BackStory is for You—the Author—to Know. Don’t be an intruder! by Caryl McAdoo

To develop a character, even on page one, the writer needs to know where the heroine’s been and what in her life has brought her to that day, but a reader does not. Don’t start your novel with backstory. It is unnecessary to bring the reader ‘up to speed.’ Actually, it’s a big, boring mistake.

In real life, when meeting a new person, you don’t know her back-story—getting to know the new friend is a part of the fun, right? Let readers meet your characters the same way—a little at a time. Who cares if her brother’s a Kentucky horse breeder or who her best friend is? No one. Not yet. Think about it.

Would you hold still to listen to a life history as soon as you sat down? No, it’s only after you get to know the person and find her interesting that you’re willing to go on a journey down memory lane. You’re interested in the here and now. The why or how you came to be there with her then what happens next.

The rest will be known in small increments, finding out more about her each time you visit. No one opening your book and meeting your character for the first time cares about her past either. They want to know what’s happening right then and what’s about to take place. If it’s interesting.

The backstory is great for the author to know, even vital. So yes, imagine the backstory that’s made the heroine into a strong woman. Work it all out, know it, then sprinkle it into your story as it progresses. Think of it as salt. Too much in one place will spoil your food, just as too much backstory—often referred to as an information dump—will spoil your novel.

Dole out backstory to readers on a need-to-know basis, as the information becomes relevant. Ana avoid author intrusion—writing information the POVC (point of view character) would not be thinking at that time because of what’s going on.

Example:

The private eye straightened behind the wheel at the ready. The object of her stakeout just emerged. He almost bounced down the brownstone’s stairs. What was he so chipper about that early in the morning?

Wiping blur from her eyes, she shook her head. Though he’d kept her up all night, she never regretted becoming a PI.

Her father had objected and her mother practically fainted the day she announced her decision, but she liked her work. Even if that first cheating husband almost shot her, the job hadn’t been that dangerous.

Risk, she loved it! Ever since the time her grandfather talked her into swinging on that grapevine.

Can you see? Even though that may be semi-interesting backstory, there’s no way the lady would be engaging in that introspection at that time. It’s old news for her. She knows it. All her focus, her internal dialogues, are going to be on that man leaving the strange address. She’ll be running scenarios as to the whys, trying to figure out her case.

Let your characters’ histories come out in dialogue or introspection, but in a natural manner. Backstory, no matter how beautifully written with amazing descriptions, is not from your character’s point of view (POV). Our PI in that example lived it. So why would she be rehashing what her parents thought about her career choice right then when the crisis is happening?

She simply would not.

So whose head is it in? Yours! The author! And you’re intruding on your character’s story.

Don’t do it.

Have you found it difficult to keep from spilling your character's history at inappropriate times?

~~~~~~

Caryl McAdoo prays her story brings God glory, and a quick scroll through her novels’ rankings by Christian readers attests to the Father’s faithfulness. She loves writing almost as much as singing the new songs He gives her—look her up on YouTube to hear a few. Her high school sweetheart husband won her heart fifty-one years ago, and now they share four children and seventeen grandsugars. Ron and Caryl live in the woods south of Clarksville, seat of Red River County in far Northeast Texas, waiting expectantly for God to open the next door. 

Author Pages:

     Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/Caryl-McAdoo/e/B00E963CFG

     BookBub - https://www.bookbub.com/authors/caryl-mcadoo

     Simon & Schuster - http://tinyurl.com/S-SCarylsPage

     BookGorilla - http://www.bookgorilla.com/author/B00E963CFG/caryl-mcadoo
     Southern Writers Magazine - http://authors.southernwritersmagazine.com/caryl-mcadoo.html

     Sweet Americana Sweethearts - bit.ly/2q0tcfFbit.ly 

Website: http://www.CarylMcAdoo.com    

                         (All First Chapters offered here)

Newsletter: http://carylmcadoo.com/sign-up-to-the-caryler/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_1hQx6UZbWi3OYwmKKxh6Q

                       (Hear Caryl sing her New Songs!)

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CarylMcAdoo.author

Blogs:
    The Word & the Music http://carylmcadoo.com/blog/

    HeartWings (Devotional) - http://www.HeartWingsBlog.com

    Stitches Thru Time (Misc.) -   http://www.StitchesThruTime.blogspot.com

    Sweet Americana Sweethearts (Historical) -

                 http://www.SweetAmericanaSweethearts.blogspot.com

GoodReads:  http://tinyurl.com/GoodReadsCaryl

Google+: http://tinyurl.com/CarylsGooglePlus

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caryl-mcadoo-00562323

Do You Love Your Job? (3 Ways to Recapture Your Enthusiasm) by Marie Wells Coutu

Marie Wells Coutu

Are you excited about going to work every day?

I’m not talking about your “day job.” Whether you work at writing full-time, only evenings and weekends, or in ten-minute breaks during your day, if you want to be a published author, writing is your work.

When you first decided to pursue writing as something more than a hobby, you were excited about it, right? Maybe you had a story idea or a character you fell in love with, and you just had to put it on paper. You attended a writers’ conference, devoured books on the craft of writing, and couldn’t wait for that block of time when you could sit at your computer and let the words flow.

But now, months or years later, have you lost your “first love”? Has finishing the book become a chore? Does discovering your characters’ motivations feel like pulling teeth? Coming up with fresh expressions (i.e., something other than “pulling teeth”) seem like drudgery?

Multi-published authors and pre-published authors alike sometimes deal with the day-to-day-ness of the writing life. Most people with full-time jobs in any profession encounter boredom at some point and work through it. But as writers, that lack of passion will show up in lackluster work or unsaleable fiction.

So how do we keep—or get back to—our original passion for our stories? Here are some ideas:

• Set aside your work-in-progress and start something new, if your deadlines allow it. Taking a breather from one story can allow your brain to rest and let your subconscious generate fresh ideas. Stephen King calls this putting “the boys in the basement” to work. You’ll get a fresh perspective on your story and be excited again when you go back to work on it.
  
• Read a portion of the story out loud. You’re not reading for problems but as a way of putting life into your characters. Really hear their voices and imagine they’re in the room with you. This may generate renewed enthusiasm for their story and help you put more passion onto the page.
  
• Write your main character’s backstory as a first-person journal. I’m doing this now as a prequel to The Secret Heart, which will release in February. And I having fun with it! I had written out portions of her story when I first started on the book, but now I’m going back and fleshing out specific events as if it were her journal. Doing this in the middle of the project could have helped me discover more about her character and personality. Try it to see if it re-ignites your excitement about telling your characters’ stories.
  
• Don’t forget to reward yourself when you reach a milestone. Setting goals along the journey and celebrating when you accomplish each one is a great way to keep yourself engaged.

We take this writing journey for different reasons. Remember why you decided to pursue fiction writing and find your love for “the job” again. It will make a difference in the quality of the finished book.

About the Author

Marie Wells Coutu’s newest novel, The Secret Heart, will be released in February 2017 from Write Integrity Press. Follow Marie on Amazon.com to be notified when it becomes available. The Secret Heart, loosely based on the lives of Bathsheba and David, is the third book in the Mended Vessels series. Books in the series are contemporary re-imaginings of the stories of biblical women, including Esther and the woman at the well. 

Her debut novel, For Such a Moment, won the Books of Hope Contest. Thirsting for More, the second book in the series was a finalist in the 2016 Selah Awards Contest and a semi-finalist in the Royal Palm Literary Awards sponsored by Florida Writers Association. You can find more about Marie and her novels on her Facebook page (Author Marie Wells Coutu), at her website (MarieWellsCoutu.com), or follow her on Twitter (@mwcoutu). 
Marie retired after 15 years with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, and she and her husband now divide their time between Florida and Iowa.




The Secret Heart
by Marie Wells Coutu

The Secret Heart

Beautiful Shawna Moore married Hunter Wilson, the governor of Tennessee, after a whirlwind romance, only six weeks following her first husband’s death in Iraq. Now, she wonders if the governor loved her at all or only hoped to avoid a scandal.

An investigative reporter—and friend of Shawna’s—is asking questions. If he discovers the truth about Shawna’s baby, Hunter’s chances for reelection could be ruined. But keeping the secret is destroying their marriage. Will Shawna convince Hunter to choose his family and drop out of politics, or will he continue to put his career first?

The Secret Heart will be available for pre-order in mid-January. For a sneak peek, download the first chapter here.

Creating the Essential Backstory by DiAnn Mills

The other day I was having lunch with girlfriends and the topic of diet came up. Not exactly what I wanted to hear with the holiday eating taking revenge in my rearview mirror. The diet discussion continued, but instead of plans to move forward, we confessed to what we’d eaten to get ourselves into an expanded condition. In short, we bemoaned our backstories that placed us in the present.

What is Backstory?

Backstory consists of the events and circumstances that motivate a character into fresh and compelling action. What happened to the character before page one propels the story. We are four-part creatures who deal with the physical, spiritual, emotional, and mental realms of our world. Our characters have the same challenges.

Robert McKee says it best: “Backstory—previous significant events in the lives of the characters that the writer can reveal at critical moments to create turning points.”

When we studied fiction writing, our instructors told us to avoid backstory that doesn’t relate to the present character’s goal or problem. How does a writer make that determination? Backstory is critical in the world of story, but a master writer discerns what part of backstory is vital and what is superfluous.

To avoid confusion, let’s define what backstory is not:

1. Backstory is not the action that fills scene after scene of a powerful novel. 
2. Backstory is not the camouflaged aspects of the story that are happening in the present. The point-of-view character might be unaware of happenings around her, but the events are still unfolding.
3. Backstory is not a flashback. A flashback is a scene interruption and slows the story by forcing the reader to make an adjustment by sending them to the past. Sol Stein defines flashback as, “A scene that precedes the time of the present story.” Readers want to experience the adventure with crisp writing that is happening now. If a flashback is necessary, transcend in and out—quickly.

Donald Maass recommends restraining backstory for the first fifty pages or so of the novel.

When is Backstory Essential? 

Long before the initial writing process begins. The history of each character is intimate, personal, and exciting. Do you remember the last time you invested hours in getting to know someone new? The person most likely did not reveal flaws and weaknesses during the beginning stages of the relationship; instead, she convinced you by words and actions that she was a great person. The flaws in her character came much later as you spent time traveling down the road of life. By then we were invested in the new friend and chose to overlook character flaws. How did that person reveal her past? What emotions did she display? Was she complex or predictable?

By learning the backstory of a character, actions in the present are easier for the writer to predict according to experiences and lessons learned.

Relationships often seem contrived unless the writer has established backstory to weave how and why characters behave the way they do. The inspiration behind these relationships is revealed in snippets throughout the story. The writer holds on to the reins of backstory as though she were driving a team of runaway horses.

Discover Your Character's Backstory

How can the writer weave a tale unless she knows what the character wants and needs? Many writers use a character sketch to analyze the past. By discovering information from every angle of character development, a writer is able to create a picture of the character’s life before the first sentence.

Take inventory of the character’s childhood. Write about the experiences that formed his/her personality for the present story. Use all seven universal emotions to learn about the character: surprise, fear, anger, sadness, disgust, happiness, and contempt. Ask the hard questions that the character might not want to discuss. Force the character to expose inner hurts and pain. In the depths of the forbidden, the writer finds the nuggets of personality, persuasion, and power.

Once the writer has searched the childhood years, move on to the teens, young adulthood, and then to the current age of the character. The more you discover about the character, the richer the backstory. Understand that not everything the character states about the past is useful, only the parts that pertain to the story. Continue the exercise in time increments until one hour before the story opens.

Perhaps the plotting and opening lines of the story will now take a different twist.

Backstory, where will it take you?

Award-winning author DiAnn Mills is a fiction writer who combines an adventuresome spirit with unforgettable characters to create action-packed, suspense-filled novels. DiAnn’s first book was published in 1998. She currently has more than fifty books in print, which have sold more than a million and a half copies.

Her titles have appeared on the CBA and ECPA bestseller lists and have won placements through the American Christian Fiction Writer’s Carol Awards and Inspirational Reader’s Choice awards. DiAnn won the Christy Award in 2010 and 2011.

DiAnn is a founding board member for American Christian Fiction Writers and a member of Inspirational Writers Alive; Romance Writers of America, and Advanced Writers and Speakers Association. She speaks to various groups and teaches writing workshops around the country. DiAnn is also the Craftsman mentor for the Jerry B. Jenkins Christian Writers Guild.

She and her husband live in sunny Houston, Texas.

Connect with DiAnn: 

www.diannmills.com