: Re: how do I tell my main characterâ€™s backstory throughout the book? I'm loosely working on a trilogy. Book One and Two are supposed to contain the main characterâ€™s backstory, divided by two

For me, the key questions are: who is telling the story; when are they telling the story, and why are they telling the story. If I know the answers to those questions, then I can work on what the narrator knows and when they know it.

This narrator is a stand in for the reader. They control what we see and when we see it (and a lot more as well). I think of the narrator as an experienced tour guide, showing me through a space, pointing out things that should be of interest to me. An experienced tour guide does not dump the information about the cathedral in a long speech standing outside of the entrance. Instead, they scatter the information as the tour proceeds through the various parts of the building.

Character A has gone away for ten years. No doubt Character A has led a rich and varied life during that time, but not all of it needs to be presented to the reader and not all at once. For example, the plot requires Character A to behave in a "strange" way. One of the other characters challenges A, wanting to know why. Character A then relates an experience during the lost ten years to explain it. Rinse, repeat. Only those pieces of backstory that directly support the front story should be presented to the reader. If the immediate plot does not require it, do not bring it forward.

What I think that you need to do is to decide what the story is about, and eliminate or minimize everything that the story is not about. Then show the reader only when you need to. An exception to this rule is the use of foreshadowing. A hint of what is to come to prepare the reader for the anticipated future events.

Load Full (0)

: Structuring a book? So I am attempting to write a book, the first I have attempted yet. My current method has been to just write scenes that come into my mind and I have over 40 pages of

@Ravi5107385

Load Full 2 Comments

: Limited 3rd Person: How to reveal character's black skin? I have a scene that I'm working on. The character in the scene is an actor who's black wearing a black face. At the end of the scene

@Ravi5107385

Load Full 4 Comments

: Publishing other peoples anecdotes I have asked friend and relations a question and want to publish the answers with their name by the answer. If I ask them if they mind it being publishes

@Ravi5107385

Load Full 2 Comments

: How to refer to a crowd of many different species? How could I say the equivalent of "A pouring wave of humanity," when there are more than one species in the scene being described?

: Re: how do I tell my main characterâ€™s backstory throughout the book? I'm loosely working on a trilogy. Book One and Two are supposed to contain the main characterâ€™s backstory, divided by two

More posts by @Ravi5107385

: Structuring a book? So I am attempting to write a book, the first I have attempted yet. My current method has been to just write scenes that come into my mind and I have over 40 pages of

: Limited 3rd Person: How to reveal character's black skin? I have a scene that I'm working on. The character in the scene is an actor who's black wearing a black face. At the end of the scene

: Publishing other peoples anecdotes I have asked friend and relations a question and want to publish the answers with their name by the answer. If I ask them if they mind it being publishes

: How to refer to a crowd of many different species? How could I say the equivalent of "A pouring wave of humanity," when there are more than one species in the scene being described?

Login to post a comment!

0 Comments

Back to top