Yahoo Canada Web Search

Search results

  1. Feb 19, 2024 · There are several different techniques you can use to convey backstory. Last year, I did a three-part series about backstory techniques. 1. Sharing Backstory With the Backstory Drip. The main one is the one you’re going to want to use in pretty much any story, even if you do choose to use some of the other techniques.

  2. It raises the stakes—makes readers care about how a character wins or loses. It deepens your story world—makes the story feel more like real life. Use setting to improve your backstory. One way to improve your backstory is to use setting to help bring the character to life. First, let’s review for a moment what elements usually make up ...

  3. Backstory: How to write backstory effectively. Backstory is important. Having the reader learn more about your character’s past can help them understand who they are and how they’ll react in certain situations. However, there’s a fine line between giving useful information to your reader and boring them to tears!

    • Too much, Too Soon
    • Timing Is Everything
    • The Right Balance
    • When in Doubt

    One of the most common mistakes I note when I’m called upon to offer comments on aspiring authors’ manuscripts is that the author has included too much backstory in the opening pages. Sometimes, the novel plods along page after page as the author diligently works to set up the story, and I have to force myself to keep reading. Other times, the nove...

    Managing backstory in a novel is a matter of control. A good storyteller has no trouble thinking up rich histories for his characters. But a good novelist holds these details back, revealing them only at the time that best serves the story. “Rushing the backstory is a terrible waste,” says Garth Stein, New York Times bestselling author of The Art o...

    How can you discern which instances of backstory are crucial to the story and which are not? Folio Literary Management’s Jeff Kleinman offers a simple answer: “Backstory is the stuff the author figures the reader should know—not stuff the character desperately wants to tell the reader. If it’s critical to the character, it’s critical to the reader,...

    For authors struggling with backstory, Kleinman has this advice: “In almost all cases, if it’s backstory, it needs to be cut.” This might seem drastic. If you’re not yet convinced, I offer this challenge: Comb through your opening chapters looking for backstory. Remove every instance, and see if your story doesn’t read better. I speak from experien...

  4. Sep 29, 2017 · Your characters have a history, and you should know it well and how it impacts the story you’re writing, and you should make it interesting enough that the reader will want to know it too. Many writers don’t think of backstory when they’re writing, but to do characterization well, you should know exactly what brought your character to the point where you started writing their story.

  5. Dec 17, 2019 · Before you think about raising the stakes, figure out what kind of stakes will resonate with your audience. There are two basic types: internal, or emotional, and external, or plot-based. Genre fiction often includes a heavy dose of external stakes. Civilizations hang in the balance. Villains must be brought to heel.

  6. People also ask

  7. 2 The Do’s and Don’ts of Revealing a Character’s Backstory. 2.1 DO Write Everything Down About Your Character. 2.2 DON’T Share Everything With Your Readers. 2.3 DO Pinpoint the Defining Events that Impacted the Character. 2.4 DON’T Get Carried Away. 2.5 DO Show Moral Conflict Throughout the Character’s Past.

  1. People also search for