I confess I'm still struggling with where and when to put backstory. Just when I think I've finally found the solution, I read something that convinces me I don't have it right yet. This time the eye opener came from Your Life is a Book by Brenda Peterson & Sarah Jane Freyman. Honestly, I've had my fill of craft writing books, but I purchased this one, along with several others, at the advice of my mentor. So being stuck, I picked it up and began to read.
3 Comments
Bill Kring
8/15/2016 09:30:26 pm
Not too many cookies, though!
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8/15/2016 09:39:54 pm
I'm convinced we frequently get so bogged down in getting out technique right that we forget to tell the story. Do you keep your backstory interesting and pointing toward your end point? To me, that is the deciding factor. If you give a bunch of dull, dry, boring factoids, yes, you will lose your audience, but if you keep it lively and moving and it fills a necessary place in the story, it needs to be included. Remember, it was the experts that built the Titanic.
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J.L., I appreciate your comments and understand what you're saying. I have several scenes in the backstory I think are pretty interesting, so that's my dilemma. Do I throw out some in the interest of keeping the story moving forward? Back to Wild to figure out how Strayed did it.
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