June, brought to life by Ginger's Nielson's art work. Children can learn colors and that colors have shades.

     Worst Case of Pasketti-itis helps children see, in an entertaining way, the need for a variety of food. Kristine Carlson Asselin's story will cause smiles and laughter, aided by Luisa Gioffre-Suzuki's illustrations. 

     Harry Gilleland packs much action and adventure into A Wandering Warrior. The novel includes knights, warriors, battles, and even a bit of romance. Aidana WillowRaven's drawings add interest to the tale of a daring young man's quest to avenge his brother's death.

Never Trust Your Spell-Checker

by Laurie Boris

It’s all Maria Mariana’s fault. She was one in a group of six linguists from Georgetown University who, back in the 70s, first developed an automated way to check spelling and grammar on word processing programs for IBM. Perhaps she meant well. Thought it would be a good thing to create this seductive monster that can batch-attack the often time-consuming and ponderous human task of checking one’s work for errors.

Backfire, Maria. Semi-total epic FAIL! Spell-check has made us lazy. It has lulled us into a false sense of security with its offers to change your grammar or correct that questionable word. We all have stories of spell-checking failure, some with embarrassing and humorous results. Here are a few more reasons you should never trust that pathetic plug-in with your important work.

1. Spell-checkers are notoriously obtuse.

Consider the following passage: “My physical therapist worked out a weight-bearing routine for me that stimulates my osteoblasts, which are the cells that build new bone.” The spelling and grammar checker in my version of Microsoft Word wants to replace “stimulate” for “stimulates.” It believes that the subject that is being stimulated is plural…actually, I have no idea what it believes. It’s just wrong.

2. Spell-checkers can’t parse your intentions.

Example dialogue: “Pete’s working again.” Spell-check suggestions for this alleged error in “subject-verb agreement” include “Pete’s is working” or “Pete’s was working.” The writer’s intention was to state that Pete is once again gainfully employed. But good old SC doesn’t know this, and assumes that something of Pete’s is now or formerly was functional.

3. Spell-checkers can’t find missing words.

“Ted raced the sink” has a rather different meaning than “Ted raced to the sink.” In a long document like a novel manuscript, particularly one you’ve been poring over draft after draft, your brain will supply the missing word. So, you may miss it in the proofreading and lead your readers to believe Ted has been imbibing and sincerely believes he and the sink are in competition.

4. Spell-checkers can auto-correct you into situations in which you do not want to be auto-corrected.

A former colleague, who normally relied upon his assistant to correct and send out his correspondence, decided to give her a break and take care of some of his own. In an e-mail that went out to the entire sales staff, he intended to ask for their opinions on a new sales program. He ended with, “I look forward to seeing your evaluation.” Only, because of his less-than-stellar keyboarding skills, his spell-check program decided he meant to type “ejaculation.” Yeah. It went out that way.

4. Spell-checkers won’t tell you if your formatting is inconsistent.

This is one reason why you should never abandon something as format-dependent as your press kit, resume, or book proposal solely to the eye-chips of your computer program. It won’t tell you that you’ve ended some bullet-text items with periods and left them off others. It won’t tell you a heading is in the wrong font or tabbed in too far. It’s CRUCIAL to swing these details by human eyeballs.

5. Spell-checkers don’t measure up to humans…at least not yet.

Flawed as we are, we’re still better than a machine at certain tasks, like knowing what we meant to say. Don’t have time to proofread or can’t tell if your participles are dangling or your infinitives are split? Hire a human.

Laurie Boris is the author of The Joke's on Me, from 4RV Publishing. She also blogs about writing, books, and the language of popular culture at http://laurieboris.com.

A Character by Any Other Name

by Laurie Boris

Along with their physical descriptions, speech patterns, and those quirky gestures however irritating or endearing, your characters' names can speak volumes about their personalities.

Consider Cruella de Vil from A Thousand And One Dalmatians. Would she inspire the same fear if she were named Becky Jones? Would Hannibal Lecter be as menacing if he were Sheldon Greenblatt? What about “Call me Fred.”? Doesn't have quite the same je ne sais quoi, does it?

But how do you come up with just the right name for your character? Here are a few things to think about:

1. Choose something age-appropriate. If I'm writing an American, middle-class character about my age, I think back to high school. Kathy, Lisa, Donna, Mary, and Karen were very popular names for girls, and there were a lot of guys named David, Steven, and Mike. Not that you wouldn't find something more unusual floating about, but in fiction, readers are more likely to go with the probable than the possible. If my character is in her thirties, he or she may have a spunkier name like Jason, Jennifer, Stephanie, or Stacy. (My thirty-something protagonist of The Joke's on Me is named Frankie.) A teenager may have been named after his or her mother's favorite pop culture star. Hence the number of Ashleys, Olivias, Justins, and Britneys floating around.

2. Choose something regionally, ethnically, or culturally appropriate. This is a dicier area, because you don't want to offend your readers by using a cultural or ethnic stereotype. If you have a character in your story who comes from an ethnic or cultural group different from your own, do some research. In some countries, babies are given very specific names based on their meanings. In some cultures or religions, it's considered bad luck to name a child after a dead relative, while in others, this is done frequently and almost expected. What has helped me is a directory of worldwide baby names with their meanings. And my good friend, Google.

3. Consider your character's role in the story. An unlikely hero (or heroine) may have an unassuming name, like David Copperfield or The Grapes of Wrath's Tom Joad. Or, a timid character saddled with a heroic name (or a larger-than-life relative's name) may struggle to fill those big shoes.

4. Avoid making a name into a reading bump if possible. I loved the name Lisbeth for one of my characters, but my writing group's feedback convinced me to change it to something simpler because they kept getting stuck on it and feeling distracted from the story. She's now Liz. No harm, no foul, no reading bumps.

5. Unless you're writing comedy or a funny children's book, avoid any name that rhymes with said. I never thought about this until I wrote a contemporary novel in which I'd named the husband Ted. Imagine page after page of “Ted said” and all those readers laughing to themselves because of the unintentional rhyme. I actually considered putting the whole thing in present tense so I wouldn't have to deal with that particular issue! It was much easier, and better for the story, to change the husband's name.

6. If your character cries out for an unusual name (think Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye or Ignatius J. Reilly in A Confederacy of Dunces), he or she will most likely pay the consequences, just as in real life. But this is rich material for character development. These consequences (teasing, bullying, even scorn for being named after an infamous figure) may end up shaping the character.

7. Still stumped? Open the phone book, peruse baby-naming books, or scan popular culture for an interesting, appropriate name.

How do you name your characters? What are some of your favorite character names from the books you've read? Any that you felt didn't fit the character? Or fit him or her exceptionally well? Any name you're really tired of hearing? Let's talk about it!

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Laurie Boris is the author of The Joke's on Me, due out from 4RV Publishing this summer. She also blogs about writing, books, and the language of popular culture at http://laurieboris.com.

Eavesdrop Your Way To Better Dialogue

by Laurie Boris

Ideally, dialogue in fiction is supposed to be a representation of how people actually speak. (Extracting the polite greetings and chit-chat and such, unless that chit-chat reveals story or character.) How better to learn the way people actually speak than to listen to them conversing with one another?

Before I get arrested as an accessory to violation of privacy, I'm not saying that you should put your ear up to walls (unless something particularly juicy is going on) or hang out outside of people's domiciles with a shotgun mic. I'm talking about a little public eavesdropping. Don't think you can pull it off without blushing, staring, bladder control issues, or otherwise giving yourself away? Try some of my favorite eavesdropping tips:

1. Observe the natives in their natural habitat. Writing a young adult novel and don't think your dialogue sounds authentic? Go to the mall. Hang out in the food court near a large group of kids. Don't act like a stalker. Just hang out. Don't look at them; it makes them clam up and, depending upon how you are dressed, makes them move away. Bring something to read, preferably something stuffy, non-electronic, and unrelated to anything teenage kids are interested in. You will essentially become invisible.

2. Become a fly on the wall while writing everything down. I keep a tiny notebook in my purse at all times. (It's an excellent habit to get into, since you don't know when inspiration or a juicy morsel will strike. However, if this occurs while driving, please pull over to the side of the road first.) But if I'm going someplace where I know I'll have a long wait, I'll bring my "real" journal. This is especially fruitful while I'm waiting to have my car serviced. I'll get a cup of coffee and make myself comfortable in their waiting area, which is usually crowded. I'll take up my journal and start writing...everything people in the area are saying. Why would anybody question me? I'm simply writing in my journal.

3. Learn the art of reading without reading. This is my favorite eavesdropper tool. If I bring a magazine or book on the train, and actually read it, I won't pick up on the conversation the two women are having behind me about a mutual friend's episiotomy. (Hey, you never know when you might need something like that in a scene.) If I focus on the white space between the lines, then unfocus my eyes, I can hear every word. It's kind of like those puzzles where if you look at them just right, you can see the chrysanthemum in the elephant's ear. Don't ask me; I couldn't see it either.

4. Know that most people are very casual about their public phone behavior. I love banks of pay phones, where they still exist. If you act like you're waiting to make a call (pace about, check your watch, jingle change in your pocket, and for heaven's sake, don't check your BlackBerry, as that's a dead giveaway), you can pick up a boatload of great authentic dialogue. Even more fun is guessing at the conversation on the other side of the phone. Use it as a writing exercise. The advent of cell phones has made one-sided eavesdropping even easier. The rule here is not to approach anyone having a cell phone conversation. That scares them off, and it's just plain rude. These opportunities are usually spontaneous. For instance, you're enjoying a double tall cappuccino at your favorite people-watching spot when Beyoncé starts warbling from the cell phone of the twenty-something sitting near you. She starts an animated and very loud discussion with her BFF about her last date with a married celebrity, a certifiable cretin who picked his teeth at the dinner table, said that Hitler was misunderstood, and ordered lasagna for her when he darned well knew she was lactose intolerant. You are under no obligation to move.

Any good eavesdropping tips you've used to improve your writing and add sparkle to your dialogue? What are some of your favorite pieces of authentic dialogue?

(Laurie Boris blogs regularly about writing, novels, and the language of popular culture at http://laurieboris.com)

The newest releases from 4RV

4RV has released several books in the past four and a half months. Let's begin with November and work our way to the present. More releases will be announced in the following weeks and months.

Stolen by Vivian Gilbert Zabel, cover by Aidana WillowRaven

When the joy is ruthlessly ripped from Torri’s life, she has two choices: dwell in torment and regret, or pick up the pieces and live. A nightmare invades her world, leaving her battered and torn: Her children are stolen.
Paperback: 200 pages
Published: November 1, 2010
Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-0982588642


May be bought from 4RV Publishing Catalog or 4RV Publishing website. 

Dogsled Dreams by Terry Lynn Johnson, cover by Aidana WillowRaven

Twelve-year-old Rebecca dreams of becoming a famous dog sled racer. She’s an inventive but self-doubting musher who tackles freezing blizzards, wild animal attacks, puppy training, and flying poo missiles. All of her challenges, though, seem easier than living up to the dogs’ trust in her abilities.
Reading level: Ages 9-15
Paperback: 148 pages
Published: December 8, 2010
Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-0982642344
May be purchased from 4RV Publishing Catalog or 4RV Publishing website.

Libby the Odd Squirrel by Lea Schizas,
illustrated by Stephen Macquignon

 Libby was different so wasn’t allowed with
“normal” squirrels. Bullying in animaldom.
Reading level: Ages 4 - 8
Paperback: 32 pages
Published: January 24, 2011
Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-0982642368

May be purchased  from 4RV Publishing Catalog or 4RV Publishing website.

 Priscilla Holmes and the Case of the Glass Slipper by John Lance, illustrated by Diana Navarro

Priscilla takes on a baffling case, the missing glass slipper.
Paperback: 24 pages
Publisher: 4RV Publishing (February 15, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-0982659496


May be purchased from 4RV Publishing Catalog or 4RV Publishing website.

Stork Musters & Critter Clusters by Rena Jones, 
illustrated by Nikki Boetger 

Twenty-one more animal clusters, book 2 of 3.
Reading level: Ages 6-12
Paperback: 28 pages
Publisher: January 19, 2011
Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-0982642351


May be purchased from 4RV Publishing Catalog or 4RV Publishing website.

Dylan's Tale by Harry Porter (Brian Porter), illustrated by Mandy Hedrick

The second in the series about Harry’s rescue dogs.
Reading level: Ages 8-12
Paperback: 52 pages
Published: February 15, 2011
Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-0982834619

Can be purchased from 4RV Publishing Catalog or 4RV Publishing website.

Aldric & Anneliese by Harry E. Gilleland, Jr., cover by Aidana WillowRaven

Aldric & Anneliese is a tale of nation
building, kings, knights, fair ladies, battles
won and lost, triumph, betrayal, tragedy,
revenge, redemption, and great loves It is a story for the ages.
Paperback: 164 pages
Published: February 5, 2011
Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-0982659403

May be Purchased from 4RV Publishing Catalog or 4RV Publishing website

Conscience: Breaching Social Amnesia by vohoae, cover by Aidana WillowRaven

Conscience: Breaching Social Amnesia is vehoae’s first of a series that draws parallels between European invader’s personal perspectives and motivaitons and professional decisions to subjugate and exterminate “heathen red-skinned impediments.” Having a profound appreciation for nonrevisionist history, vehoae provides primary document details typically avoided in favor of political correctness.
Paperback: 216 pages
Published: January 27, 2011
Language: English
                                     ISBN-13: 978-0982642382
May be purchased from 4RV Publishing Catalog or 4RV Publishing website.

Watch for new releases as they become available.