tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8128453328718261159.post8894746481690612485..comments2023-03-28T12:01:38.665+02:00Comments on Writing In Medias Res: How Important is Back Story?Jake Heneganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05031767958230378191noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8128453328718261159.post-61549650884292425302011-06-03T17:29:27.267+02:002011-06-03T17:29:27.267+02:00Indeed. When a character is so well developed tha...Indeed. When a character is so well developed that the reader wants to know the backstory (I wonder why my spell checker hates me...), then that would be a good time to tell it.<br /><br />Thanks for your thoughts.Jake Heneganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05031767958230378191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8128453328718261159.post-75954806552124881552011-06-03T17:03:58.136+02:002011-06-03T17:03:58.136+02:00Backstory (one word!) is an important part of prac...Backstory (one word!) is an important part of practically every story. Like any tool it can be misused or implemented poorly. The reason it's highlighted so much is that it's the first mistake a lot of new writers make. <br /><br />You've got this character you've dreamt up. You want the reader to know all about her, so why not give a quick life symopsis?<br /><br />The problem is, to the writer the character is an old friend, so the minutiae of their lives is interesting (the way it is when you chat to a close friend). For the reader it's like being introduced to a person at a party and they won't shut up about themselves. I like this, I went to school there, on my holidays I went to blah, blah, my favourie colour is... who cares?<br /><br />The trick is to feed backstory in when the reader wants to know. You don't make the character interesting by providing backstory, you make the character interesting first (through their actions), which then makes the reader curious to know the backstory. <br /><br />And you provide enough backstory to satisfy that curiosity (or maybe just a little less).<br /><br />mood<br /><a href="http://moodywriting.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow">Moody Writing</a><br /><a href="http://twitter.com/mooderino" rel="nofollow">@mooderino</a>mooderinohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01523337588830695638noreply@blogger.com